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

The ComplianceAsCode Project
https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide

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 Title	BSI IT-Grundschutz (Basic Protection) Building Block SYS.1.6 and APP.4.4
Profile ID	xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_bsi

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: 0.1.76

draft (as of 2025-01-22)

Kubernetes Settings

Checklist

Group Guide to the Secure Configuration of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 Group contains 15 groups and 77 rules

Group Kubernetes Settings Group contains 14 groups and 77 rules

[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 System and Software Integrity Group contains 3 rules

[ref] System and software integrity can be gained by installing antivirus, increasing system encryption strength with FIPS, verifying installed software, enabling SELinux, installing an Intrusion Prevention System, etc. However, installing or enabling integrity checking tools cannot prevent intrusions, but they can detect that an intrusion may have occurred. Requirements for integrity checking may be highly dependent on the environment in which the system will be used.

Rule Ensure that Cluster Version Operator is deployed [ref]

Integrity of the OpenShift platform is handled to start by the cluster version operator. Cluster Version Operator will by default GPG verify the integrity of the release image before applying it. [1] This rule checks if Cluster Version Operator is deployed and available in the system. [1] https://github.com/openshift/machine-config-operator/blob/master/docs/OSUpgrades.md#questions-and-answers

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/clusterversions/version API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.status.conditions[] | select(.type=="Available") | .status] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/clusterversions/version#588c29ac9d4c67b1444308c5ba310271832895fee54701f7d0cb6cbced390443 file.

Rationale:

Integrity check prevent a malicious actor from using a unauthorized system image, hence it will ensure the image has not been tampered with, or corrupted.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_cluster_version_operator_exists

Identifiers:

CCE-90670-1

References:

nist	SA-10(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000384-CTR-000915, CNTR-OS-000740
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
stigref	SV-257561r921626_rule

Rule Ensure that Cluster Version Operator verifies integrity [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/clusterversions/version API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.status.history[0:-1]|.[]|.verified] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/clusterversions/version#69adcfd65c8b8d723e4a7118c170f634cebbb349e9b554dd15001e6551a586f8 file.

Rationale:

Unverified cluster image will compromise the system integrity. Integrity check prevent a malicious actor from using a unauthorized system image, hence it will ensure the image has not been tampered with, or corrupted.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_cluster_version_operator_verify_integrity

Identifiers:

CCE-90671-9

References:

nist	SA-10(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000384-CTR-000915, CNTR-OS-000740
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
stigref	SV-257561r921626_rule

Rule Ensure that File Integrity Operator is scanning the cluster [ref]

The File Integrity Operator continually runs file integrity checks on the cluster nodes. It deploys a daemon set that initializes and runs privileged AIDE containers on each node, providing a status object with a log of files that are modified during the initial run of the daemon set pods.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/fileintegrity.openshift.io/v1alpha1/fileintegrities?limit=5 API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/fileintegrity.openshift.io/v1alpha1/fileintegrities?limit=5 file.

Rationale:

File integrity scanning able to detect potential and unauthorised access.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_integrity_exists

Identifiers:

CCE-83657-7

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-007-3 R4, CIP-007-3 R4.1, CIP-007-3 R4.2
nist	SC-4(23), SI-6, SI-7, SI-7(1), CM-6(a), SI-7(2), SI-4(24)
pcidss	Req-10.5.5, Req-11.5
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	10.3.4, 10.3, 11.5.2

Group Kubernetes - Account and Access Control Group contains 4 rules

[ref] In traditional Unix security, if an attacker gains shell access to a certain login account, they can perform any action or access any file to which that account has access. The same idea applies to cloud technology such as Kubernetes. Therefore, making it more difficult for unauthorized people to gain shell access to accounts, particularly to privileged accounts, is a necessary part of securing a system. This section introduces mechanisms for restricting access to accounts under Kubernetes.

Rule Ensure no ClusterRoleBindings set for default Service Account [ref]

Using the default service account prevents accurate application rights review and audit tracing. Instead of default, create a new and unique service account and associate the required ClusterRoleBindings.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterrolebindings?limit=10000 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select ( .subjects[]?.name == "default" ) | select(.subjects[].namespace | startswith("kube-") or startswith("openshift-") | not) | .metadata.name ] | unique and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterrolebindings?limit=10000#79f26213dd0c77369a3262d04a79b049cbe657d6816bca60a341434f2ee8d280 file.

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. This increases auditability of service account rights and access making it easier and more accurate to trace potential malicious behaviors to a specific service account and project.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_accounts_no_clusterrolebindings_default_service_account

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A9

Rule Ensure no RoleBindings set for default Service Account [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/rolebindings?limit=10000 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select(.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") or startswith("openshift-") | not) | select ( .subjects[]?.name == "default" ) | .metadata.namespace + "/" + .metadata.name ] | unique and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/rolebindings?limit=10000#00c457af66396f1f78aa74c5eb2177980c74419afc15a46a16b38a8712ca0b70 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_accounts_no_rolebindings_default_service_account

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A9

Rule Restrict Automounting of Service Account Tokens [ref]

Service accounts tokens should not be mounted in pods except where the workload running in the pod explicitly needs to communicate with the API server. To ensure pods do not automatically mount tokens, set automountServiceAccountToken to false.

