We’re excited to announce that Azure Linux 3.0 has successfully passed the Level 1 Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks, reinforcing our commitment to delivering a secure and compliant platform for customers running Linux workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
What is CIS?
The Center for Internet Security is a nonprofit entity whose mission is to identify, develop, validate, promote, and sustain best practice solutions for cyber defense. It draws on the expertise of cybersecurity and IT professionals from government, business, and academia from around the world. To develop standards and best practices, including CIS benchmarks, controls, and hardened images, they follow a consensus decision-making model.
CIS benchmarks are configuration baselines and best practices for securely configuring a system. CIS controls map to many established standards and regulatory frameworks, including the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and NIST SP 800-53, the ISO 27000 series of standards, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and others.
Each benchmark undergoes two phases of consensus review. The first occurs during initial development when experts convene to discuss, create, and test working drafts until they reach consensus on the benchmark. During the second phase, after the benchmark has been published, the consensus team reviews the feedback from the internet community for incorporation into the benchmark.
CIS benchmarks provide two levels of security settings:
- Level 1 recommends essential basic security requirements that can be configured on any system and should cause little or no interruption of service or reduced functionality.
- Level 2 recommends security settings for environments requiring greater security that could result in some reduced functionality.
What does this mean for Azure Linux 3.0?
By meeting Level 1 requirements, Azure Linux 3.0 ensures that essential security controls are in place—helping organizations meet regulatory compliance and protect against common threats, without sacrificing performance or agility.
For security and compliance-focused customers, this milestone means you can confidently deploy and scale your Linux-based applications on AKS, knowing that your foundation aligns with industry’s best practices. Azure Linux 3.0’s compliance with CIS Level 1 benchmarks support your efforts to achieve and maintain rigorous security postures, whether you’re subject to regulatory frameworks or following internal policies.
How can customers try it out?
We remain dedicated to making security simple. All Azure Linux 3.0 nodes on an AKS cluster will meet the Level 1 CIS benchmarks – no extra flags or parameters.
Resources
Visit the CIS Benchmark documentation to read a detailed list of benchmarks: Center for Internet Security (CIS) Benchmarks - Microsoft Compliance | Microsoft Learn.
Microsoft