Configure mutual TLS (mTLS) for zero-trust service-to-service communication. Use when implementing zero-trust networking, certificate management, or securing internal service communication.
Comprehensive guide to implementing mutual TLS for zero-trust service mesh communication.
┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐
│ Service │ │ Service │
│ A │ │ B │
└────┬────┘ └────┬────┘
│ │
┌────┴────┐ TLS Handshake ┌────┴────┐
│ Proxy │◄───────────────────────────►│ Proxy │
│(Sidecar)│ 1. ClientHello │(Sidecar)│
│ │ 2. ServerHello + Cert │ │
│ │ 3. Client Cert │ │
│ │ 4. Verify Both Certs │ │
│ │ 5. Encrypted Channel │ │
└─────────┘ └─────────┘
Root CA (Self-signed, long-lived)
│
├── Intermediate CA (Cluster-level)
│ │
│ ├── Workload Cert (Service A)
│ └── Workload Cert (Service B)
│
└── Intermediate CA (Multi-cluster)
│
└── Cross-cluster certs
# Enable strict mTLS mesh-wide
apiVersion: security.istio.io/v1beta1