Policy-driven authorization for Contour via Envoy ext_authz
Cerbos enforces fine-grained authorization at the Contour ingress layer, using the same Envoy ext_authz protocol that powers the native Envoy integration.
Built on Envoy ext_authz
Contour uses Envoy as its data plane, so Cerbos integrates via the same native ext_authz protocol
Unified policies
The same Cerbos policies that govern your application layer extend to your Kubernetes ingress
Ingress-level enforcement
Unauthorized requests are rejected at the ingress before reaching your services
How Cerbos works with Contour
Contour provides a native integration point for Cerbos, extending policy-driven authorization to another layer of your stack without custom glue code.
Cerbos policies are written in human-readable YAML supporting RBAC, ABAC, and conditional rules. The same policies that govern your application layer now extend to Contour, enforced consistently everywhere.
A unified control plane means one set of policies, one audit trail, and one management workflow, regardless of how many services and infrastructure layers your system spans.
How Cerbos works with Contour
Contour is a Kubernetes ingress controller built on Envoy, maintained by VMware. Because it uses Envoy as its data plane, Cerbos integrates via the same ext_authz gRPC protocol used in standalone Envoy deployments.
- Create an ExtensionService, Define a Contour ExtensionService resource that points to your Cerbos PDP deployment.
- Attach an AuthorizationPolicy, Apply an AuthorizationPolicy to your HTTPProxy resources to route authorization checks through the Cerbos ExtensionService.
- Cerbos evaluates your policies, The same YAML policies used across your entire stack are evaluated and an allow or deny decision is returned.
- Contour enforces the decision, Authorized requests are routed to your upstream services. Unauthorized requests receive a 403.
FAQ
How does Cerbos integrate with Contour?
Contour is built on Envoy, so it inherits Envoy's ext_authz protocol. Cerbos acts as the external authorization service — Contour forwards each request to Cerbos for policy evaluation via its ExtensionService CRD before routing to your upstream services.
Is this the same integration as Envoy?
Yes. Contour uses Envoy as its data plane. The Cerbos integration uses the same ext_authz gRPC protocol, same policy evaluation, and same configuration. You configure it via Contour's ExtensionService and AuthorizationPolicy resources.
Do I need to change my application code?
No. Authorization happens at the ingress layer. Your services receive only pre-authorized traffic.
Learn more about Cerbos
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Cerbos + Contour
- Contour delegates authorization to Cerbos via native integration
- One set of policies enforced across the entire stack
- Unified audit trail for all authorization decisions
- Policies managed without code changes or redeployments
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What is Cerbos?
Cerbos is an end-to-end enterprise authorization software for Zero Trust environments and AI-powered systems. It enforces fine-grained, contextual, and continuous authorization across apps, APIs, AI agents, MCP servers, services, and workloads.
Cerbos consists of an open-source Policy Decision Point, Enforcement Point integrations, and a centrally managed Policy Administration Plane (Cerbos Hub) that coordinates unified policy-based authorization across your architecture. Enforce least privilege & maintain full visibility into access decisions with Cerbos authorization.