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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_accounts_restrict_service_account_tokens

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.1.6
bsi	APP.4.4.A9
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Ensure Usage of Unique Service Accounts [ref]

Using the default service account prevents accurate application rights review and audit tracing. Instead of default, create a new and unique service account with the following command:

$ oc create sa service_account_name

where service_account_name is the name of a service account that is needed in the project namespace.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_accounts_unique_service_account

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.1.5
bsi	APP.4.4.A9
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Group OpenShift Kube API Server Group contains 10 rules

[ref] This section contains recommendations for kube-apiserver configuration.

Rule Ensure that anonymous requests to the API Server are authorized [ref]

By default, anonymous access to the OpenShift API is enabled, but at the same time, all requests must be authorized. If no authentication mechanism is used, the request is assigned the system:anonymous virtual user and the system:unauthenticated virtual group. This allows the authorization layer to determine which requests, if any, is an anonymous user authorized to make. To verify the authorization rules for anonymous requests run the following:

$ oc describe clusterrolebindings

and inspect the bindings of the system:anonymous virtual user and the system:unauthenticated virtual group. To test that an anonymous request is authorized to access the readyz endpoint, run:

$ oc get --as="system:anonymous" --raw='/readyz?verbose'

In contrast, a request to list all projects should not be authorized:

$ oc get --as="system:anonymous" projects

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterrolebindings API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterrolebindings file.

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. 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 not scored. However, you should consider whether anonymous discovery is an acceptable risk for your purposes.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_anonymous_auth

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	1.2.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A3
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Configure the Client Certificate Authority for the API Server [ref]

Certificates must be provided to fully setup TLS client certificate authentication. To ensure the API Server utilizes its own TLS certificates, the clientCA must be configured. Verify that servingInfo has the clientCA configured in the openshift-kube-apiserver config configmap to something similar to:

"apiServerArguments": {
  ...
    "client-ca-file": [
      "/etc/kubernetes/static-pod-certs/configmaps/client-ca/ca-bundle.crt"
    ],
  ...

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["client-ca-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["client-ca-file"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/client-ca/ca.crt"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["client-ca-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["client-ca-file"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_client_ca}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#d56e72c377d8f85e0601a704d4218064a0ea4a2235ceee82d20db6cdafc74608 file.

Rationale:

API Server communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the API Server to serve only HTTPS traffic. If -clientCA 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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_client_ca

Identifiers:

CCE-84284-9

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-007-3 R5.1
nist	SC-8, SC-8(1), SC-8(2)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000441-CTR-001090, SRG-APP-000442-CTR-001095
cis	1.2.29
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2

Rule Configure the Encryption Provider Cipher [ref]

When you enable etcd encryption, the following OpenShift API server and Kubernetes API server resources are encrypted:

Secrets
ConfigMaps
Routes
OAuth access tokens
OAuth authorize tokens

When you enable etcd encryption, encryption keys are created. These keys are rotated on a weekly basis. You must have these keys in order to restore from an etcd backup.

To ensure the correct cipher, set the encryption type to aescbc or aesgcm in the apiserver object which configures the API server itself.

spec:
  encryption:
    type: aescbc

For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/apis/hypershift.openshift.io/v1beta1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}/hostedclusters/{{.hypershift_cluster}}{{else}}/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/apiservers/cluster{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.spec.secretEncryption.type]{{else}}[.spec.encryption.type]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/apiservers/cluster#a1d4b20a86b76e7e2d634dbeff420b1a80df6800836dad1b552314d1b24a18cb file.

Rationale:

etcd is a highly available key-value store used by OpenShift deployments for persistent storage of all REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be encrypted at rest to avoid any disclosures. Where etcd encryption is used, it is important to ensure that the appropriate set of encryption providers is used. Currently, aescbc and aesgcm are the only types supported by OCP.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_encryption_provider_cipher

Identifiers:

CCE-83585-0

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2
nist	SC-28, SC-28(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000429-CTR-001060, CNTR-OS-000780
cis	1.2.31, 2.8
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2, 3.5.1.3, 3.5.1, 3.5
stigref	SV-257564r921635_rule

Remediation Kubernetes snippet ⇲

---
apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: APIServer
metadata:
  name: cluster
spec:
  encryption:
    type: "{{.var_apiserver_encryption_type}}"

Rule Ensure that the --kubelet-https argument is set to true [ref]

The kube-apiserver ensures https to the kubelet by default. The apiserver flag "--kubelet-https" is deprecated and should be either set to "true" or omitted from the argument list.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}.data."config.json" | fromjson{{else}}.data."config.yaml" | fromjson{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#54842ba5cf821644f2727625c1518eba2de6e6b7ae318043d0bf7ccc9570e430 file.

