Securing AI API Endpoints with Azure API Management

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

Securing Artificial Intelligence (AI) API endpoints in Azure can be achieved through Azure API Management (APIM), which provides a centralized, secure gateway to publish, manage, secure, and analyze your APIs. Among its features, APIM can authenticate traffic with OAuth 2.0, validate JWT tokens, limit call rates, and offer a developer portal for API documentation and discovery.

Below is a Pulumi program written in Python that demonstrates how to provision an Azure API Management instance, configure a mock API, set up a product, and secure an endpoint with OAuth 2.0 using an OpenID Connect provider.

Detailed Explanation:

Azure API Management Service (APIM Instance): This is the central piece to manage the API lifecycle, set throttling policies, and secure APIs with key checks. It enables you to secure API endpoints with policies, protect against abuse with rate limiting, and manage users.
API: Represents the API you want to expose. Typically, you would set the service_url to point to the actual endpoint of your API. I'll demonstrate with a mock response.
Product: In APIM, a product is a grouping of APIs that can be published together and shared with developer consumers. Throttle and quota can be set at the product level.
OpenID Connect Provider: This is configured within APIM to enable OAuth 2.0 authentication for APIs. You would typically have an issuer URL, client ID, and client secret from your identity provider.
Policies: When securing APIs, policies play a crucial role. For this example, I'll apply a policy to require OAuth 2.0 authorization.

Please replace the placeholder values with actual values from your OpenID Connect provider and your API within the code.

import pulumi
import pulumi_azure_native as azure_native

# Create an Azure Resource Group
resource_group = azure_native.resources.ResourceGroup("resource_group")

# Create an Azure API Management service instance
api_management_service = azure_native.apimanagement.ApiManagementService("apiManagementService",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    publisher_name="Your Publisher Name",
    publisher_email="your-email@example.com",
    sku_name="Developer_1")  # Choose the SKU that fits your needs

# Create an OpenID Connect provider from which to purchase the product/API 
openid_connect_provider = azure_native.apimanagement.OpenIdConnectProvider("openidConnectProvider",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    display_name="My OIDC Provider",
    client_id="Your-Client-ID",  # Client ID assigned by your OpenID Provider
    client_secret="Your-Client-Secret",  # Client Secret provided by the OpenID Provider
    metadata_endpoint="Your-Metadata-Endpoint")  # Metadata Endpoint for OpenID Configuration

# Create a product that bundles APIs and is available for developer consumption
product = azure_native.apimanagement.Product("product",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    service_name=api_management_service.name,
    display_name="My Product",
    description="My Product Description",
    subscription_required=True,
    approval_required=False,
    published=True)

# Create an API that is a part of the 'product'
api = azure_native.apimanagement.Api("api",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    service_name=api_management_service.name,
    display_name="Echo API",
    path="echo",
    protocols=["Https"],
    service_url="http://echoapi.cloudapp.net/api")  # This should be the backend service URL

# Create a policy to secure the API with OAuth 2.0
policy = azure_native.apimanagement.Policy("policy",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    service_name=api_management_service.name,
    policy_id="policy",
    value="""<policies>
                <inbound>
                    <validate-jwt header-name="Authorization" failed-validation-httpcode="401" failed-validation-error-message="Unauthorized. Access token is missing or invalid.">
                        <openid-config url="{metadata_endpoint}" />
                        <required-claims>
                            <claim name="aud">
                                <value>{client_id}</value>
                            </claim>
                        </required-claims>
                    </validate-jwt>
                </inbound>
                <backend>
                    <forward-request />
                </backend>
                <outbound />
            </policies>""".format(
                metadata_endpoint=openid_connect_provider.metadata_endpoint,
                client_id=openid_connect_provider.client_id
            ))

# Link the created API to the product
product_api = azure_native.apimanagement.ProductApi("productApi",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    service_name=api_management_service.name,
    product_id=product.product_id,
    api_id=api.api_id)

# Export the API Management service URL for easy access
pulumi.export("api_management_service_url", api_management_service.gateway_url)

How to Use:

After provisioning the above resources in Azure using Pulumi, the API will be available in the Azure API Management service instance. Consumers will need to be authenticated with an access token, ensuring the API is called securely. This example shows how to set up a basic secure API endpoint, which can be expanded with additional policies and configurations as needed.

This program assumes you've already configured your Pulumi environment with the appropriate Azure credentials. The APIM instance can be accessed through the exported URL. For a production deployment, please ensure you're using secure secret handling for any sensitive information such as client secrets.

{client_id}

""".format( metadata_endpoint=openid_connect_provider.metadata_endpoint, client_id=openid_connect_provider.client_id )) # Link the created API to the product product_api = azure_native.apimanagement.ProductApi("productApi", resource_group_name=resource_group.name, service_name=api_management_service.name, product_id=product.product_id, api_id=api.api_id) # Export the API Management service URL for easy access pulumi.export("api_management_service_url", api_management_service.gateway_url) ``` ### How to Use: After provisioning the above resources in Azure using Pulumi, the API will be available in the Azure API Management service instance. Consumers will need to be authenticated with an access token, ensuring the API is called securely. This example shows how to set up a basic secure API endpoint, which can be expanded with additional policies and configurations as needed. This program assumes you've already configured your Pulumi environment with the appropriate Azure credentials. The APIM instance can be accessed through the exported URL. For a production deployment, please ensure you're using secure secret handling for any sensitive information such as client secrets.