How to Secure Terraform Before Deploying to Azure: 7 CI/CD Checks

Secure Terraform before Azure deployment by combining validation, IaC scanning, secret detection, RBAC review, policy as code, plan review, and controlled production approval.

Recommended Pipeline

Pull Request -> Validate -> IaC Scan -> Secret Scan -> Policy -> Plan -> Review -> Apply

Step 1: Validate

terraform fmt -check
terraform init
terraform validate

Step 2: Scan IaC

checkov -d .
trivy config .

Look for public resources, missing encryption, weak network rules, and excessive permissions.

Step 3: Scan Secrets

gitleaks detect --source .

Do not replace a hardcoded secret with a committed Terraform variable. Use a secret manager.

Step 4: Review RBAC

Avoid broad roles for CI identities. Scope permissions to the resource group or resources actually deployed.

Step 5: Protect State

Use a secure remote backend with encryption, restricted access, appropriate retention, and concurrency protection.

Step 6: Review the Plan

Look for public exposure, IAM changes, firewall changes, destructive operations, and unexpected resource creation.

Policy Example

IF production storage is public -> deny
IF CI identity is Owner -> deny
IF production resource lacks required logging -> deny

Final Takeaway

The objective is to prevent insecure infrastructure from reaching deployment, not simply to generate scanner reports.