Rationale:

Connections from the kube-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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_https_for_kubelet_conn

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R5.1, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1), SC-8, SC-8(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	1.2.4
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.7, 2.2

Rule Configure the kubelet Certificate File for the API Server [ref]

To enable certificate based kubelet authentication, edit the config configmap in the openshift-kube-apiserver namespace and set the below parameter in the config.yaml key if it is not already configured:

"apiServerArguments":{
...
  "kubelet-client-certificate":"/etc/kubernetes/static-pod-resources/secrets/kubelet-client/tls.crt",
...
}

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/kubelet/tls.crt"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_kubelet_client_cert}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#e5500055b4aa2fcf00dc09ad0e66e44b6b42d67f8d53d1e72ff81b32f0e09865 file.

Rationale:

By default the API Server does not authenticate itself to the kubelet's HTTPS endpoints. Requests from the API Server are treated anonymously. Configuring certificate-based kubelet authentication ensures that the API Server authenticates itself to kubelets when submitting requests.

Severity:

high

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_kubelet_client_cert

Identifiers:

CCE-84080-1

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R5.1, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1), SC-8, SC-8(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	1.2.5
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Configure the kubelet Certificate Key for the API Server [ref]

"apiServerArguments":{
...
  "kubelet-client-key":"/etc/kubernetes/static-pod-resources/secrets/kubelet-client/tls.key",
...
}

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/kubelet/tls.key"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_kubelet_client_key}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#1e2b7c1158e0b9a602cb20d62c82b4660907bb57b63dac11c6c7c64211c49c69 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

high

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_kubelet_client_key

Identifiers:

CCE-83591-8

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R5.1, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1), SC-8, SC-8(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	1.2.5
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Configure the Certificate for the API Server [ref]

To ensure the API Server utilizes its own TLS certificates, the tls-cert-file must be configured. Verify that the apiServerArguments section has the tls-cert-file configured in the config configmap in the openshift-kube-apiserver namespace similar to:

"apiServerArguments":{
...
"tls-cert-file": [
  "/etc/kubernetes/static-pod-certs/secrets/service-network-serving-certkey/tls.crt"
],
...
}

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["tls-cert-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["tls-cert-file"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/server/tls.crt"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["tls-cert-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["tls-cert-file"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_tls_cert}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#bca394347bab5b9902f1d1568d4f5d6e5498b01ec27ddf8231443e376b18757d file.

Rationale:

API Server communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the API Server to serve only HTTPS traffic.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_tls_cert

Identifiers:

CCE-83779-9

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-007-3 R5.1
nist	SC-8, SC-8(1), SC-8(2)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000441-CTR-001090, SRG-APP-000442-CTR-001095
cis	1.2.28
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2

Rule Use Strong Cryptographic Ciphers on the API Server [ref]

To ensure that the API Server is configured to only use strong cryptographic ciphers, verify the openshift-kube-apiserver configmap contains the following set of ciphers, with no additions:

"servingInfo":{
  ...
  "cipherSuites": [
    "TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
    "TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
    "TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384",
    "TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384",
    "TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256",
    "TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256",
  ],
  ...

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}.data."config.json" | fromjson{{else}}.data."config.yaml" | fromjson{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#54842ba5cf821644f2727625c1518eba2de6e6b7ae318043d0bf7ccc9570e430 file.

Warning: Once configured, API Server clients that cannot support modern cryptographic ciphers will not be able to make connections to the API server.

Rationale:

TLS ciphers have had a number of known vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which can reduce the protection provided. By default, OpenShift supports a number of TLS ciphersuites including some that have security concerns, weakening the protection provided.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_tls_cipher_suites

References:

nist	CM-6
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	1.2.32
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2, 4.2.1, 4.2

Rule Configure the Certificate Key for the API Server [ref]

To ensure the API Server utilizes its own TLS certificates, the tls-private-key-file must be configured. Verify that the apiServerArguments section has the tls-private-key-file configured in the config configmap in the openshift-kube-apiserver namespace similar to:

"apiServerArguments":{
...
"tls-private-key-file": [
  "/etc/kubernetes/static-pod-certs/secrets/service-network-serving-certkey/tls.key"
],
...
}

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["tls-private-key-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["tls-private-key-file"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/server/tls.key"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["tls-private-key-file"]) | .apiServerArguments["tls-private-key-file"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_tls_private_key}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#8c69c1fe6742f70a3a16c09461f57a19ef2a695143301cede2f2f5d307aa3508 file.

Rationale:

API Server communication contains sensitive parameters that should remain encrypted in transit. Configure the API Server to serve only HTTPS traffic.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_tls_private_key

Identifiers:

CCE-84282-3

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-007-3 R5.1
nist	SC-8, SC-8(1), SC-8(2)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000441-CTR-001090, SRG-APP-000442-CTR-001095
cis	1.2.28
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2

Rule Ensure APIServer is not configured with Old tlsSecurityProfile [ref]

The configuration tlsSecurityProfile specifies TLS configurations to be used while establishing connections with the externally exposed servers. Though secure transport mode is used for establishing connections, the protocols used may not always be strong enough to avoid interception and manipulation of the data in transport. TLS Security profile Old should be avoided, as it supports vulnerable protocols, ciphers, and algorithms which could lead to security breaches. Update tlsSecurityProfile from Old to Intermediate using the following command:

oc patch apiservers.config.openshift.io cluster --type 'json' --patch '[{"op": "add", "path": "/spec/tlsSecurityProfile/intermediate", "value": {}}, {"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/tlsSecurityProfile/type", "value": "Intermediate"}, {"op": "remove", "path": "/spec/tlsSecurityProfile/old"}]'

For more information, follow OpenShift documentation: the relevant documentation.

