CIS 1.6自我评估指南
CIS Kubernetes 基准测试 v1.6 - RKE2#
概述#
本文件是 RKE2 安全加固指南的配套文件。硬化指南为 RKE2 的生产安装提供了规范性的指导，而本基准指南旨在帮助你根据 CIS Kubernetes 基准中的每一项控制来评估硬化后的集群的安全水平。它将被 RKE2 运营商、安全团队、审计师和决策者使用。
本指南是针对 RKE2 的 v1.20 和 v1.22 版本和 CIS Kubernetes 基准的 v1.6.1 版本。
关于每个控制的更多细节，包括更详细的描述和测试失败的补救措施，你可以参考 CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.6.1 的相应部分。你可以在登录CISecurity.org后下载该基准。
测试控制方法#
CIS Kubernetes 基准中的每一项控制都是针对根据附带的加固指南配置的 RKE2 集群进行评估的。
在控制审计与原始 CIS 基准不同的地方，提供了 RKE2 特有的审计命令供测试。
以下是每个控制的可能结果：
- 通过 - 被测试的 RKE2 集群通过了基准中概述的审计。
- 不适用 - 由于 RKE2 的设计运行方式，该控制不适用。补救措施部分将解释为什么会这样。
- 手动 - 取决于操作者 - 该控制在 CIS 基准中是手动的，它取决于集群的使用情况或其他一些必须由集群操作员决定的因素。这些控制已被评估，以确保 RKE2 不会阻止其实施，但没有对被测集群进行进一步配置或审计。
Controls#
1 Master Node Security Configuration#
1.1 Master Node Configuration Files#
1.1.1#
Ensure that the API server pod specification file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The API server pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the API server. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.2#
Ensure that the API server pod specification file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The API server pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the API server. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.3#
Ensure that the controller manager pod specification file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The controller manager pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the Controller Manager on the master node. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.4#
Ensure that the controller manager pod specification file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The controller manager pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of various components of the master node. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.5#
Ensure that the scheduler pod specification file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The scheduler pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the Scheduler service in the master node. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.6#
Ensure that the scheduler pod specification file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The scheduler pod specification file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the kube-scheduler service in the master node. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.7#
Ensure that the etcd pod specification file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The etcd pod specification file /var/lib/rancher/rke2/agent/pod-manifests/etcd.yaml controls various parameters that set the behavior of the etcd service in the master node. etcd is a highly-available key-value store which Kubernetes uses for persistent storage of all of its REST API object. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.8#
Ensure that the etcd pod specification file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The etcd pod specification file /var/lib/rancher/rke2/agent/pod-manifests/etcd.yaml controls various parameters that set the behavior of the etcd service in the master node. etcd is a highly-available key-value store which Kubernetes uses for persistent storage of all of its REST API object. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates these files with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.9#
Ensure that the Container Network Interface file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Manual)
Rationale
Container Network Interface provides various networking options for overlay networking. You should consult their documentation and restrict their respective file permissions to maintain the integrity of those files. Those files should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
RKE2 deploys the default CNI, Canal, using a Helm chart. The chart is defined as a custom resource in a file with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.10#
Ensure that the Container Network Interface file ownership is set to root:root (Manual)
Rationale
Container Network Interface provides various networking options for overlay networking. You should consult their documentation and restrict their respective file permissions to maintain the integrity of those files. Those files should be owned by root:root.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
RKE2 deploys the default CNI, Canal, using a Helm chart. The chart is defined as a custom resource in a file with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.11#
Ensure that the etcd data directory permissions are set to 700 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key-value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. This data directory should be protected from any unauthorized reads or writes. It should not be readable or writable by any group members or the world.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation: RKE2 manages the etcd data directory and sets its permissions to 700. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.12#
Ensure that the etcd data directory ownership is set to etcd:etcd (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key-value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. This data directory should be protected from any unauthorized reads or writes. It should be owned by etcd:etcd.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
When running RKE2 with the profile flag set to cis-1.6, RKE2 will refuse to start if the etcd user and group doesn't exist on the host. If it does exist, RKE2 will automatically set the ownership of the etcd data directory to etcd:etcd and ensure the etcd static pod is started with that user and group.
1.1.13#
Ensure that the admin.conf file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The admin.conf is the administrator kubeconfig file defining various settings for the administration of the cluster. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/admin.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/admin.kubeconfig and automatically sets its permissions to 644. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.14#
Ensure that the admin.conf file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The admin.conf file contains the admin credentials for the cluster. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/admin.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at stat -c %U:%G /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/admin.kubeconfig and automatically sets its ownership to root:root.
1.1.15#
Ensure that the scheduler.conf file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The scheduler.conf file is the kubeconfig file for the Scheduler. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.
In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/scheduler.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/scheduler.kubeconfig and automatically sets its permissions to 644. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.16#
Ensure that the scheduler.conf file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The scheduler.conf file is the kubeconfig file for the Scheduler. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/scheduler.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/scheduler.kubeconfig and automatically sets its ownership to root:root.
1.1.17#
Ensure that the controller.kubeconfig file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The controller.kubeconfig file is the kubeconfig file for the Scheduler. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/controller.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/controller.kubeconfig and automatically sets its permissions to 644. No manual remediation needed.
1.1.18#
Ensure that the controller.kubeconfig file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The controller.kubeconfig file is the kubeconfig file for the Scheduler. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by root:root.In RKE2, this file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/controller.kubeconfig.
Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates this file at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/controller.kubeconfig and automatically sets its ownership to root:root.
1.1.19#
Ensure that the Kubernetes PKI directory and file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes makes use of a number of certificates as part of its operation. You should set the ownership of the directory containing the PKI information and all files in that directory to maintain their integrity. The directory and files should be owned by root:root.Result: Pass
Audit:
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates the directory and files with the expected ownership of root:root. No manual remediation should be necessary.
1.1.20#
Ensure that the Kubernetes PKI certificate file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes makes use of a number of certificate files as part of the operation of its components. The permissions on these files should be set to 644 or more restrictive to protect their integrity.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the permissions are 644 or more restrictive.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates the files with the expected permissions of 644. No manual remediation is needed.
