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What Azure Roles Control Management Plane Access for Azure Key Vault?
Learn how Azure AD authentication secures the Key Vault management plane using Azure RBAC roles. Understand the critical difference between the management plane (creating/deleting vaults) and the data plane (accessing secrets) for the AZ-500 exam.
Question
You can use Azure AD authentication to secure Key Vault at the management plane.
A. FALSE
B. TRUE
Answer
B. TRUE
Explanation
The statement is TRUE. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication is the required and exclusive method for securing the management plane of an Azure Key Vault.
You can secure a Key Vault instance using Azure AD authentication.
All administrative actions on Azure resources, including Key Vault, are routed through the Azure Resource Manager (ARM). ARM uses Azure AD to authenticate all requests and then enforces access control using Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
The Management Plane
The management plane for a Key Vault refers to all operations that create, manage, or delete the Key Vault resource itself. This includes actions such as:
- Creating a new Key Vault.
- Deleting an existing Key Vault.
- Modifying Key Vault properties, such as networking rules or soft-delete settings.
- Setting the access control model (either vault access policies or Azure RBAC).
- Managing vault access policies (if that model is used).
To perform any of these actions, a user, group, or service principal must have an appropriate Azure RBAC role assigned at the correct scope (subscription, resource group, or the Key Vault resource itself). Examples of built-in roles that grant management plane permissions include:
- Owner: Provides full access to manage everything, including permissions.
- Contributor: Allows a user to create and manage all types of Azure resources, but not grant access to others.
- Key Vault Contributor: A specific role that grants permissions to manage Key Vaults but does not grant permission to access the secrets, keys, or certificates within them.
Management Plane vs. Data Plane
It is critical to distinguish between the management plane and the data plane. While the management plane is for administering the vault resource, the data plane is for accessing the objects stored inside the vault.
- Data Plane Operations: Reading secrets, signing with a key, or creating a new certificate version.
- Data Plane Security: Access to the data plane is also secured by Azure AD but is controlled separately from the management plane. This access is configured on the Key Vault itself using one of two permission models:
- Vault Access Policies: The original model where you grant individual permissions (like Get, List, Set) for secrets, keys, and certificates directly to Azure AD identities.
- Azure RBAC: The newer, recommended model where you assign specific data plane roles like Key Vault Secrets User or Key Vault Crypto Officer to Azure AD identities.
In summary, Azure AD authentication is the foundation for securing both planes, but the question specifically addresses the management plane, which is controlled exclusively by Azure RBAC roles.
Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 certification exam assessment practice question and answer (Q&A) dump including multiple choice questions (MCQ) and objective type questions, with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 exam and earn Microsoft Certified Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 certification.