Rationale:

The authenticity and integrity of the container platform and communication between nodes and components must be secure. If an insecure protocol, cipher, or algorithms is used, during transmission of data, the data can be intercepted and manipulated. To thwart the manipulation of the data during transmission secure protocol, cipher and algorithms must be used.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_api_server_tls_security_profile_not_old

Identifiers:

CCE-86223-5

References:

nist	SC-8, SC-8(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000014-CTR-000040
bsi	APP.4.4.A17

Remediation Kubernetes snippet ⇲

apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: APIServer
metadata:
    name: cluster
spec:
    tlsSecurityProfile:
        intermediate: {}
        type: Intermediate

Group OpenShift - Confinement Group contains 1 rule

[ref] Contains evaluations to configure and assess the confinement of the cluster's applications and workloads.

Rule Make sure the Security Profiles Operator is installed [ref]

Security Profiles Operator provides a way to define secure computing (seccomp) profiles and SELinux profiles as custom resources that are syncrhonized to every node in a given namespace. Using security profiles can increase security at the container level in your cluster. Seccomp security profiles list the syscalls a process can make, and SELinux security profiles provide a label-based system that restricts access and usage of processes, applications, and files.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1/namespaces/openshift-security-profiles/subscriptions/security-profiles-operator API endpoint to the local

/kubernetes-api-resources/apis/operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1/namespaces/openshift-security-profiles/subscriptions/security-profiles-operator

file.

Rationale:

An application that runs with privileges can be attacked to have its privileges exploited. Confining applications limit the actions an attacker can perform when they are compromised.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_security_profiles_operator_exists

Identifiers:

CCE-86168-2

References:

bsi	SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	6.4.2, 6.4

Group OpenShift etcd Settings Group contains 1 rule

[ref] Contains rules that check correct OpenShift etcd settings.

Rule Configure Recurring Backups For etcd [ref]

Back up your clusters etcd data regularly and store in a secure location ideally outside the OpenShift Container Platform environment. Do not take an etcd backup before the first certificate rotation completes, which occurs 24 hours after installation, otherwise the backup will contain expired certificates. It is also recommended to take etcd backups during non-peak usage hours because the etcd snapshot has a high I/O cost.

For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Rationale:

While etcd automatically recovers from temporary failures, issues may arise if an etcd cluster loses more than (N-1)/2 or when an update goes wrong. Recurring backups of etcd enable you to recover from a disastrous fail.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_etcd_backup

Identifiers:

CCE-88188-8

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A5

Group Kubernetes - General Security Practices Group contains 23 rules

[ref] Contains evaluations for general security practices for operating a Kubernetes environment.

Rule Ensure the notification is enabled for file integrity operator [ref]

The OpenShift platform provides the File Integrity Operator to monitor for unwanted file changes, and this control ensures proper notification alert is enabled so that system administrators and security personnel are notified about the alerts

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/monitoring.coreos.com/v1/prometheusrules API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select(.metadata.name =="file-integrity") | .metadata.name] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/monitoring.coreos.com/v1/prometheusrules#dda8d6e19f5a89264301ce56ece4df115a14d8a85e3ae6bd3cd8eccd234252c5 file.

Rationale:

File Integrity Operator is able to send out alerts

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_integrity_notification_enabled

Identifiers:

CCE-90572-9

References:

nist	SI-6, SI-7(2), SI-4(24)
pcidss	Req-11.5.1, Req-12.10.5
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	11.5.2

Rule Apply Security Context to Your Pods and Containers [ref]

Apply Security Context to your Pods and Containers

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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_general_apply_scc

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.7.3
bsi	SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule A Backup Solution Has To Be Installed [ref]

Backup and Restore are fundamental practices when it comes to disaster recovery. By utilizing a Backup Software you are able to backup (and restore) data, which is lost, if your cluster crashes beyong recoverability. There are multiple Backup Solutions on the Market which diverge in Features. Thus some of them might only backup your cluster, others might also be able to backup VMs or PVCs running in your Cluster.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/apiextensions.k8s.io/v1/customresourcedefinitions?limit=500 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | if select(.metadata.name | test("{{.var_backup_solution_crds_regex}}"))!=null then true else false end] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/apiextensions.k8s.io/v1/customresourcedefinitions?limit=500#5ecc4195e33073b3ebac60dfafee48c8b29e3e0f551fd8fc26ba9271eb059d88 file.

Rationale:

Backup and Recovery abilities are a necessity to recover from a disaster.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_general_backup_solution_installed

Identifiers:

CCE-90185-0

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A5

Rule Each Namespace should only host one application [ref]

Use namespaces to isolate your Kubernetes objects.