1.1.21#
Ensure that the Kubernetes PKI key file permissions are set to 600 (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes makes use of a number of key files as part of the operation of its components. The permissions on these files should be set to 600 to protect their integrity and confidentiality.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the permissions are 600 or more restrictive.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates the files with the expected permissions of 600. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2 API Server#
This section contains recommendations relating to API server configuration flags
1.2.1#
Ensure that the --anonymous-auth argument is set to false (Manual)
Rationale
When enabled, requests that are not rejected by other configured authentication methods are treated as anonymous requests. These requests are then served by the API server. You should rely on authentication to authorize access and disallow anonymous requests.If you are using RBAC authorization, it is generally considered reasonable to allow anonymous access to the API Server for health checks and discovery purposes, and hence this recommendation is Manual. However, you should consider whether anonymous discovery is an acceptable risk for your purposes.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that --anonymous-auth=false is present.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 kube-apiserver is configured to run with this flag and value. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.2#
Ensure that the --basic-auth-file argument is not set (Automated)
Rationale
Basic authentication uses plaintext credentials for authentication. Currently, the basic authentication credentials last indefinitely, and the password cannot be changed without restarting the API server. The basic authentication is currently supported for convenience. Hence, basic authentication should not be used.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --basic-auth-file argument does not exist.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 does not run with basic authentication enabled. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.3#
Ensure that the --token-auth-file parameter is not set (Automated)
Rationale
The token-based authentication utilizes static tokens to authenticate requests to the apiserver. The tokens are stored in clear-text in a file on the apiserver, and cannot be revoked or rotated without restarting the apiserver. Hence, do not use static token-based authentication.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --token-auth-file argument does not exist.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 does not run with basic authentication enabled. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.4#
Ensure that the --kubelet-https argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
Connections from apiserver to kubelets could potentially carry sensitive data such as secrets and keys. It is thus important to use in-transit encryption for any communication between the apiserver and kubelets.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --kubelet-https argument does not exist.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 kube-apiserver doesn't run with the --kubelet-https parameter as it runs with TLS. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.5#
Ensure that the --kubelet-client-certificate and --kubelet-client-key arguments are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
The apiserver, by default, does not authenticate itself to the kubelet's HTTPS endpoints. The requests from the apiserver are treated anonymously. You should set up certificate- based kubelet authentication to ensure that the apiserver authenticates itself to kubelets when submitting requests.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --kubelet-client-certificate and --kubelet-client-key arguments exist and they are set as appropriate.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 kube-apiserver is ran with these arguments for secure communication with kubelet. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.6#
Ensure that the --kubelet-certificate-authority argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
The connections from the apiserver to the kubelet are used for fetching logs for pods, attaching (through kubectl) to running pods, and using the kubelet’s port-forwarding functionality. These connections terminate at the kubelet’s HTTPS endpoint. By default, the apiserver does not verify the kubelet’s serving certificate, which makes the connection subject to man-in-the-middle attacks, and unsafe to run over untrusted and/or public networks.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --kubelet-certificate-authority argument exists and is set as appropriate.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 kube-apiserver is ran with this argument for secure communication with kubelet. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.7#
Ensure that the --authorization-mode argument is not set to AlwaysAllow (Automated)
Rationale
The API Server, can be configured to allow all requests. This mode should not be used on any production cluster.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the argument value doesn't contain AlwaysAllow.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets Node,RBAC as the parameter to the --authorization-mode argument. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.8#
Ensure that the --authorization-mode argument includes Node (Automated)
Rationale
The Node authorization mode only allows kubelets to read Secret, ConfigMap, PersistentVolume, and PersistentVolumeClaim objects associated with their nodes.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify Node exists as a parameter to the argument.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets Node,RBAC as the parameter to the --authorization-mode argument. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.9#
Ensure that the --authorization-mode argument includes RBAC (Automated)
Rationale
Role Based Access Control (RBAC) allows fine-grained control over the operations that different entities can perform on different objects in the cluster. It is recommended to use the RBAC authorization mode.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify RBAC exists as a parameter to the argument.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets Node,RBAC as the parameter to the --authorization-mode argument. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.10#
Ensure that the admission control plugin EventRateLimit is set (Manual)
Rationale
Using `EventRateLimit` admission control enforces a limit on the number of events that the API Server will accept in a given time slice. A misbehaving workload could overwhelm and DoS the API Server, making it unavailable. This particularly applies to a multi-tenant cluster, where there might be a small percentage of misbehaving tenants which could have a significant impact on the performance of the cluster overall. Hence, it is recommended to limit the rate of events that the API server will accept.Note: This is an Alpha feature in the Kubernetes 1.15 release.
Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --enable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that includes EventRateLimit.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 only sets NodeRestriction,PodSecurityPolicy as the parameter to the --enable-admission-plugins argument.
To configure this, follow the Kubernetes documentation and set the desired limits in a configuration file. Then refer to RKE2's documentation to see how to supply additional api server configuration via the kube-apiserver-arg parameter.
1.2.11#
Ensure that the admission control plugin AlwaysAdmit is not set (Automated)
Rationale
Setting admission control plugin AlwaysAdmit allows all requests and do not filter any requests.The AlwaysAdmit admission controller was deprecated in Kubernetes v1.13. Its behavior was equivalent to turning off all admission controllers.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that if the --enable-admission-plugins argument is set, its value does not include AlwaysAdmit.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 only sets NodeRestriction,PodSecurityPolicy as the parameter to the --enable-admission-plugins argument. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.12#
Ensure that the admission control plugin AlwaysPullImages is set (Manual)
Rationale
Setting admission control policy to `AlwaysPullImages` forces every new pod to pull the required images every time. In a multi-tenant cluster users can be assured that their private images can only be used by those who have the credentials to pull them. Without this admission control policy, once an image has been pulled to a node, any pod from any user can use it simply by knowing the image’s name, without any authorization check against the image ownership. When this plug-in is enabled, images are always pulled prior to starting containers, which means valid credentials are required.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --enable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that includes AlwaysPullImages.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 only sets NodeRestriction,PodSecurityPolicy as the parameter to the --enable-admission-plugins argument.
To configure this, follow the Kubernetes documentation and set the desired limits in a configuration file. Then refer to RKE2's documentation to see how to supply additional api server configuration via the kube-apiserver-arg parameter.
1.2.13#
Ensure that the admission control plugin SecurityContextDeny is set if PodSecurityPolicy is not used (Manual)
Rationale
SecurityContextDeny can be used to provide a layer of security for clusters which do not have PodSecurityPolicies enabled.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --enable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that includes SecurityContextDeny, if PodSecurityPolicy is not included.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 automatically enables the PodSecurityPolicy admission plugin. Therefore, the SecurityContextDeny plugin need not be enabled. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.14#
Ensure that the admission control plugin ServiceAccount is set (Automated)
Rationale
When you create a pod, if you do not specify a service account, it is automatically assigned the `default` service account in the same namespace. You should create your own service account and let the API server manage its security tokens.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --disable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that does not includes ServiceAccount.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 does not use this argument. If there's a desire to use this argument, follow the documentation and create ServiceAccount objects as per your environment. Then refer to RKE2's documentation to see how to supply additional api server configuration via the kube-apiserver-arg parameter.
