ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)

Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); API Gateway for Client Applications

DGS/MEC-0060v411ClientApiGW

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• Technical Committee: MEC - Multi-access Edge Computing
• Current Stage: 12 - Citation in the OJ (auto-insert)
• Due Date: 07-Apr-2026
• Completion Date: 07-Apr-2026

Standards Content (Sample)

GROUP SPECIFICATION
Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC);
API Gateway for Client Applications
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) ETSI Industry
Specification Group (ISG) and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.

2 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)

Reference
DGS/MEC-0060v411ClientApiGW
Keywords
authorization, gateway
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ETSI
3 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 4
Foreword . 4
Modal verbs terminology . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 References . 5
2.1 Normative references . 5
2.2 Informative references . 5
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 6
3.1 Terms . 6
3.2 Symbols . 6
3.3 Abbreviations . 6
4 Overview . 6
5 Description of the service (informative). 6
5.1 Introduction . 6
5.1.1 Overview . 6
5.1.2 The functionality of API gateway for client applications . 7
5.2 Sequence diagrams . 7
5.2.1 Introduction. 7
5.2.2 Access token-based authorization . 8
6 Specification level requirements . 9
7 Information model . 9
7.1 Type: SecConfig . 9
Annex A (informative): Aspects related to API Gateways. 11
A.1 Background information. 11
A.2 API Gateways in Multi-access Edge Computing . 11
Annex B (informative): AGW authorization policy examples . 13
B.1 Introduction . 13
B.2 Examples . 13
Annex C (informative): Complementary material for data model utilization . 14
Annex D (informative): Change history . 15
History . 16

ETSI
4 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The declarations
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, are publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be
found in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to
ETSI in respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the
ETSI IPR online database.
Pursuant to the ETSI Directives including the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation regarding the essentiality of IPRs,
including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not
referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web server) which are, or may be, or may become,
essential to the present document.
Trademarks
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ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
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3GPP Organizational Partners. oneM2M™ logo is a trademark of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members and of ®
the oneM2M Partners. GSM and the GSM logo are trademarks registered and owned by the GSM Association.
Foreword
This Group Specification (GS) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Multi-access Edge
Computing (MEC).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and
"cannot" are to be interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of
provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
ETSI
5 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)
1 Scope
The present document specifies requirements and an information model related to the granting and revocation of client
application access to MEC application client-facing endpoints via the API Gateway for client applications (AGW), and
supporting the exchange of management-related information between the MEC system and the AGW.
In addition, the present document describes the access granting procedure defined by OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow
when it is applied via the API Gateway. This procedure can be used to access MEC applications over the Mx3 reference
point between the client application and the AGW in the MEC system.
The intended audience of the present document are the application developers for the MEC system, since it specifies
requirements and an information model supporting security-related access control for client applications accessing their
MEC applications via an API Gateway.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
Referenced documents which are not found to be publicly available in the expected location might be found in the
ETSI docbox.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long-term validity.
The following referenced documents are necessary for the application of the present document.
[1] ETSI GS MEC 002: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); Phase 2: Use Cases and
Requirements".
[2] IETF RFC 6749: "The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework".
[3] IETF RFC 6750: "The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework: Bearer Token Usage".
[4] IETF RFC 8705: "OAuth 2.0 Mutual-TLS Client Authentication and Certificate-Bound Access
Tokens".
[5] ETSI GS MEC 010-2: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); MEC Management; Part 2:
Application lifecycle, rules and requirements management".
[6] ETSI GS MEC 011: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); Edge Platform Application
Enablement".
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long-term validity.
The following referenced documents may be useful in implementing an ETSI deliverable or add to the reader's
understanding, but are not required for conformance to the present document.
[i.1] ETSI GR MEC 001: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) Terminology".
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6 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)
[i.2] ETSI GS MEC 009: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); General principles, patterns and
common aspects of MEC Service APIs".
[i.3] ETSI GS MEC 003: "Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC); Framework and Reference
Architecture".
[i.4] OpenAPI™ Specification.
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the terms given in ETSI GR MEC 001 [i.1] and the following apply:
API gateway for client applications: system level functional element that authorizes requests from the client
application to access services provided by the MEC Applications, revoking this authorization upon certain conditions
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the abbreviations given in ETSI GR MEC 001 [i.1] and the following apply:
AA Authentication and Authorization
AGW API GateWay (for client applications)
SMM Security Monitoring and Management
4 Overview
The present document addresses access control for interactions over the Mx3 reference point between client
applications and the API Gateway for client applications (AGW) in the MEC system, in support of the corresponding
requirements defined for the Multi-access Edge Computing in clause 6.3.17 of ETSI GS MEC 002 [1].
Clause 5 describes the access granting procedure defined by the OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow when it is applied via
the API Gateway and illustrates the corresponding information flow over the Mx3 reference point.
Clauses 6 and 7 specify the normative requirements and the information model for access control related to the Mx3
reference point, including configuration and enforcement of access control by the API Gateway.
5 Description of the service (informative)
5.1 Introduction
5.1.1 Overview
Where deployed, an API gateway is an entity that serves as a single entry point for managing requests from client
applications (also referred to API calls). In the context of MEC, client application interaction with a MEC application
can be considered analogous to the general client interaction with an API, particularly regarding the functional role of
the API gateway for client applications.
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7 ETSI GS MEC 060 V4.1.1 (2026-04)
A client application interacts with a MEC application by sending request messages and receiving response messages.
The API gateway authenticates the client application and ensures that only authorized requests are forwarded to the
MEC application for processing them and generating a response which is then returned to the client application. This
way, the API gateway enforces access control to the applications or resources it is protecting.
The involvement of the API gateway as a relay in the interaction between client application and API (i.e. MEC
application) is typically transparent to the client application, except that it requires the client application to present a
security token to authorize the interaction. A client application request to access a URI/server/application (i.e. MEC
application) can be routed via the API gateway through appropriate network router
...