Logic Apps Securing A Logic App

Bias Analysis

Bias Types:

⚠️ windows_first

⚠️ powershell_heavy

⚠️ windows_tools

⚠️ missing_linux_example

Summary:

The documentation demonstrates a Windows bias in several areas. When discussing certificate conversion for client certificate authentication, PowerShell is presented as the primary tool, with detailed steps and syntax. Only as a troubleshooting note is OpenSSL mentioned, and even then, the guidance is less detailed and focuses on resolving errors rather than providing a Linux/Unix-first workflow. There are no Linux shell or OpenSSL command-line examples for the main certificate conversion task, and no mention of Linux-native tools or workflows for other tasks (e.g., base64 encoding, file manipulation). The documentation assumes access to Windows tools and environments, omitting equivalent Linux guidance.

Recommendations:

Provide Linux/Unix shell and OpenSSL command-line examples alongside or before PowerShell examples for tasks such as converting and encoding certificates.
When referencing file paths, use both Windows (C:\path) and Linux (/home/user/path) formats.
Explicitly mention Linux-native tools (e.g., base64, openssl) for encoding and certificate manipulation, and provide step-by-step instructions.
Where troubleshooting steps involve OpenSSL, offer full command-line workflows for Linux users, not just error resolution.
Review other sections for implicit Windows assumptions (e.g., screenshots, terminology) and ensure parity for Linux users.

Create pull request

Date	Scan ID	Status	Bias Status
2025-09-16 00:00	#113	completed	✅ Clean
2025-08-17 00:01	#83	in_progress	✅ Clean
2025-07-13 21:37	#48	completed	✅ Clean
2025-07-12 23:44	#41	in_progress	❌ Biased
2025-07-09 13:09	#3	cancelled	✅ Clean
2025-07-08 04:23	#2	cancelled	❌ Biased

Flagged Code Snippets

<a name="client-certificate-authentication"></a> #### Client certificate authentication [Client certificate authentication](/entra/identity/authentication/concept-certificate-based-authentication) allows or requires users to authenticate directly with X.509 certificates against their Microsoft Entra ID for applications and browser sign-in. This capability helps you adopt a phishing resistant authentication and authenticate with an X.509 certificate against your Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). > [!IMPORTANT] > > For optimal security, Microsoft recommends using [Microsoft Entra ID](/entra/identity/authentication/overview-authentication) > with [managed identities](/entra/identity/managed-identities-azure-resources/overview) for authentication when possible. > This option provides superior security without having to provide credentials. Azure manages this identity and helps keep > authentication information secure so that you don't have to manage this sensitive information. To set up a managed identity > for Azure Logic Apps, see [Authenticate access and connections to Azure resources with managed identities in Azure Logic Apps](authenticate-with-managed-identity.md). If the **Client certificate** option is available and selected, specify these property values: | Property (designer) | Property (JSON) | Required | Value | Description | |---------------------|-----------------|----------|-------|-------------| | **Authentication** | `type` | Yes | **Client certificate** or `ClientCertificate` | The authentication type to use. You can manage certificates with [Azure API Management](../api-management/api-management-howto-mutual-certificates.md). **Note**: Custom connectors don't support certificate-based authentication for both inbound and outbound calls. | | **Pfx** | `pfx` | Yes | <*encoded-pfx-file-content*> | The base64-encoded content from a Personal Information Exchange (PFX) file To convert the PFX file into base64-encoded format, you can use PowerShell 7 by following these steps: 1. Save the certificate content into a variable: `$pfx_cert = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes('c:\certificate.pfx')` 2. Convert the certificate content by using the `ToBase64String()` function and save that content to a text file: `[System.Convert]::ToBase64String($pfx_cert) | Out-File 'pfx-encoded-bytes.txt'` **Troubleshooting**: If you use the `cert mmc/PowerShell` command, you might get this error: `Could not load the certificate private key. Please check the authentication certificate password is correct and try again.` To resolve this error, try converting the PFX file to a PEM file and back again by using the `openssl` command: `openssl pkcs12 -in certificate.pfx -out certificate.pem` `openssl pkcs12 -in certificate.pem -export -out certificate2.pfx` Afterwards, when you get the base64-encoded string for the certificate's newly converted PFX file, the string now works in Azure Logic Apps. | | **Password** | `password`| No | <*password-for-pfx-file*> | The password for accessing the PFX file | > [!NOTE] > > If you try to authenticate with a client certificate using OpenSSL, you might get the following error: > > `BadRequest: Could not load private key` > > To resolve this error, follow these steps: > > 1. Uninstall all OpenSSL instances. > 2. Install OpenSSL version 1.1.1t. > 3. Resign your certificate using the new update. > 4. Add the new certificate to the HTTP operation when using client certificate authentication. When you use [secured parameters](#secure-action-parameters) to handle and secure sensitive information, for example, in an [Azure Resource Manager template for automating deployment](../logic-apps/logic-apps-azure-resource-manager-templates-overview.md), you can use expressions to access these parameter values at runtime. This example HTTP action definition specifies the authentication `type` as `ClientCertificate` and uses the [parameters() function](../logic-apps/workflow-definition-language-functions-reference.md#parameters) to get the parameter values:

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