1.2.15#
Ensure that the admission control plugin NamespaceLifecycle is set (Automated)
Rationale
Setting admission control policy to `NamespaceLifecycle` ensures that objects cannot be created in non-existent namespaces, and that namespaces undergoing termination are not used for creating the new objects. This is recommended to enforce the integrity of the namespace termination process and also for the availability of the newer objects.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --disable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that does not include NamespaceLifecycle.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 does not use this argument. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.16#
Ensure that the admission control plugin PodSecurityPolicy is set (Automated)
Rationale
A Pod Security Policy is a cluster-level resource that controls the actions that a pod can perform and what it has the ability to access. The `PodSecurityPolicy` objects define a set of conditions that a pod must run with in order to be accepted into the system. Pod Security Policies are comprised of settings and strategies that control the security features a pod has access to and hence this must be used to control pod access permissions.Note: When the PodSecurityPolicy admission plugin is in use, there needs to be at least one PodSecurityPolicy in place for ANY pods to be admitted. See section 1.7 for recommendations on PodSecurityPolicy settings.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --enable-admission-plugins argument is set to a value that includes PodSecurityPolicy.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 only sets NodeRestriction,PodSecurityPolicy as the parameter to the --enable-admission-plugins argument. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.17#
Ensure that the admission control plugin NodeRestriction is set (Automated)
Rationale
Using the `NodeRestriction` plug-in ensures that the kubelet is restricted to the `Node` and `Pod` objects that it could modify as defined. Such kubelets will only be allowed to modify their own `Node` API object, and only modify `Pod` API objects that are bound to their node.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 only sets NodeRestriction,PodSecurityPolicy as the parameter to the --enable-admission-plugins argument. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.18#
Ensure that the --insecure-bind-address argument is not set (Automated)
Rationale
If you bind the apiserver to an insecure address, basically anyone who could connect to it over the insecure port, would have unauthenticated and unencrypted access to your master node. The apiserver doesn't do any authentication checking for insecure binds and traffic to the Insecure API port is not encrpyted, allowing attackers to potentially read sensitive data in transit.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --insecure-bind-address argument does not exist.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 explicitly excludes the use of the --insecure-bind-address parameter. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.19#
Ensure that the --insecure-port argument is set to 0 (Automated)
Rationale
Setting up the apiserver to serve on an insecure port would allow unauthenticated and unencrypted access to your master node. This would allow attackers who could access this port, to easily take control of the cluster.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --insecure-port argument is set to 0.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 starts the kube-apiserver process with this argument's parameter set to 0. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.20#
Ensure that the --secure-port argument is not set to 0 (Automated)
Rationale
The secure port is used to serve https with authentication and authorization. If you disable it, no https traffic is served and all traffic is served unencrypted.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --secure-port argument is either not set or is set to an integer value between 1 and 65535.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the parameter of 6443 for the --secure-port argument. No manual remediation is needed.
1.2.21#
Ensure that the --profiling argument is set to false (Automated)
Rationale
Profiling allows for the identification of specific performance bottlenecks. It generates a significant amount of program data that could potentially be exploited to uncover system and program details. If you are not experiencing any bottlenecks and do not need the profiler for troubleshooting purposes, it is recommended to turn it off to reduce the potential attack surface.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --profiling argument is set to false.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --profiling flag parameter to false. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.22#
Ensure that the --audit-log-path argument is set (Automated)
Rationale
Auditing the Kubernetes API Server provides a security-relevant chronological set of records documenting the sequence of activities that have affected system by individual users, administrators or other components of the system. Even though currently, Kubernetes provides only basic audit capabilities, it should be enabled. You can enable it by setting an appropriate audit log path.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --audit-log-path argument is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --audit-log-path argument and parameter. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.23#
Ensure that the --audit-log-maxage argument is set to 30 or as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Retaining logs for at least 30 days ensures that you can go back in time and investigate or correlate any events. Set your audit log retention period to 30 days or as per your business requirements.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --audit-log-maxage argument is set to 30 or as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --audit-log-maxage argument parameter to 30. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.24#
Ensure that the --audit-log-maxbackup argument is set to 10 or as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes automatically rotates the log files. Retaining old log files ensures that you would have sufficient log data available for carrying out any investigation or correlation. For example, if you have set file size of 100 MB and the number of old log files to keep as 10, you would approximate have 1 GB of log data that you could potentially use for your analysis.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --audit-log-maxbackup argument is set to 10 or as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --audit-log-maxbackup argument parameter to 10. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.25#
Ensure that the --audit-log-maxsize argument is set to 100 or as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes automatically rotates the log files. Retaining old log files ensures that you would have sufficient log data available for carrying out any investigation or correlation. If you have set file size of 100 MB and the number of old log files to keep as 10, you would approximate have 1 GB of log data that you could potentially use for your analysis.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --audit-log-maxsize argument is set to 100 or as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --audit-log-maxsize argument parameter to 100. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.26#
Ensure that the --request-timeout argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Setting global request timeout allows extending the API server request timeout limit to a duration appropriate to the user's connection speed. By default, it is set to 60 seconds which might be problematic on slower connections making cluster resources inaccessible once the data volume for requests exceeds what can be transmitted in 60 seconds. But, setting this timeout limit to be too large can exhaust the API server resources making it prone to Denial-of-Service attack. Hence, it is recommended to set this limit as appropriate and change the default limit of 60 seconds only if needed.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --request-timeout argument is either not set or set to an appropriate value.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 does not set the --request-timeout argument. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.27#
Ensure that the --service-account-lookup argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
If `--service-account-lookup` is not enabled, the apiserver only verifies that the authentication token is valid, and does not validate that the service account token mentioned in the request is actually present in etcd. This allows using a service account token even after the corresponding service account is deleted. This is an example of time of check to time of use security issue.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that if the --service-account-lookup argument exists it is set to true.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 doesn't set this argument in favor of taking the default effect. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.28#
Ensure that the --service-account-key-file argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
By default, if no `--service-account-key-file` is specified to the apiserver, it uses the private key from the TLS serving certificate to verify service account tokens. To ensure that the keys for service account tokens could be rotated as needed, a separate public/private key pair should be used for signing service account tokens. Hence, the public key should be specified to the apiserver with `--service-account-key-file`.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --service-account-key-file argument exists and is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --service-account-key-file explicitly. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.29#
Ensure that the --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be protected by client authentication. This requires the API server to identify itself to the etcd server using a client certificate and key.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments exist and they are set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments explicitly. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.30#
Ensure that the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
API server communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the API server to serve only HTTPS traffic.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments exist and they are set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments explicitly. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.31#
Ensure that the --client-ca-file argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
API server communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the API server to serve only HTTPS traffic. If `--client-ca-file` argument is set, any request presenting a client certificate signed by one of the authorities in the `client-ca-file` is authenticated with an identity corresponding to the CommonName of the client certificate.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --client-ca-file argument exists and it is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --client-ca-file argument explicitly. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.32#
Ensure that the --etcd-cafile argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be protected by client authentication. This requires the API server to identify itself to the etcd server using a SSL Certificate Authority file.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --etcd-cafile argument exists and it is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --etcd-cafile argument explicitly. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.33#
Ensure that the --encryption-provider-config argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly available key-value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be encrypted at rest to avoid any disclosures.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --encryption-provider-config argument is set to a EncryptionConfigfile. Additionally, ensure that the EncryptionConfigfile has all the desired resources covered especially any secrets.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --encryption-provider-config argument explicitly. No manual remediation needed. RKE2's default encryption provider config file is located at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/cred/encryption-config.json and is configured to encrypt secrets.
