AI Cyber Defense / Network edge and segmentation
AI Cyber Defense: Avoid policy bypass through load-balancer backends
Restrict backend ingress to approved proxies and health checks. Validate identity information at the trust boundary and do not trust arbitrary client-supplied forwarding headers.
Environment and inputs: Enterprise routers, switches, firewalls, VPNs and workload segmentation; use syntax and features supported by the deployed platform.
Scenario and goal
A backend reachable outside the proxy path can bypass authentication, filtering and rate controls at the edge.
Why it matters
For this scenario, assume discovery can enumerate alternate listeners, address families and routes repeatedly. Define the boundary as permitted communication between named roles, rather than physical network location alone. Separate management, control and application traffic when reviewing the effect of a change. Encryption protects a transport relationship but does not establish that its peer should reach every destination behind it.
Evidence to collect
Compare backend bind addresses, security groups, proxy source ranges and application access logs including direct connection attempts.
Validate with an authorized exercise
Send a direct request from an untrusted staging host and a legitimate proxied request; expect denial for the direct path and correct client attribution for the proxy path.
Rollout and checks
Export the effective policy and routes before a change and confirm a tested recovery channel. Apply the narrowest change to a representative test segment first. Measure permitted application transactions and forbidden reachability after deployment, including alternate paths. Review deny counters with source and destination context before concluding that a policy is correct or safe to broaden.
Scope and limits
This guide proposes a defensive test; it is not a tested production design. Check platform support and local requirements. References explain the mechanisms but do not certify the design. Behavior alone does not prove AI involvement.