Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

with profile BSI IT-Grundschutz (Basic Protection) Building Block SYS.1.6 and APP.4.4
This profile defines a baseline that aligns to the BSI (Federal Office for Security Information) IT-Grundschutz Basic-Protection. This baseline implements configuration requirements from the following sources: - Building-Block SYS.1.6 Containerisation - Building-Block APP.4.4 Kubernetes
This guide presents a catalog of security-relevant configuration settings for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. It is a rendering of content structured in the eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) in order to support security automation. The SCAP content is is available in the scap-security-guide package which is developed at https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide.

Providing system administrators with such guidance informs them how to securely configure systems under their control in a variety of network roles. Policy makers and baseline creators can use this catalog of settings, with its associated references to higher-level security control catalogs, in order to assist them in security baseline creation. This guide is a catalog, not a checklist, and satisfaction of every item is not likely to be possible or sensible in many operational scenarios. However, the XCCDF format enables granular selection and adjustment of settings, and their association with OVAL and OCIL content provides an automated checking capability. Transformations of this document, and its associated automated checking content, are capable of providing baselines that meet a diverse set of policy objectives. Some example XCCDF Profiles, which are selections of items that form checklists and can be used as baselines, are available with this guide. They can be processed, in an automated fashion, with tools that support the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). The NIST National Checklist Program (NCP), which provides required settings for the United States Government, is one example of a baseline created from this guidance.
Do not attempt to implement any of the settings in this guide without first testing them in a non-operational environment. The creators of this guidance assume no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.

Profile Information

Profile TitleBSI IT-Grundschutz (Basic Protection) Building Block SYS.1.6 and APP.4.4
Profile IDxccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_bsi-node-2022

CPE Platforms

  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_node_on_ovn:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_node_on_sdn:4
  • cpe:/o:redhat:openshift_container_platform_node:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_on_aws:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_on_azure:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_on_gcp:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_on_ovn:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform_on_sdn:4
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.10
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.11
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.12
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.13
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.14
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.15
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.16
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.17
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.18
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.6
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.7
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.8
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.9
  • cpe:/a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.1

Revision History

Current version: 0.1.73

  • draft (as of 2024-05-08)

Table of Contents

  1. Kubernetes Settings
    1. Kubernetes Kubelet Settings

Checklist

Group   Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4   Group contains 2 groups and 1 rule
Group   Kubernetes Settings   Group contains 1 group and 1 rule
[ref]   Each section of this configuration guide includes information about the configuration of a Kubernetes cluster and a set of recommendations for hardening the configuration. For each hardening recommendation, information on how to implement the control and/or how to verify or audit the control is provided. In some cases, remediation information is also provided. Some of the settings in the hardening guide are in place by default. The audit information for these settings is provided in order to verify that the cluster administrator has not made changes that would be less secure. A small number of items require configuration. Finally, there are some recommendations that require decisions by the system operator, such as audit log size, retention, and related settings.
Group   Kubernetes Kubelet Settings   Group contains 1 rule
[ref]   The Kubernetes Kubelet is an agent that runs on each node in the cluster. It makes sure that containers are running in a pod. The kubelet takes a set of PodSpecs that are provided through various mechanisms and ensures that the containers described in those PodSpecs are running and healthy. The kubelet doesn’t manage containers which were not created by Kubernetes.

Rule   Disable Anonymous Authentication to the Kubelet   [ref]

By default, anonymous access to the Kubelet server is enabled. This configuration check ensures that anonymous requests to the Kubelet server are disabled. Edit the Kubelet server configuration file /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:
authentication:
  ...
  anonymous:
    enabled: false
  ...
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. OpenShift Operators should rely on authentication to authorize access and disallow anonymous requests.
Severity: 
medium
Rule ID:xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_anonymous_auth
Identifiers:

CCE-83815-1

References:
bsiAPP.4.4.A3
nerc-cipCIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nistCM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctrSRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis4.2.2
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