1.2.34#
Ensure that encryption providers are appropriately configured (Automated)
Rationale
Where `etcd` encryption is used, it is important to ensure that the appropriate set of encryption providers is used. Currently, the `aescbc`, `kms` and `secretbox` are likely to be appropriate options.Result: Pass
Remediation:
Follow the Kubernetes documentation and configure a EncryptionConfig file.
In this file, choose aescbc, kms or secretbox as the encryption provider.
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that aescbc is set as the encryption provider for all the desired resources.
Remediation
By default, RKE2 sets the argument --encryption-provider-config and parameter. The contents of the config file indicates the use of aescbc. No manual remediation needed.
1.2.35#
Ensure that the API Server only makes use of Strong Cryptographic Ciphers (Manual)
Rationale
TLS ciphers have had a number of known vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which can reduce the protection provided by them. By default Kubernetes supports a number of TLS ciphersuites including some that have security concerns, weakening the protection provided.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --tls-cipher-suites argument is set as outlined in the remediation procedure below.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 explicitly doesn't set this flag. No manual remediation needed.
1.3 Controller Manager#
1.3.1#
Ensure that the --terminated-pod-gc-threshold argument is set as appropriate (Manual)
Rationale
Garbage collection is important to ensure sufficient resource availability and avoiding degraded performance and availability. In the worst case, the system might crash or just be unusable for a long period of time. The current setting for garbage collection is 12,500 terminated pods which might be too high for your system to sustain. Based on your system resources and tests, choose an appropriate threshold value to activate garbage collection.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --terminated-pod-gc-threshold argument is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --terminated-pod-gc-threshold argument with a value of 1000. No manual remediation needed.
1.3.2#
Ensure that the --profiling argument is set to false (Automated)
Rationale
Profiling allows for the identification of specific performance bottlenecks. It generates a significant amount of program data that could potentially be exploited to uncover system and program details. If you are not experiencing any bottlenecks and do not need the profiler for troubleshooting purposes, it is recommended to turn it off to reduce the potential attack surface.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --profiling argument is set to false.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --profiling flag parameter to false. No manual remediation needed.
1.3.3#
Ensure that the --use-service-account-credentials argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
The controller manager creates a service account per controller in the `kube-system` namespace, generates a credential for it, and builds a dedicated API client with that service account credential for each controller loop to use. Setting the `--use-service-account-credentials` to `true` runs each control loop within the controller manager using a separate service account credential. When used in combination with RBAC, this ensures that the control loops run with the minimum permissions required to perform their intended tasks.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --use-service-account-credentials argument is set to true.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --use-service-account-credentials argument to true. No manual remediation needed.
1.3.4#
Ensure that the --service-account-private-key-file argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
To ensure that keys for service account tokens can be rotated as needed, a separate public/private key pair should be used for signing service account tokens. The private key should be specified to the controller manager with `--service-account-private-key-file` as appropriate.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --service-account-private-key-file argument is set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --service-account-private-key-file argument with the service account key file. No manual remediation needed.
1.3.5#
Ensure that the --root-ca-file argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Processes running within pods that need to contact the API server must verify the API server's serving certificate. Failing to do so could be a subject to man-in-the-middle attacks.Providing the root certificate for the API server's serving certificate to the controller manager with the --root-ca-file argument allows the controller manager to inject the trusted bundle into pods so that they can verify TLS connections to the API server.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --root-ca-file argument exists and is set to a certificate bundle file containing the root certificate for the API server's serving certificate
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --root-ca-file argument with the root ca file. No manual remediation needed.
1.3.6#
Ensure that the RotateKubeletServerCertificate argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
`RotateKubeletServerCertificate` causes the kubelet to both request a serving certificate after bootstrapping its client credentials and rotate the certificate as its existing credentials expire. This automated periodic rotation ensures that the there are no downtimes due to expired certificates and thus addressing availability in the CIA security triad.Note: This recommendation only applies if you let kubelets get their certificates from the API server. In case your kubelet certificates come from an outside authority/tool (e.g. Vault) then you need to take care of rotation yourself.
Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that RotateKubeletServerCertificateargument exists and is set to true.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 implements it's own logic for certificate generation and rotation.
1.3.7#
Ensure that the --bind-address argument is set to 127.0.0.1 (Automated)
Rationale
The Controller Manager API service which runs on port 10252/TCP by default is used for health and metrics information and is available without authentication or encryption. As such it should only be bound to a localhost interface, to minimize the cluster's attack surface.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --bind-address argument is set to 127.0.0.1.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --bind-address argument to 127.0.0.1. No manual remediation needed.
1.4 Scheduler#
This section contains recommendations relating to Scheduler configuration flags
1.4.1#
Ensure that the --profiling argument is set to false (Automated)
Rationale
Profiling allows for the identification of specific performance bottlenecks. It generates a significant amount of program data that could potentially be exploited to uncover system and program details. If you are not experiencing any bottlenecks and do not need the profiler for troubleshooting purposes, it is recommended to turn it off to reduce the potential attack surface.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --profiling argument is set to false.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --profiling flag parameter to false. No manual remediation needed.
1.4.2#
Ensure that the --bind-address argument is set to 127.0.0.1 (Automated)
Rationale
The Scheduler API service which runs on port 10251/TCP by default is used for health and metrics information and is available without authentication or encryption. As such it should only be bound to a localhost interface, to minimize the cluster's attack surface.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --bind-address argument is set to 127.0.0.1.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --bind-address argument to 127.0.0.1. No manual remediation needed.
