Best practices for ensuring security in Azure DevOps

Security is often an afterthought until it's too late.

A single overlooked security flaw can jeopardize your entire project. Azure DevOps, the backbone of many CI/CD pipelines, demands rigorous security measures to protect your code and data.

This article outlines best practices to help you safeguard your Azure DevOps environment.

Managing user access and permissions

A critical step in maintaining security is diligently managing user access. Follow these practices to keep your Azure DevOps environment secure:

• Regularly review and remove inactive users from your Azure DevOps organization

• For organizations using Microsoft accounts (MSA), directly remove these users to prevent unauthorized access

• For organizations linked with Microsoft Entra ID , disable or delete the Microsoft Entra user account while keeping the Azure DevOps user account active. This approach retains the ability to query work item history using the Azure DevOps user ID

• Always revoke any Personal Access Tokens (PATs) and special permissions associated with these accounts

• Reassign tasks from removed users to current team members to maintain continuity

To enhance security and streamline identity management, follow these practices:

Integrate Azure DevOps with Microsoft Entra ID

• Provides a unified identity source, reducing risks associated with human error and complex configurations

• Unlocks advanced security features like multifactor authentication and conditional access policies, adding additional layers of protection

Effectively manage permissions

• Grant only the minimum necessary access to users and services

• Disable inheritance where possible to prevent unexpected users from gaining access

• Utilize built-in security groups or create custom groups to manage permissions

• Disable the “Allow public projects” option to prevent unauthorized access to your projects

Monitoring and auditing

Regularly enable and review audit logs within your Azure DevOps environment. Monitoring these logs helps you detect and respond to unusual activities and potential security breaches quickly. This proactive approach enables you to identify and address unauthorized access attempts or other suspicious behaviors promptly.

Securing your network

Strengthening your network security involves several key practices:

• Implement an IP allowlist: Restrict access to specific, trusted IP addresses to ensure only authorized users can connect to your network.

• Enable encryption: Use Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect data in transit. TLS provides secure communication over a computer network, safeguarding the integrity and confidentiality of data exchanged between systems.

• Validate certificates: Regularly check the validity and integrity of your security certificates to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and maintain secure communication.

• Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAFs): WAFs are critical for protecting your web applications. They filter, monitor, and block malicious traffic to and from your Azure DevOps environment, defending against common web exploits such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other vulnerabilities.

Securing service accounts and connections

Service accounts should be granted minimal privileges and no interactive sign-in rights. Use service connections for secure interactions with external services without exposing secret variables directly in builds. Regularly monitor service account activity and implement audit streaming to detect suspicious behavior.

Choosing secure authentication methods

Opt for secure authentication methods to access Azure DevOps:

• Personal Access Tokens (PATs): Use PATs sparingly and always scope them to specific roles. Verify they have an expiration date, are kept secret, and are regularly audited.

• Service principals and managed identities: These alternatives to PATs provide better security and easier credential management. They carry less risk when compromised compared to PATs.

Securing pipeline settings and project-level permissions

Practical pipeline management and stringent project-level permissions are essential for maintaining a secure Azure DevOps environment. Here are the key practices to achieve this:

Preferred pipeline management with YAML

YAML, which stands for "YAML Ain't Markup Language," is a human-readable data serialization standard. It is the preferred method for managing pipeline definitions in Azure DevOps due to its traceability and ability to maintain changes within a Git repository. To enforce the use of YAML pipelines, navigate to Project Settings → Pipeline Settings and disable the creation of classic build pipelines. This practice guarantees that all pipeline configurations are transparent and version-controlled.

Project-level permissions

Properly managing permissions at the project level is crucial to maintaining control over access:

• Use groups and teams: Instead of adding individual users, create groups and teams. This approach streamlines permission management and maintains consistency in access control.

• Retention policies: Set retention policies in the pipeline settings to optimize costs and manage storage effectively. This helps in keeping only the necessary artifacts and logs, reducing overhead.

Pipeline security

Ensuring the security of your pipelines involves implementing several key practices:

• Least privileged access: Grant users and groups only the minimum access necessary to perform their tasks. This principle of least privilege minimizes the risk of unauthorized actions.

• Add checks and approvers: Implement default checks and add approvers to your pipelines to enforce security and review processes. This step is to make sure that changes are reviewed and validated by multiple stakeholders before being integrated.

Implementing these best practices can greatly enhance the security of your Azure DevOps environment. Make it a habit to regularly review and update your security policies to stay ahead of emerging threats. This proactive approach protects your data and code and ensures a secure and efficient development workflow.