Rationale:

Assigning a dedicated namespace to an application (or parts of an application) allows you to granularly control the access to this application on a kubernetes level. It also allows you control the network flow from and to other namespaces more easily.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_general_namespace_separation

Identifiers:

CCE-90279-1

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A1, SYS.1.6.A3

Rule Create Network Boundaries between Functional Different Nodes [ref]

Use different Networks for Control Plane, Worker and Individual Application Services.

Rationale:

Separation on a Network level might help to hinder lateral movement of an attacker and subsequently reduce the impact of an attack. It might also enable you to provide additional external network control (like firewalls).

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_general_network_separation

Identifiers:

CCE-86851-3

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A7, APP.4.4.A14, SYS.1.6.A3, SYS.1.6.A5

Rule Create Boundaries between Resources using Nodes or Clusters [ref]

Use Nodes or Clusters to isolate Workloads with high protection requirements. Run the following command and review the pods and how they are deployed on Nodes.

$ oc get pod -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,NAMESPACE:.metadata.namespace,APP:.metadata.labels.app\.kubernetes\.io/name,NODE:.spec.nodeName --all-namespaces | grep -v "openshift-"

You can use labels or other data as custom field which helps you to identify parts of an application. Ensure that Applications with high protection requirements are not colocated on Nodes or in Clusters with workloads of lower protection requirements.

Rationale:

Assigning workloads with high protection requirements to specific nodes creates and additional boundary (the node) between workloads of high protection requirements and workloads which might follow less strict requirements. An adversary which attacked a lighter protected workload now has additional obstacles for their movement towards the higher protected workloads.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_general_node_separation

Identifiers:

CCE-88903-0

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A14, APP.4.4.A15, SYS.1.6.A3

Rule Ensure that GitOps Operator is deployed [ref]

Red Hat OpenShift GitOps is a declarative continuous delivery platform based on Argo CD. It enables teams to adopt GitOps principles for managing cluster configurations and automating secure and repeatable application delivery across hybrid multi-cluster Kubernetes environments. Following GitOps and infrastructure as code principles, you can store the configuration of clusters and applications in Git repositories and use Git workflows to roll them out to the target clusters.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/pipelines.openshift.io/v1alpha1/gitopsservices?limit=5 API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/pipelines.openshift.io/v1alpha1/gitopsservices?limit=5 file.

Rationale:

GitOps provides a mean to track system configuration changes

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_gitops_operator_exists

Identifiers:

CCE-86134-4

References:

nist	CM-3(6), MA-2(2)
bsi	SYS.1.6.A20

Rule Ensure that the LifecycleAndUtilization Profile for the Kube Descheduler Operator is Enabled [ref]

If there is an increased risk of external influences and a very high need for protection, pods should be stopped and restarted regularly. No pod should run for more than 24 hours. The availability of the applications in the pod should be ensured.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/operator.openshift.io/v1/kubedeschedulers API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [ .items[].spec | if any(.profiles[]; . =="LifecycleAndUtilization") and .deschedulingIntervalSeconds <= {{.kube_descheduler_interval}} and .mode == "Automatic" then true else false end] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/operator.openshift.io/v1/kubedeschedulers#6292f8a18dd8e868e60870514f32e1f873d9929c729e745b909e4bd834c20922 file.

Rationale:

If there is an increased risk of external influences and a very high need for protection, pods should be stopped and restarted regularly.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kube_descheduler_lifecycle_policy

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A21

Rule Ensure that the Kube Descheduler operator is deployed [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1/subscriptions API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1/subscriptions file.

Rationale:

If there is an increased risk of external influences and a very high need for protection, pods should be stopped and restarted regularly.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kube_descheduler_operator_exists

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A21

Rule Set Pod Lifetime for the Deschedulers [ref]

Rationale:

If there is an increased risk of external influences and a very high need for protection, pods should be stopped and restarted regularly. With this an attacker who gained control over a pod loses it and the pod gets restarted from a known good state (the image).

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kube_descheduler_podlifetime

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A21

Rule Ensure that the kubeadmin secret has been removed [ref]

The kubeadmin user is meant to be a temporary user used for bootstrapping purposes. It is preferable to assign system administrators whose users are backed by an Identity Provider.
Make sure to remove the user as described in the documentation

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/secrets/kubeadmin API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/secrets/kubeadmin file.

Rationale:

The kubeadmin user has an auto-generated password and a self-signed certificate, and has effectively

cluster-admin

permissions; therefore, it's considered a security liability.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubeadmin_removed

Identifiers:

CCE-90387-2

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-004-6 R2.2.2, CIP-004-6 R2.2.3, CIP-007-3 R.1.3, CIP-007-3 R2, CIP-007-3 R5, CIP-007-3 R5.1.1, CIP-007-3 R5.1.3, CIP-007-3 R5.2.1, CIP-007-3 R5.2.3, CIP-007-3 R6.1, CIP-007-3 R6.2, CIP-007-3 R6.3, CIP-007-3 R6.4
nist	AC-2(2), AC-2(7), AC-2(9), AC-2(10), AC-12(1), IA-2(5), MA-4, SC-12(1)
pcidss	Req-2.1
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000023-CTR-000055, CNTR-OS-000030, CNTR-OS-000040, CNTR-OS-000440
cis	3.1.1, 5.1.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A3
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2, 8.2.2, 8.2, 8.3
stigref	SV-257507r921464_rule, SV-257508r921467_rule, SV-257542r921569_rule

Rule Ensure that all workloads have liveness and readiness probes [ref]

Configuring Kubernetes liveness and readiness probes is essential for ensuring the security and reliability of a system. These probes actively monitor container health and readiness, facilitating automatic actions like restarting or rescheduling unresponsive instances for improved reliability. They play a proactive role in issue detection, allowing timely problem resolution and contribute to efficient scaling and traffic distribution.

