Amazon CloudFront extended its functionalities to handle WebSocket traffic through Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) origins, allowing real-time applications hosted in private subnets to use CloudFront as a single access point. This reduces the need for exposing servers in public subnets and implementing complex access controls. Applications such as chat platforms, collaborative tools, live dashboards, and IoT management systems benefit from secure, persistent client-server connections.
By integrating WebSocket support with Application Load Balancers, Network Load Balancers, and EC2 instances within private subnets, CloudFront enhances security by minimizing attack surface and provides built-in DDoS protection. This capability is available in all AWS Commercial Regions supporting VPC origins without additional charge for WebSocket traffic.
Source & further reading
Amazon CloudFront Announces WebSocket Support for VPC Origins ↗Source published 2026-05-01. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.