feat: added reference grant mode#14209
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davidjumani merged 7 commits intoJun 11, 2026
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Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
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Pull request overview
Adds a configurable ReferenceGrant enforcement mode to kgateway to control how strictly cross-namespace references are validated, preserving current behavior by default while enabling stricter (or disabled) enforcement when desired.
Changes:
- Introduces
ReferenceGrantMode(OFF,PERMISSIVEdefault,STRICT) inapi/settings, including env var parsing and settings tests. - Wires the mode into
RefGrantIndexto globally short-circuit ReferenceGrant checks whenOFF. - Enforces ReferenceGrants for cross-namespace
TrafficPolicy -> GatewayExtensionextensionRefonly inSTRICT, with new translator golden tests and documentation.
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 22 out of 22 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| pkg/pluginsdk/collections/collections.go | Passes Settings.ReferenceGrantMode into NewRefGrantIndex during common collection setup. |
| pkg/krtcollections/policy.go | Extends RefGrantIndex to store mode and bypass checks when mode is OFF; updates constructor signature. |
| pkg/krtcollections/secrets_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/krtcollections/policy_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/krtcollections/policy_backendtls_test.go | Updates tests to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/krtcollections/grpc_route_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/kgateway/query/query_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/kgateway/proxy_syncer/gateway_backend_variants_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/kgateway/proxy_syncer/backendtls_synthetic_test.go | Updates test to construct RefGrantIndex with an explicit mode. |
| pkg/kgateway/extensions2/plugins/trafficpolicy/constructor.go | Adds strict-mode ReferenceGrant validation for cross-namespace extensionRef resolution. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/gateway_translator_test.go | Adds translator test cases covering OFF / PERMISSIVE / STRICT behaviors. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/inputs/reference-grant-mode/off-backendref-no-grant.yaml | New input fixture for OFF mode backend ref behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/inputs/reference-grant-mode/permissive-extensionref-no-grant.yaml | New input fixture for PERMISSIVE mode extensionRef behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/inputs/reference-grant-mode/strict-extensionref-no-grant.yaml | New input fixture for STRICT mode missing grant behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/inputs/reference-grant-mode/strict-extensionref-with-grant.yaml | New input fixture for STRICT mode allowed-with-grant behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/outputs/reference-grant-mode/off-backendref-no-grant.yaml | New golden output for OFF mode backend ref behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/outputs/reference-grant-mode/permissive-extensionref-no-grant.yaml | New golden output for PERMISSIVE mode extensionRef behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/outputs/reference-grant-mode/strict-extensionref-no-grant.yaml | New golden output for STRICT mode missing grant behavior. |
| pkg/kgateway/translator/gateway/testutils/outputs/reference-grant-mode/strict-extensionref-with-grant.yaml | New golden output for STRICT mode allowed-with-grant behavior. |
| devel/reference_grant/reference-grant-mode.md | Adds detailed developer documentation for modes, semantics, and test workflows. |
| api/settings/settings.go | Adds ReferenceGrantMode type/decoder and Settings.ReferenceGrantMode field (default PERMISSIVE). |
| api/settings/settings_test.go | Extends settings tests to cover new env var and invalid-mode error case. |
Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
davidjumani
reviewed
Jun 10, 2026
| } | ||
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| // In Strict mode, cross-namespace ExtensionRef requires a ReferenceGrant. | ||
| if c.commoncol.Settings.ReferenceGrantMode == apisettings.ReferenceGrantStrict { |
Contributor
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It doesn't look nice to have this explicit chek in the traffic policy constructor but its better than keeping it in ReferenceAllowed
| } | ||
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| func NewRefGrantIndex(refgrants krt.Collection[*gwv1b1.ReferenceGrant]) *RefGrantIndex { | ||
| func NewRefGrantIndex(refgrants krt.Collection[*gwv1b1.ReferenceGrant], mode apisettings.ReferenceGrantMode) *RefGrantIndex { |
Contributor
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Thinking of this from a future perspective, where users could turn off reference grants for specific Kinds, would passing the settings object itself be a better idea ?
davidjumani
approved these changes
Jun 10, 2026
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Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
… dyanmic module Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
davidjumani
approved these changes
Jun 11, 2026
This was referenced Jun 11, 2026
chandler-solo
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Jun 15, 2026
…-dev#14239) Signed-off-by: Andy Fong <[email protected]>
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Description
Added 3 modes:
see devel/reference_grant/reference-grant-mode.md for details.
Change Type
/kind feature
Changelog