Rationale:

Many applications running for long periods of time eventually transition to broken states, and cannot recover except by being restarted. Kubernetes provides liveness probes to detect and remedy such situations. Sometimes, applications are temporarily unable to serve traffic. For example, an application might need to load large data or configuration files during startup, or depend on external services after startup. In such cases, you don't want to kill the application, but you don't want to send it requests either. Kubernetes provides readiness probes to detect and mitigate these situations. A pod with containers reporting that they are not ready does not receive traffic through Kubernetes Services.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_liveness_readiness_probe_in_workload

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A11, SYS.1.6.A3

Rule Ensure that project templates autocreate Resource Quotas [ref]

Configure a template for newly created projects to use default resource quotas and make sure this template is referenced from the default project template.

The OpenShift Container Platform API server automatically provisions new projects based on the project template that is identified by the projectRequestTemplate parameter in the cluster’s project configuration resource.

As a cluster administrator, you can modify the default project template so that new projects created would satisfy the chosen compliance standards.

For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/config.openshift.io/v1/projects/cluster API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/config.openshift.io/v1/projects/cluster file. This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | any(.objects[]?; .kind == "ResourceQuota") ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates#e60f58ef612a182073e9f6fe0ebe9ea96a706422dc65572af8d6aa9839d94f61 file.

Rationale:

Editing the default project template to include ResourceQuotas in all new namespaces ensures that all namespaces include at least some ResourceQuotas objects.

Ensuring that the project configuration references a project template that sets up the required objects for new projects ensures that all new projects will be set in accordance with centralized settings.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_project_config_and_template_resource_quota

Identifiers:

CCE-90734-5

References:

nist	SC-5, SC-5(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000246-CTR-000605, SRG-APP-000435-CTR-001070, CNTR-OS-000620, CNTR-OS-000630, CNTR-OS-000800, CNTR-OS-000810
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15
stigref	SV-257554r921605_rule, SV-257555r921608_rule, SV-257565r921638_rule, SV-257566r921641_rule

Remediation Kubernetes snippet ⇲

---
apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: Project
metadata:
  name: cluster
spec:
  projectRequestTemplate:
    name: co-project-request
---
apiVersion: template.openshift.io/v1
kind: Template
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: null
  name: co-project-request
  namespace: openshift-config
objects:
- apiVersion: project.openshift.io/v1
  kind: Project
  metadata:
    annotations:
      openshift.io/description: ${PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}
      openshift.io/display-name: ${PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME}
      openshift.io/requester: ${PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER}
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  spec: {}
  status: {}
- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
  kind: RoleBinding
  metadata:
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: admin
    namespace: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  roleRef:
    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: ClusterRole
    name: admin
  subjects:
  - apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: User
    name: ${PROJECT_ADMIN_USER}
- apiVersion: v1
  kind: ResourceQuota
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-quota
  spec:
    hard:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: 5Gi
      pods: "40"
- apiVersion: "v1"
  kind: "LimitRange"
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-limit-range
  spec:
    limits:
      - type: "Container"
        default:
          cpu: "200m"
        defaultRequest:
          cpu: "10m"    
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-same-namespace
  spec:
    podSelector: {}
    ingress:
    - from:
      - podSelector: {}
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-openshift-ingress
  spec:
    ingress:
    - from:
      - namespaceSelector:
          matchLabels:
            network.openshift.io/policy-group: ingress
    podSelector: {}
    policyTypes:
    - Ingress
parameters:
- name: PROJECT_NAME
- name: PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME
- name: PROJECT_DESCRIPTION
- name: PROJECT_ADMIN_USER
- name: PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER

Rule Ensure that project templates autocreate Resource Quotas [ref]

Configure a template for newly created projects to use default resource quotas and make sure this template is referenced from the default project template. For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | any(.objects[]?; .kind == "ResourceQuota") ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates#e60f58ef612a182073e9f6fe0ebe9ea96a706422dc65572af8d6aa9839d94f61 file.