2 Etcd Node Configuration#
This section covers recommendations for etcd configuration.
2.1#
Ensure that the cert-file and key-file fields are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be encrypted in transit.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the cert-file and the key-file fields are set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. Server and peer cert and key files are specified. No manual remediation needed.
2.2#
Ensure that the client-cert-auth field is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should not be available to unauthenticated clients. You should enable the client authentication via valid certificates to secure the access to the etcd service.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the client-cert-auth field is set to true.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. client-cert-auth is set to true. No manual remediation needed.
2.3#
Ensure that the auto-tls field is not set to true (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should not be available to unauthenticated clients. You should enable the client authentication via valid certificates to secure the access to the etcd service.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that if the auto-tls field does not exist.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. Within the file, it does not contain the auto-tls argument. No manual remediation needed.
2.4#
Ensure that the peer-cert-file and peer-key-file fields are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be encrypted in transit and also amongst peers in the etcd clusters.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the peer-server-client.crt and peer-server-client.key fields are set as appropriate.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. Within the file, the peer-server-client.crt and peer-server-client.key fields are set. No manual remediation needed.
2.5#
Ensure that the client-cert-auth field is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be accessible only by authenticated etcd peers in the etcd cluster.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the client-cert-auth field in the peer section is set to true.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. Within the file, the client-cert-auth field is set. No manual remediation needed.
2.6#
Ensure that the peer-auto-tls field is not set to true (Automated)
Rationale
etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be accessible only by authenticated etcd peers in the etcd cluster. Hence, do not use self- signed certificates for authentication.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that if the peer-auto-tls field does not exist.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config. Within the file, it does not contain the peer-auto-tls field. No manual remediation needed.
2.7#
Ensure that a unique Certificate Authority is used for etcd (Manual)
Rationale
etcd is a highly available key-value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. Its access should be restricted to specifically designated clients and peers only.Authentication to etcd is based on whether the certificate presented was issued by a trusted certificate authority. There is no checking of certificate attributes such as common name or subject alternative name. As such, if any attackers were able to gain access to any certificate issued by the trusted certificate authority, they would be able to gain full access to the etcd database.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the file referenced by the client-ca-file flag in the apiserver process is different from the file referenced by the trusted-ca-file parameter in the etcd configuration file.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 uses a config file for etcd that can be found at /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/db/etcd/config and the trusted-ca-file parameters in it are set to unique values specific to etcd. No manual remediation needed.
3 Control Plane Configuration#
3.1 Authentication and Authorization#
3.1.1#
Client certificate authentication should not be used for users (Manual)
Rationale
With any authentication mechanism the ability to revoke credentials if they are compromised or no longer required, is a key control. Kubernetes client certificate authentication does not allow for this due to a lack of support for certificate revocation.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Review user access to the cluster and ensure that users are not making use of Kubernetes client certificate authentication.
Remediation: Alternative mechanisms provided by Kubernetes such as the use of OIDC should be implemented in place of client certificates.
3.2 Logging#
3.2.1#
Ensure that a minimal audit policy is created (Automated)
Rationale
Logging is an important detective control for all systems, to detect potential unauthorised access.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --audit-policy-file is set. Review the contents of the file specified and ensure that it contains valid audit policy.
Remediation: Create an audit policy file for your cluster.
3.2.2#
Ensure that the audit policy covers key security concerns (Manual)
Rationale
Security audit logs should cover access and modification of key resources in the cluster, to enable them to form an effective part of a security environment.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation:
4 Worker Node Security Configuration#
4.1 Worker Node Configuration Files#
4.1.1#
Ensure that the kubelet service file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The `kubelet` service file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the kubelet service in the worker node. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Not Applicable
Remediation: RKE2 doesn’t launch the kubelet as a service. It is launched and managed by the RKE2 supervisor process. All configuration is passed to it as command line arguments at run time.
4.1.2#
Ensure that the kubelet service file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The `kubelet` service file controls various parameters that set the behavior of the kubelet service in the worker node. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Not Applicable
Remediation: RKE2 doesn’t launch the kubelet as a service. It is launched and managed by the RKE2 supervisor process. All configuration is passed to it as command line arguments at run time.
4.1.3#
Ensure that the proxy kubeconfig file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Manual)
Rationale
The `kube-proxy` kubeconfig file controls various parameters of the `kube-proxy` service in the worker node. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.It is possible to run kube-proxy with the kubeconfig parameters configured as a Kubernetes ConfigMap instead of a file. In this case, there is no proxy kubeconfig file.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the worker node.
Verify that if a file is specified and it exists, the permissions are 644 or more restrictive.
Remediation:
By derfault, RKE2 creates rke2-kube-proxy.yaml with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
4.1.4#
Ensure that the proxy kubeconfig file ownership is set to root:root (Manual)
Rationale
The kubeconfig file for `kube-proxy` controls various parameters for the `kube-proxy` service in the worker node. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that if a file is specified and it exists, the permissions are 644 or more restrictive.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates rke2-kube-proxy.yaml with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
4.1.5#
Ensure that the kubelet.conf file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The `kubelet.conf` file is the kubeconfig file for the node, and controls various parameters that set the behavior and identity of the worker node. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the worker node.
Remediation:
By derfault, RKE2 creates kubelet.kubeconfig with 644 permissions. No manual remediation needed.
4.1.6#
Ensure that the kubelet.conf file ownership is set to root:root (Manual)
Rationale
The `kubelet.conf` file is the kubeconfig file for the node, and controls various parameters that set the behavior and identity of the worker node. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Not Applicable
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates kubelet.kubeconfig with root:root ownership. No manual remediation needed.
4.1.7#
Ensure that the certificate authorities file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive (Manual)
Rationale
The certificate authorities file controls the authorities used to validate API requests. You should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the permissions are 644.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/tls/server-ca.crt with 644 permissions.
4.1.8#
Ensure that the client certificate authorities file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The certificate authorities file controls the authorities used to validate API requests. You should set its file ownership to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 creates /var/lib/rancher/rke2/server/tls/client-ca.crt with root:root ownership.
4.1.9#
Ensure that the kubelet configuration file has permissions set to 644 or more restrictive (Automated)
Rationale
The kubelet reads various parameters, including security settings, from a config file specified by the `--config` argument. If this file is specified you should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be writable by only the administrators on the system.Result: Not Applicable
Remediation: RKE2 doesn’t require or maintain a configuration file for the kubelet process. All configuration is passed to it as command line arguments at run time.
