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Enable Control Plane (master) Authorized Networks to restrict which external CIDR ranges can reach the cluster control plane over HTTPS. Without it, the control plane endpoint is reachable from broader networks.

Risk Level

Critical

Address

Security

Compliance Standards

  • CIS GKE

Triage and Remediation

Remediation

Manual Steps

  1. Identify which clusters to review
    On any machine with gcloud access, list clusters and pick the ones in scope:
  2. Gather current Control Plane Authorized Networks configuration
    For each cluster, run:
    Save the output for evidence (e.g., copy to your ticket or security review document).
  3. Decide required authorized CIDR ranges
    With your networking/security team, determine the minimal external CIDR ranges that need control plane access (e.g., corporate VPN egress, bastion hosts, specific admin offices). Explicitly decide whether public access is needed at all for this cluster.
  4. Enable Master Authorized Networks and set CIDRs (or adjust them)
    Once the required CIDRs are agreed, enable and configure them:
    Replace the example CIDRs with your approved list (up to 20 CIDRs). Be aware this immediately restricts API access to those ranges.
  5. Re-verify configuration after the change
    Confirm that the setting is enabled and that the CIDRs match your decision:
    Ensure enabled is true and cidrBlocks contains only the intended networks.
  6. Validate operational access and document
    • From an IP inside an authorized CIDR, confirm you can still run:
    • From an IP outside all authorized CIDRs, confirm API access is blocked.
    • Record the chosen CIDRs, rationale, and the verification output as part of your security documentation.
kubectl cannot configure Control Plane Authorized Networks because this setting is managed at the GKE control-plane / cloud provider level, not via Kubernetes API objects. To remediate this finding, follow the guidance in the Manual Steps section and make the change using gcloud, the GCP console, or your IaC tooling.
How to interpret the output
  • Status: NON-COMPLIANT
    • Indicates Control Plane Authorized Networks is effectively disabled for that cluster.
    • This matches the finding: the control plane endpoint is reachable from broader networks and does not meet CIS GKE 5.6.3.
  • Status: MISCONFIGURED
    • Indicates enabled is true but no cidrBlocks are set; review this cluster carefully, as the control plane may still be broadly reachable.
  • Status: CONFIGURED
    • Indicates the feature is enabled with one or more CIDR blocks; you must manually review those CIDRs to ensure they are tightly scoped to trusted admin networks only, per your security policy.