Self-serve minimum TLS version enforcement in Azure Cosmos DB

APPLIES TO: NoSQL MongoDB Cassandra Gremlin Table

This article discusses how to enforce a minimum version of the TLS protocol for your Cosmos DB account, using a self-service API.

How minimum TLS version enforcement works in Azure Cosmos DB

Because of the multi-tenant nature of Cosmos DB, the service is required to meet the access and security needs of every user. To achieve this, Cosmos DB enforces minimum TLS protocols at the application layer, and not lower layers in the network stack where TLS operates. This enforcement occurs on any authenticated request to a specific database account, according to the settings set on that account by the customer.

The minimum service-wide accepted version is TLS 1.0. This selection can be changed on a per account basis, as discussed in the following section.

How to set the minimum TLS version for my Cosmos DB database account

Starting with the 2022-11-15 API version of the Azure Cosmos DB Resource Provider API, a new property is exposed for every Cosmos DB database account, called minimalTlsVersion. It accepts one of the following values:

• Tls for setting the minimum version to TLS 1.0.
• Tls11 for setting the minimum version to TLS 1.1.
• Tls12 for setting the minimum version to TLS 1.2.

The default value for new accounts is Tls12.

Set Minimal TLS Protocol in Azure Cosmos DB using the Portal

This self-serve feature is available in the Portal while creating and editing an account. Azure Cosmos DB Accounts enforce the TLS 1.2 protocol. However, Azure Cosmos DB also supports the following TLS protocols depending on the API kind selected.

• MongoDB: TLS 1.2

• Cassandra: TLS 1.2

• Table, SQL and Graph: TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2

Steps to set Minimal TLS Protocol while creating an account

If you're using an API Kind that only supports TLS 1.2, you'll notice in the Networking tab at the bottom the TLS protocol disabled.

If you're using an API Kind that accepts multiple TLS protocols, then you can navigate to the Networking tab and the Minimum Transport Layer Security Protocol option is available. You can change the selected protocol by just clicking on the dropdown and selecting the desired protocol.

After setting up your account, you can review in the Review + create tab, at the bottom inside the Networking section, that the selected TLS Protocol is set as you specified.

Steps to set the Minimal TLS Protocol while editing an account

1. Navigate to your Azure Cosmos DB account on the Azure portal.

2. Select Networking from the left menu, then select the Connectivity tab.

3. You'll find the Minimum Transport Layer Security Protocol option. If you're using an API Kind that only supports TLS 1.2, you'll notice this option disabled. Otherwise, you'll be able to select the desired TLS Protocol by just clicking on it.

4. Click Save once you changed the TLS protocol.

5. Once it is saved, you'll receive a success notification. Still, this change can take up to 15 minutes to take effect after the configuration update is completed.

Set via Azure CLI

To set using Azure CLI, use the command:

rg="myresourcegroup"
dbName="mycosmosdbaccount"
minimalTlsVersion="Tls12"
az cosmosdb update -n $dbName -g $rg --minimal-tls-version $minimalTlsVersion

Set via Azure PowerShell

To set using Azure PowerShell, use the command:

$minimalTlsVersion = 'Tls12'
$patchParameters = @{
  ResourceGroupName = 'myresourcegroup'
  Name = 'mycosmosdbaccount'
  ResourceProviderName = 'Microsoft.DocumentDB'
  ResourceType = 'databaseaccounts'
  ApiVersion = '2022-11-15'
  Payload = "{ 'properties': {
      'minimalTlsVersion': '$minimalTlsVersion'
  } }"
  Method = 'PATCH'
}
Invoke-AzRestMethod @patchParameters

Set via ARM template

To set this property using an ARM template, update your existing template or export a new template for your current deployment, then add "minimalTlsVersion" to the properties for the databaseAccounts resources, with the desired minimum TLS version value. Provided here is a basic example of an Azure Resource Manager template with this property setting, using a parameter.

{
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts",
      "name": "mycosmosdbaccount",
      "apiVersion": "2022-11-15",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "kind": "GlobalDocumentDB",
      "properties": {
        "consistencyPolicy": {
          "defaultConsistencyLevel": "[parameters('defaultConsistencyLevel')]",
          "maxStalenessPrefix": 1,
          "maxIntervalInSeconds": 5
        },
        "locations": [
          {
            "locationName": "[parameters('location')]",
            "failoverPriority": 0
          }
        ],
        "locations": "[variable('locations')]",
        "databaseAccountOfferType": "Standard",
        "minimalTlsVersion": "[parameters('minimalTlsVersion')]",
      }
    }
}

For new accounts

You can create accounts with the minimalTlsVersion property set by using the ARM template above, or by changing the PATCH method to a PUT on either Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell. Make sure to include the other properties for your account.

How to verify minimum TLS version enforcement

Because Cosmos DB enforces the minimum TLS version at the application layer, conventional TLS scanners that check whether handshakes are accepted by the service for a specific TLS version are unreliable to test enforcement in Cosmos DB. To verify enforcement, refer to the official open-source cosmos-tls-scanner tool.

You can also get the current value of the minimalTlsVersion property by using Azure CLI or Azure PowerShell.

Get current value via Azure CLI

To get the current value of the property using Azure CLI, run the command:

subId=$(az account show --query id -o tsv)
rg="myresourcegroup"
dbName="mycosmosdbaccount"
az rest --uri "/subscriptions/$subId/resourceGroups/$rg/providers/Microsoft.DocumentDB/databaseAccounts/$dbName?api-version=2022-11-15" --method GET

Get current value via Azure PowerShell

To get the current value of the property using Azure PowerShell, run the command:

$getParameters = @{
  ResourceGroupName = 'myresourcegroup'
  Name = 'mycosmosdbaccount'
  ResourceProviderName = 'Microsoft.DocumentDB'
  ResourceType = 'databaseaccounts'
  ApiVersion = '2022-11-15'
  Method = 'GET'
}
Invoke-AzRestMethod @getParameters

Next steps

For more information about security in Azure Cosmos DB, see Overview of database security in Azure Cosmos DB .