4.1.10#
Ensure that the kubelet configuration file ownership is set to root:root (Automated)
Rationale
The kubelet reads various parameters, including security settings, from a config file specified by the `--config` argument. If this file is specified you should restrict its file permissions to maintain the integrity of the file. The file should be owned by `root:root`.Result: Not Applicable
Remediation: RKE2 doesn’t require or maintain a configuration file for the kubelet process. All configuration is passed to it as command line arguments at run time.
4.2 Kubelet#
This section contains recommendations for kubelet configuration.
4.2.1#
Ensure that the --anonymous-auth argument is set to false (Automated)
Rationale
When enabled, requests that are not rejected by other configured authentication methods are treated as anonymous requests. These requests are then served by the Kubelet server. You should rely on authentication to authorize access and disallow anonymous requests.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the value for --anonymous-auth is false.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 starts kubelet with --anonymous-auth set to false. No manual remediation needed.
4.2.2#
Ensure that the --authorization-mode argument is not set to AlwaysAllow (Automated)
Rationale
Kubelets, by default, allow all authenticated requests (even anonymous ones) without needing explicit authorization checks from the apiserver. You should restrict this behavior and only allow explicitly authorized requests.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that AlwaysAllow is not present.
Remediation:
RKE2 starts kubelet with Webhook as the value for the --authorization-mode argument. No manual remediation needed.
4.2.3#
Ensure that the --client-ca-file argument is set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
The connections from the apiserver to the kubelet are used for fetching logs for pods, attaching (through kubectl) to running pods, and using the kubelet’s port-forwarding functionality. These connections terminate at the kubelet’s HTTPS endpoint. By default, the apiserver does not verify the kubelet’s serving certificate, which makes the connection subject to man-in-the-middle attacks, and unsafe to run over untrusted and/or public networks. Enabling Kubelet certificate authentication ensures that the apiserver could authenticate the Kubelet before submitting any requests.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --client-ca-file argument has a ca file associated.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 starts the kubelet process with the --client-ca-file. No manual remediation needed.
4.2.4#
Ensure that the --read-only-port argument is set to 0 (Automated)
Rationale
The Kubelet process provides a read-only API in addition to the main Kubelet API. Unauthenticated access is provided to this read-only API which could possibly retrieve potentially sensitive information about the cluster.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the --read-only-port argument is set to 0.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 starts the kubelet process with the --read-only-port argument set to 0.
4.2.5#
Ensure that the --streaming-connection-idle-timeout argument is not set to 0 (Automated)
Rationale
Setting idle timeouts ensures that you are protected against Denial-of-Service attacks, inactive connections and running out of ephemeral ports.Note: By default, --streaming-connection-idle-timeout is set to 4 hours which might be too high for your environment. Setting this as appropriate would additionally ensure that such streaming connections are timed out after serving legitimate use cases.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that there's nothing returned.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 does not set --streaming-connection-idle-timeout when starting kubelet.
4.2.6#
Ensure that the --protect-kernel-defaults argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
Kernel parameters are usually tuned and hardened by the system administrators before putting the systems into production. These parameters protect the kernel and the system. Your kubelet kernel defaults that rely on such parameters should be appropriately set to match the desired secured system state. Ignoring this could potentially lead to running pods with undesired kernel behavior.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation:
When running with the profile flag set to cis-1.6, RKE2 starts the kubelet process with the --protect-kernel-defaults argument set to true.
4.2.7#
Ensure that the --make-iptables-util-chains argument is set to true (Automated)
Rationale
Kubelets can automatically manage the required changes to iptables based on how you choose your networking options for the pods. It is recommended to let kubelets manage the changes to iptables. This ensures that the iptables configuration remains in sync with pods networking configuration. Manually configuring iptables with dynamic pod network configuration changes might hamper the communication between pods/containers and to the outside world. You might have iptables rules too restrictive or too open.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify there are no results returned.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 does not set the --make-iptables-util-chains argument. No manual remediation needed.
4.2.8#
Ensure that the --hostname-override argument is not set (Manual)
Rationale
Overriding hostnames could potentially break TLS setup between the kubelet and the apiserver. Additionally, with overridden hostnames, it becomes increasingly difficult to associate logs with a particular node and process them for security analytics. Hence, you should setup your kubelet nodes with resolvable FQDNs and avoid overriding the hostnames with IPs.Result: Not Applicable
Remediation: RKE2 does set this parameter for each host, but RKE2 also manages all certificates in the cluster. It ensures the hostname-override is included as a subject alternative name (SAN) in the kubelet's certificate.
4.2.9#
Ensure that the --event-qps argument is set to 0 or a level which ensures appropriate event capture (Manual)
Rationale
It is important to capture all events and not restrict event creation. Events are an important source of security information and analytics that ensure that your environment is consistently monitored using the event data.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation: See CIS Benchmark guide for further details on configuring this.
4.2.10#
Ensure that the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments are set as appropriate (Automated)
Rationale
Kubelet communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the Kubelets to serve only HTTPS traffic.Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments are present and set appropriately.
Remediation:
By default, RKE2 sets the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments when executing the kubelet process.
4.2.11#
Ensure that the --rotate-certificates argument is not set to false (Manual)
Rationale
The --rotate-certificates setting causes the kubelet to rotate its client certificates by creating new CSRs as its existing credentials expire. This automated periodic rotation ensures that the there is no downtime due to expired certificates and thus addressing availability in the CIA security triad.
Note: This recommendation only applies if you let kubelets get their certificates from the API server. In case your kubelet certificates come from an outside authority/tool (e.g. Vault) then you need to take care of rotation yourself.
Note:This feature also require the RotateKubeletClientCertificate feature gate to be enabled (which is the default since Kubernetes v1.7)
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 implements it's own logic for certificate generation and rotation.
4.2.12#
Ensure that the RotateKubeletServerCertificate argument is set to true (Manual)
Rationale
`RotateKubeletServerCertificate` causes the kubelet to both request a serving certificate after bootstrapping its client credentials and rotate the certificate as its existing credentials expire. This automated periodic rotation ensures that the there are no downtimes due to expired certificates and thus addressing availability in the CIA security triad.Note: This recommendation only applies if you let kubelets get their certificates from the API server. In case your kubelet certificates come from an outside authority/tool (e.g. Vault) then you need to take care of rotation yourself.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 implements it's own logic for certificate generation and rotation.
4.2.13#
Ensure that the Kubelet only makes use of Strong Cryptographic Ciphers (Manual)
Rationale
TLS ciphers have had a number of known vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which can reduce the protection provided by them. By default Kubernetes supports a number of TLS ciphersuites including some that have security concerns, weakening the protection provided.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation: Configuration of the parameter is dependent on your use case. Please see the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark for suggestions on configuring this for your usecase.
