API Gateway Method Has No Authorization

What this rule checks

Detects AWS::ApiGateway::Method and AWS::ApiGatewayV2::Route resources where AuthorizationType is missing or NONE (excluding OPTIONS preflight). Public-by-default endpoints expose backend Lambdas to anyone on the internet.

How to fix it

1. 1Set AuthorizationType to AWS_IAM, COGNITO_USER_POOLS, or CUSTOM (REST APIs)
2. 2Use JWT or AWS_IAM AuthorizationType for HTTP APIs (v2)
3. 3If the route is intentionally public (e.g. webhook receiver), prefer api-key + WAF rate limiting and suppress this rule explicitly

import { aws_apigateway as apigw, aws_lambda as lambda } from 'aws-cdk-lib';

const handler = new lambda.Function(this, 'Handler', {
  runtime: lambda.Runtime.NODEJS_20_X,
  handler: 'index.handler',
  code: lambda.Code.fromInline('exports.handler = async () => ({ statusCode: 200 });'),
});

const api = new apigw.RestApi(this, 'Api');
const orders = api.root.addResource('orders');
orders.addMethod('GET', new apigw.LambdaIntegration(handler), {
  authorizationType: apigw.AuthorizationType.NONE,
});

import { aws_apigateway as apigw, aws_lambda as lambda, aws_cognito as cognito } from 'aws-cdk-lib';

const handler = new lambda.Function(this, 'Handler', {
  runtime: lambda.Runtime.NODEJS_20_X,
  handler: 'index.handler',
  code: lambda.Code.fromInline('exports.handler = async () => ({ statusCode: 200 });'),
});

const userPool = new cognito.UserPool(this, 'UserPool');
const authorizer = new apigw.CognitoUserPoolsAuthorizer(this, 'Authorizer', {
  cognitoUserPools: [userPool],
});

const api = new apigw.RestApi(this, 'Api');
const orders = api.root.addResource('orders');
orders.addMethod('GET', new apigw.LambdaIntegration(handler), {
  authorizationType: apigw.AuthorizationType.COGNITO,
  authorizer,
});

CDK Insights pinpoints the exact file and line in your CDK source for every finding, so you can jump straight to the fix.

Affected resource types

Intentional? Suppress this finding

Sometimes a flag is deliberate — a genuinely public endpoint, say. You can dismiss api-gateway-method-auth-missing and the reason is kept in the report, not silently hidden.

In .cdk-insights.json:

{
  "ignoreRules": [
    { "id": "api-gateway-method-auth-missing", "reason": "Why this is intentional" }
  ]
}

Or inline in your CDK code:

Validations.of(scope).acknowledge({
  id: 'cdk-insights::api-gateway-method-auth-missing',
  reason: 'Why this is intentional',
});

Use the rule ID api-gateway-method-auth-missing shown above — not the CDK-* ID from SARIF / GitHub code scanning. To dismiss every finding on one construct instead, use ignorePaths. Suppression docs →

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