Kong Gateway

Kong Gateway at a glance

Kong is a widely used open-source API gateway, managing, securing and routing API traffic in front of many services. Kong ships regular releases plus security fixes; as a component in the request path that often handles authentication and holds credentials, hardening and timely patching are essential.

For admins Kong sees and routes API traffic and enforces auth, so treat it as security-critical: keep it current, apply security releases promptly, and never expose the Admin API to the internet — it controls the gateway and must stay on a protected network behind strong access control. Updates can bring configuration and plugin changes and database migrations (for the traditional mode) — back up first and read the upgrade notes. Plugins extend Kong and have their own versions. After upgrading, verify that routes, plugins and authentication work end to end. Mind the datastore (or DB-less/declarative) mode you run. Track the version and its support window; patchletter surfaces new Kong releases.