API Gateway REST API method has no authorization

Severity: High
Service: API Gateway
Check ID: APIGW_NO_AUTH_ON_METHOD

What this check finds

One or more API Gateway REST API methods allow unauthenticated access. Methods with authorizationType NONE are publicly callable without any identity verification.

Passing looks like: API Gateway methods require authorization.

How to fix it

Add an authorizer (Cognito, Lambda, or IAM) to each method.

AWS CLI

aws apigateway update-method --rest-api-id API_ID --resource-id RESOURCE_ID --http-method METHOD --patch-operations op=replace,path=/authorizationType,value=AWS_IAM

Names in capitals are placeholders for your own resource. Review a command before you run it.

AWS console

API Gateway → Resources → Method Request → Authorization.

Compliance controls it is evidence for

A failing result counts against these controls in KloudLytics; a passing one is evidence towards them. How compliance mapping works

Compliance controls mapped to API Gateway REST API method has no authorization
Framework	Controls
PCI-DSS v4.0.1	7.2 Access to system components and data is appropriately defined and assigned
NIST SP 800-53 Rev5 (Moderate)	AC-3 Access Enforcement IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)
NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0	PR.AA-03 Users, services, and hardware are authenticated PR.AA-05 Access permissions and authorizations are enforced with least privilege
ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A	A.5.15 Access control A.8.5 Secure authentication

Checked on every scan

KloudLytics runs this check each time it scans a connected AWS account, through a read-only role, and lists every affected resource with its region. On Pro and Business a fix is written for the specific resource rather than the general case above. The exact access it needs

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