Rationale:

Running different applications on the same Kubernetes cluster creates a risk of a "noisy neighbor" when one application monopolizes cluster resources. A resource quota, defined by a ResourceQuota object, provides constraints that limit aggregate resource consumption per project. It can limit the quantity of objects that can be created in a project by type, as well as the total amount of compute resources and storage that might be consumed by resources in that project. Ensuring that the project configuration references a project template that sets up the required objects for new projects ensures that all new projects will be set in accordance with centralized settings.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_project_template_resource_quota

Identifiers:

CCE-86372-0

References:

nist	SC-5, SC-5(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000246-CTR-000605, SRG-APP-000246-CTR-000605
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Remediation Kubernetes snippet ⇲

---
apiVersion: template.openshift.io/v1
kind: Template
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: null
  name: co-project-request
  namespace: openshift-config
objects:
- apiVersion: project.openshift.io/v1
  kind: Project
  metadata:
    annotations:
      openshift.io/description: ${PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}
      openshift.io/display-name: ${PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME}
      openshift.io/requester: ${PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER}
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  spec: {}
  status: {}
- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
  kind: RoleBinding
  metadata:
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: admin
    namespace: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  roleRef:
    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: ClusterRole
    name: admin
  subjects:
  - apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: User
    name: ${PROJECT_ADMIN_USER}
- apiVersion: v1
  kind: ResourceQuota
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-quota
  spec:
    hard:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: 5Gi
      pods: "40"
- apiVersion: "v1"
  kind: "LimitRange"
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-limit-range
  spec:
    limits:
      - type: "Container"
        default:
          cpu: "200m"
        defaultRequest:
          cpu: "10m"    
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-same-namespace
  spec:
    podSelector: {}
    ingress:
    - from:
      - podSelector: {}
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-openshift-ingress
  spec:
    ingress:
    - from:
      - namespaceSelector:
          matchLabels:
            network.openshift.io/policy-group: ingress
    podSelector: {}
    policyTypes:
    - Ingress
parameters:
- name: PROJECT_NAME
- name: PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME
- name: PROJECT_DESCRIPTION
- name: PROJECT_ADMIN_USER
- name: PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER

Rule Ensure that all daemonsets has resource limits [ref]

When deploying an application, it is important to tune based on memory and CPU consumption, allocating enough resources for the application to function properly. Images provided by OpenShift Dedicated behave properly within the confines of the memory they are allocated. However, any application images must pay attention to the specific resources required to ensure they are available. If the node where a Pod is running has enough of a resource available, it's possible (and allowed) for a container to use more resource than its request for that resource specifies. However, a container is not allowed to use more than its resource limit.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/apps/v1/daemonsets?limit=500 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [ .items[] | select(.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") or startswith("openshift-") | not) | select(.metadata.namespace != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_daemonset_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_daemonset_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | select( .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.memory == null ) | .metadata.name ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/apps/v1/daemonsets?limit=500#a1c11605c6b91d6d3f26cad5f67056df41a5d43e06bf3588455f537ad5e90a55 file.

Rationale:

Resource requests/limits provide constraints that limit aggregate resource consumption per container. This helps prevent resource starvation. When deploying your application, it is important to tune based on memory and CPU consumption, allocating enough resources for the application to function properly.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_limits_in_daemonset

References:

nist	SC-6
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure that all deployments has resource limits [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/apps/v1/deployments?limit=500 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [ .items[] | select(.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") or startswith("openshift-") | not) | select(.metadata.namespace != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_deployment_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_deployment_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | select( .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.memory == null ) | .metadata.name ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/apps/v1/deployments?limit=500#bc8e70ebc8291e061a2917bbee5d3d3a2e56d8e6c8c7cf1bcc891e0d2606a26f file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_limits_in_deployment

References:

nist	SC-6
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure that all statefulsets has resource limits [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/apps/v1/statefulsets?limit=500 API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [ .items[] | select(.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") or startswith("openshift-") | not) | select(.metadata.namespace != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_statefulset_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_statefulset_limit_namespaces_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | select( .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.requests.memory == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.cpu == null or .spec.template.spec.containers[].resources.limits.memory == null ) | .metadata.name ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/apps/v1/statefulsets?limit=500#f44f38d4fe5c9464618dbed2411d4af523db0c3dc3823f05c263774ec150adf6 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_limits_in_statefulset

References:

nist	SC-6
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure workloads use resource requests and limits [ref]

There are two ways to enable resource requests and limits. To create either: A multi-project quota, defined by a ClusterResourceQuota object, allows quotas to be shared across multiple projects. Resources used in each selected project are aggregated and that aggregate is used to limit resources across all the selected projects. A resource quota, defined by a ResourceQuota object, provides constraints that limit aggregate resource consumption per project. It can limit the quantity of objects that can be created in a project by type, as well as the total amount of compute resources and storage that might be consumed by resources in that project. We want to make sure either a ClusterResourceQuota is used in a cluster or a ResourceQuota is used per namespaces.

To configure ClusterResourceQuota, follow the directions in the documentation

To configure ResourceQuota Per Project, follow the directions in the documentation

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/api/v1/resourcequotas API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.namespace | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.namespace != "default" and .metadata.namespace != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | .metadata.namespace] | unique and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/resourcequotas#4326a181a1e3e8a8e02ffb58e7d3ca9e62ed0e144a5277b1f7551fdbcfeca0a8 file.
/api/v1/namespaces API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.name | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.name | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.name != "default" and .metadata.name != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.name | test("{{.var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}}))] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces#3ae63defe5cbb61225edb84d8e19f601be933d063305c1ea1e0381297c6258d6 file.
/apis/quota.openshift.io/v1/clusterresourcequotas API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | .metadata.name] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/quota.openshift.io/v1/clusterresourcequotas#8de615d314dbafe1ae4ce3d7c1a604bd1bafcac867393e7256ecb869e6d752a8 file.

