Security fails fast when policy drifts
Open Policy Agent (OPA) exists to stop that drift before it takes root. It is a lightweight, general-purpose policy engine that enforces rules across microservices, Kubernetes clusters, CI/CD pipelines, and APIs with the same language and structure. A security review of OPA is not optional—it’s the only way to prove trust in the rules you write and ship.
What is Open Policy Agent?
OPA is an open source project from the CNCF. It lets you define policies as code, using the Rego language. These policies can govern resource access, deployment conditions, and sensitive operations. OPA runs close to the workloads, wherever they live—sidecar, daemonset, or embedded.
Why Conduct an OPA Security Review?
Policies control security posture. A mistake in policy logic or placement can open direct attack paths. A review of OPA configurations and Rego code finds:
- Misconfigured policy bundles
- Overly permissive rules
- Missing audit logs
- Weak input validation
- Shadowed or overridden rules in multi-policy setups
A thorough OPA security review examines policy syntax, unit tests, and decision logs. It checks how the outputs integrate into enforcement points like Envoy, Kubernetes admission controllers, or custom microservices.
Critical Areas to Inspect
- Policy Granularity – Rules should be narrow and precise to avoid unnecessary exposure.
- Data Sources – Validate input JSON schemas. Trust only sanitized data.
- Bundle Distribution – Ensure bundles are signed and delivered over TLS.
- Decision Logging – Enable secure logging for every allow/deny decision.
- Fail-Closed Defaults – Systems should default to deny when OPA is unreachable or policy fails.
OPA in the DevSecOps Workflow
Integrating OPA into CI/CD makes policies testable at build time. Continuous review catches regressions before deployment. Pair OPA with vulnerability scans and code review tools for a stronger security net.
Common Risks Without Review
- Drift between intended and deployed policies
- Policy changes without approval workflows
- Blind trust in external data sources
- Unlogged policy decisions
Regular OPA security audits close these gaps before exploitation.
Policy engines are only as strong as their weakest rule. Review OPA today, fix what’s broken, and lock in your enforcement layer. See it live at hoop.dev in minutes—test policies, run reviews, and ship security faster.