5 Kubernetes Policies#
5.1 RBAC and Service Accounts#
5.1.1#
Ensure that the cluster-admin role is only used where required (Manual)
Rationale
Kubernetes provides a set of default roles where RBAC is used. Some of these roles such as `cluster-admin` provide wide-ranging privileges which should only be applied where absolutely necessary. Roles such as `cluster-admin` allow super-user access to perform any action on any resource. When used in a `ClusterRoleBinding`, it gives full control over every resource in the cluster and in all namespaces. When used in a `RoleBinding`, it gives full control over every resource in the rolebinding's namespace, including the namespace itself.Result: Pass
Remediation: RKE2 does not make inappropriate use of the cluster-admin role. Operators must audit their workloads of additional usage. See the CIS Benchmark guide for more details.
5.1.2#
Minimize access to secrets (Manual)
Rationale
Inappropriate access to secrets stored within the Kubernetes cluster can allow for an attacker to gain additional access to the Kubernetes cluster or external resources whose credentials are stored as secrets.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation: RKE2 limits its use of secrets for the system components appropriately, but operators must audit the use of secrets by their workloads. See the CIS Benchmark guide for more details.
5.1.3#
Minimize wildcard use in Roles and ClusterRoles (Manual)
Rationale
The principle of least privilege recommends that users are provided only the access required for their role and nothing more. The use of wildcard rights grants is likely to provide excessive rights to the Kubernetes API.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that there are not wildcards in use.
Remediation: Operators should review their workloads for proper role usage. See the CIS Benchmark guide for more details.
5.1.4#
Minimize access to create pods (Manual)
Rationale
The ability to create pods in a cluster opens up possibilities for privilege escalation and should be restricted, where possible.Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation: Operators should review who has access to create pods in their cluster. See the CIS Benchmark guide for more details.
5.1.5#
Ensure that default service accounts are not actively used. (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes provides a default service account which is used by cluster workloads where no specific service account is assigned to the pod.Where access to the Kubernetes API from a pod is required, a specific service account should be created for that pod, and rights granted to that service account.
The default service account should be configured such that it does not provide a service account token and does not have any explicit rights assignments.
Result: Pass.
Audit: For each namespace in the cluster, review the rights assigned to the default service account and ensure that it has no roles or cluster roles bound to it apart from the defaults. Additionally ensure that the automountServiceAccountToken: false setting is in place for each default service account.
Remediation: Create explicit service accounts wherever a Kubernetes workload requires specific access to the Kubernetes API server. Modify the configuration of each default service account to include this value
5.1.6#
Ensure that Service Account Tokens are only mounted where necessary (Manual)
Rationale
Mounting service account tokens inside pods can provide an avenue for privilege escalation attacks where an attacker is able to compromise a single pod in the cluster.Avoiding mounting these tokens removes this attack avenue.
Result: Manual - Operator Dependent
Remediation: The pods launched by RKE2 are part of the control plane and generally need access to communicate with the API server, thus this control does not apply to them. Operators should review their workloads and take steps to modify the definition of pods and service accounts which do not need to mount service account tokens to disable it.
5.2 Pod Security Policies#
5.2.1#
Minimize the admission of containers wishing to share the host process ID namespace (Automated)
Rationale
Privileged containers have access to all Linux Kernel capabilities and devices. A container running with full privileges can do almost everything that the host can do. This flag exists to allow special use-cases, like manipulating the network stack and accessing devices.There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit privileged containers.
If you need to run privileged containers, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the result is Rule: MustRunAsNonRoot.
Remediation:
RKE2, when run with the --profile=cis-1.6 argument, will disallow the use of privileged containers.
5.2.2#
Minimize the admission of containers wishing to share the host process ID namespace (Automated)
Rationale
A container running in the host's PID namespace can inspect processes running outside the container. If the container also has access to ptrace capabilities this can be used to escalate privileges outside of the container.There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit containers to share the host PID namespace.
If you need to run containers which require hostPID, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the returned count is 1.
Remediation:
RKE2 sets the hostPID value to false explicitly for the PSP it creates. When reviewing PSPs, note that the Kubernetes API only displays this field if it is explicitly set to true. No manual remediation is needed.
5.2.3#
Minimize the admission of containers wishing to share the host IPC namespace (Automated)
Rationale
A container running in the host's IPC namespace can use IPC to interact with processes outside the container.
There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit containers to share the host IPC namespace.
If you have a requirement to containers which require hostIPC, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the returned count is 1.
Remediation:
RKE2 sets the HostIPC value to false explicitly for the PSP it creates. When reviewing PSPs, note that the Kubernetes API only displays this field if it is explicitly set to true. No manual remediation is needed.
5.2.4#
Minimize the admission of containers wishing to share the host network namespace (Automated)
Rationale
A container running in the host's network namespace could access the local loopback device, and could access network traffic to and from other pods.There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit containers to share the host network namespace.
If you have need to run containers which require hostNetwork, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the returned count is 1.
Remediation:
RKE2 sets the HostNetwork value to false explicitly for the PSP it creates. When reviewing PSPs, note that the Kubernetes API only displays this field if it is explicitly set to true. No manual remediation is needed.
5.2.5#
Minimize the admission of containers with allowPrivilegeEscalation (Automated)
Rationale
A container running with the `allowPrivilegeEscalation` flag set to true may have processes that can gain more privileges than their parent.There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit containers to allow privilege escalation. The option exists (and is defaulted to true) to permit setuid binaries to run.
If you have need to run containers which use setuid binaries or require privilege escalation, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the returned count is 1.
Remediation:
RKE2 sets the allowPrivilegeEscalation value to false explicitly for the PSP it creates. No manual remediation is needed.
5.2.6#
Minimize the admission of root containers (Automated)
Rationale
Containers may run as any Linux user. Containers which run as the root user, whilst constrained by Container Runtime security features still have a escalated likelihood of container breakout.Ideally, all containers should run as a defined non-UID 0 user.
There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which does not permit root users in a container.
If you need to run root containers, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that the returned count is 1.
Remediation:
RKE2 sets the runAsUser.Rule value to MustRunAsNonRoot in the PodSecurityPolicy that it creates. No manual remediation is needed.
5.2.7#
Minimize the admission of containers with the NET_RAW capability (Manual)
Rationale
Containers run with a default set of capabilities as assigned by the Container Runtime. By default this can include potentially dangerous capabilities. With Docker as the container runtime the NET_RAW capability is enabled which may be misused by malicious containers.Ideally, all containers should drop this capability.
There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which prevents containers with the NET_RAW capability from launching.
If you need to run containers with this capability, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify the value is "ALL".
