lacework-global-241
1.14 Ensure API Keys Are Restricted to Only APIs That Application Needs Access (Automated)
note
This rule has been changed to automated, see Automated Rules for CIS GCP 1.3.0 for details.
Profile Applicability
• Level 1
Description
API keys are always at risk because they can be viewed publicly, such as from within a browser, or they can be accessed on a device where the key resides. It is recommended to restrict API keys to use (call) only APIs required by an application.
Rationale
Security risks involved in using API-Keys are below:
API keys are simple encrypted strings
API keys do not identify the user or the application making the API request
API keys are typically accessible to clients, making it easy to discover and steal an API key
In light of these potential risks, Google recommends using the standard authentication flow instead of API-Keys. However, there are limited cases where API keys are more appropriate. For example, if there is a mobile application that needs to use the Google Cloud Translation API, but doesn't otherwise need a backend server, API keys are the simplest way to authenticate to that API.
In order to reduce attack surfaces by providing least privileges
, API-Keys can be restricted to use (call) only APIs required by an application.
Impact
Setting API restrictions
may break existing application functioning, if not done carefully.
Audit
From Console:
Go to
APIs & Services\Credentials
usinghttps://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials
In the section
API Keys
, Click theAPI Key Name
. The API Key properties display on a new page.For every API Key, ensure the section
Key restrictions
parameterAPI restrictions
is not set toNone
.
Or,
Ensure API restrictions
is not set to Google Cloud APIs
note
Google Cloud APIs
represents the API collection of all cloud services/APIs offered by Google cloud.
Remediation
From Console:
Go to
APIs & Services\Credentials
usinghttps://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials
In the section
API Keys
, Click theAPI Key Name
. The API Key properties display on a new page.In the
Key restrictions
section go toAPI restrictions
.Click the
Select API
drop-down to choose an API.Click
Save
.Repeat steps 2,3,4,5 for every unrestricted API key
note
Do not set API restrictions
to Google Cloud APIs
, as this option allows access to all services offered by Google cloud.
References
https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/api-keys
https://cloud.google.com/apis/docs/overview