Remediation:
RKE2 sets .spec.requiredDropCapabilities[] to a value of All. No manual remediation needed.
5.2.8#
Minimize the admission of containers with added capabilities (Manual)
Rationale
Containers run with a default set of capabilities as assigned by the Container Runtime. Capabilities outside this set can be added to containers which could expose them to risks of container breakout attacks.There should be at least one PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) defined which prevents containers with capabilities beyond the default set from launching.
If you need to run containers with additional capabilities, this should be defined in a separate PSP and you should carefully check RBAC controls to ensure that only limited service accounts and users are given permission to access that PSP.
Result: Manual
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that there are no PSPs present which have allowedCapabilities set to anything other than an empty array.
Remediation:
When run with the --profile=cis-1.6 argument RKE2 applies a PodSecurityPolicy that sets requiredDropCapabilities to ALL. No manual remediation needed.
5.2.9#
Minimize the admission of containers with capabilities assigned (Manual)
Rationale
Containers run with a default set of capabilities as assigned by the Container Runtime. Capabilities are parts of the rights generally granted on a Linux system to the root user.In many cases applications running in containers do not require any capabilities to operate, so from the perspective of the principal of least privilege use of capabilities should be minimized.
Result: Manual
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Remediation:
When run with the --profile=cis-1.6 argument RKE2 applies a PodSecurityPolicy that sets requiredDropCapabilities to ALL. No manual remediation needed.
5.3 Network Policies and CNI#
5.3.1#
Ensure that the CNI in use supports Network Policies (Automated)
Rationale
Kubernetes network policies are enforced by the CNI plugin in use. As such it is important to ensure that the CNI plugin supports both Ingress and Egress network policies.Result: Pass
Audit: Review the documentation of CNI plugin in use by the cluster, and confirm that it supports Ingress and Egress network policies.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 use Canal (Calico and Flannel) and fully supports network policies.
5.3.2#
Ensure that all Namespaces have Network Policies defined (Automated)
Rationale
Running different applications on the same Kubernetes cluster creates a risk of one compromised application attacking a neighboring application. Network segmentation is important to ensure that containers can communicate only with those they are supposed to. A network policy is a specification of how selections of pods are allowed to communicate with each other and other network endpoints.Network Policies are namespace scoped. When a network policy is introduced to a given namespace, all traffic not allowed by the policy is denied. However, if there are no network policies in a namespace all traffic will be allowed into and out of the pods in that namespace.
Result: Pass
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that there are network policies applied to each of the namespaces.
Remediation:
RKE2, when executed with the --profile=cis-1.6 argument applies a secure network policy that only allows intra-namespace traffic and DNS to kube-system. No manual remediation needed.
5.4 Secrets Management#
5.4.1#
Prefer using secrets as files over secrets as environment variables (Manual)
Rationale
It is reasonably common for application code to log out its environment (particularly in the event of an error). This will include any secret values passed in as environment variables, so secrets can easily be exposed to any user or entity who has access to the logs.Result: Manual
Audit: Run the following command to find references to objects which use environment variables defined from secrets.
Remediation: If possible, rewrite application code to read secrets from mounted secret files, rather than from environment variables.
5.4.2#
Consider external secret storage (Manual)
Rationale
Kubernetes supports secrets as first-class objects, but care needs to be taken to ensure that access to secrets is carefully limited. Using an external secrets provider can ease the management of access to secrets, especially where secrests are used across both Kubernetes and non-Kubernetes environments.Result: Manual
Audit: Review your secrets management implementation.
Remediation: Refer to the secrets management options offered by your cloud provider or a third-party secrets management solution.
5.5 Extensible Admission Control#
5.5.1#
Configure Image Provenance using ImagePolicyWebhook admission controller (Manual)
Rationale
Kubernetes supports plugging in provenance rules to accept or reject the images in your deployments. You could configure such rules to ensure that only approved images are deployed in the cluster.Result: Manual
Audit: Review the pod definitions in your cluster and verify that image provenance is configured as appropriate.
Remediation: Follow the Kubernetes documentation and setup image provenance.
5.6 Omitted#
The v1.6.1 guide skips 5.6 and goes from 5.5 to 5.7. We are including it here merely for explanation.
5.7 General Policies#
These policies relate to general cluster management topics, like namespace best practices and policies applied to pod objects in the cluster.
5.7.1#
Create administrative boundaries between resources using namespaces (Manual)
Rationale
Limiting the scope of user permissions can reduce the impact of mistakes or malicious activities. A Kubernetes namespace allows you to partition created resources into logically named groups. Resources created in one namespace can be hidden from other namespaces. By default, each resource created by a user in Kubernetes cluster runs in a default namespace, called default. You can create additional namespaces and attach resources and users to them. You can use Kubernetes Authorization plugins to create policies that segregate access to namespace resources between different users.Result: Manual
Audit: Run the below command and review the namespaces created in the cluster.
Ensure that these namespaces are the ones you need and are adequately administered as per your requirements.
Remediation: Follow the documentation and create namespaces for objects in your deployment as you need them.
5.7.2#
Ensure that the seccomp profile is set to docker/default in your pod definitions (Manual)
Rationale
Seccomp (secure computing mode) is used to restrict the set of system calls applications can make, allowing cluster administrators greater control over the security of workloads running in the cluster. Kubernetes disables seccomp profiles by default for historical reasons. You should enable it to ensure that the workloads have restricted actions available within the container.Result: Manual
Audit: Review the pod definitions in your cluster. It should create a line as below:
Remediation: Review the Kubernetes documentation and if needed, apply a relevant PodSecurityPolicy.
5.7.3#
Apply Security Context to Your Pods and Containers (Manual)
Rationale
A security context defines the operating system security settings (uid, gid, capabilities, SELinux role, etc..) applied to a container. When designing your containers and pods, make sure that you configure the security context for your pods, containers, and volumes. A security context is a property defined in the deployment yaml. It controls the security parameters that will be assigned to the pod/container/volume. There are two levels of security context: pod level security context, and container level security context.Result: Manual
Audit: Review the pod definitions in your cluster and verify that you have security contexts defined as appropriate.
Remediation: Follow the Kubernetes documentation and apply security contexts to your pods. For a suggested list of security contexts, you may refer to the CIS Security Benchmark.
5.7.4#
The default namespace should not be used (Manual)
Rationale
Resources in a Kubernetes cluster should be segregated by namespace, to allow for security controls to be applied at that level and to make it easier to manage resources.Result: Manual
Audit: Run the below command on the master node.
Verify that there are no resources applied to the default namespace.
Remediation: By default, RKE2 does not utilize the default namespace.