Rationale:

Resource quotas provide constraints that limit aggregate resource consumption per project. This helps prevent resource starvation. When deploying your application, it is important to tune based on memory and CPU consumption, allocating enough resources for the application to function properly.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_quota

Identifiers:

CCE-90588-5

References:

nist	SC-5, SC-5(1), SC-5(2)
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure workloads use cluster resource requests and limits [ref]

To configure ClusterResourceQuota, follow the directions in the documentation

To configure ResourceQuota Per Project, follow the directions in the documentation

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/quota.openshift.io/v1/clusterresourcequotas API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | .metadata.name] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/quota.openshift.io/v1/clusterresourcequotas#8de615d314dbafe1ae4ce3d7c1a604bd1bafcac867393e7256ecb869e6d752a8 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_quota_cluster

Identifiers:

CCE-90581-0

References:

nist	SC-5, SC-5(1), SC-5(2)
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure workloads use resource requests and limits per namespace [ref]

To configure ClusterResourceQuota, follow the directions in the documentation

To configure ResourceQuota Per Project, follow the directions in the documentation

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/api/v1/resourcequotas API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.namespace | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.namespace != "default" and .metadata.namespace != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | .metadata.namespace] | unique and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/resourcequotas#4326a181a1e3e8a8e02ffb58e7d3ca9e62ed0e144a5277b1f7551fdbcfeca0a8 file.
/api/v1/namespaces API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.name | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.name | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.name != "default" and .metadata.name != "rhacs-operator" and ({{if ne .var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.name | test("{{.var_resource_requests_quota_per_project_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}}))] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces#3ae63defe5cbb61225edb84d8e19f601be933d063305c1ea1e0381297c6258d6 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_resource_requests_quota_per_project

Identifiers:

CCE-90582-8

References:

nist	SC-5, SC-5(1), SC-5(2), SI-16
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000246-CTR-000605, SRG-APP-000435-CTR-001070, SRG-APP-000450-CTR-001105, CNTR-OS-000620, CNTR-OS-000630, CNTR-OS-000800, CNTR-OS-000810, CNTR-OS-000860, CNTR-OS-000870
bsi	SYS.1.6.A15
stigref	SV-257554r921605_rule, SV-257555r921608_rule, SV-257565r921638_rule, SV-257566r921641_rule, SV-257568r921647_rule, SV-257569r921650_rule

Rule Ensure TLS v1.2 is minimum for Openshift APIServer [ref]

Verify tls version for the openshift APIServer.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/openshift-apiserver{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}.data."config.yaml"{{else}}.data."config.yaml" | fromjson{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-apiserver/configmaps/config#45ae2c88fe28d39a42f19e165a1612353224e9663eb369000e03c7efcd10ef59 file.

Rationale:

Use of weak or untested encryption algorithms undermines the purposes of utilizing encryption to protect data. The system must implement cryptographic modules adhering to the higher standards approved by the federal government since this provides assurance they have been tested and validated.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_tls_version_check_apiserver

Identifiers:

CCE-85863-9

References:

pcidss	Req-4.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	4.2.1, 4.2

Rule This is a helper rule to fetch the required api resource for detecting HyperShift OCP version [ref]
no description Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following: `/apis/hypershift.openshift.io/v1beta1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}/hostedclusters/{{.hypershift_cluster}}` API endpoint, filter with with the `jq` utility using the following filter `[.status.version.history[].version]` and persist it to the local `/kubernetes-api-resources/hypershift/version` file. This rule will be a hidden rule `true` `true`
Rationale:	no rationale
Severity:	medium
Rule ID:	xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_version_detect_in_hypershift

Rule This is a helper rule to fetch the required api resource for detecting OCP version [ref]
no description Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following: `{{.ocp_version_api_path}}` API endpoint, filter with with the `jq` utility using the following filter `{{.ocp_version_yaml_path}}` and persist it to the local `/kubernetes-api-resources/ocp/version` file. This rule will be a hidden rule `true` `true`
Rationale:	no rationale
Severity:	medium
Rule ID:	xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_version_detect_in_ocp

Group Kubernetes Kubelet Settings Group contains 2 rules

[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 Ensure That The kubelet Client Certificate Is Correctly Set [ref]

To ensure the kubelet TLS client certificate is configured, edit the kubelet configuration file /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf and configure the kubelet certificate file.

tlsCertFile: /path/to/TLS/cert.key

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/kubelet/tls.crt"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-certificate"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_kubelet_client_cert}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#e5500055b4aa2fcf00dc09ad0e66e44b6b42d67f8d53d1e72ff81b32f0e09865 file.

Rationale:

Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_configure_tls_cert

Identifiers:

CCE-83396-2

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-007-3 R5.1
nist	SC-8, SC-8(1), SC-8(2)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000441-CTR-001090, SRG-APP-000442-CTR-001095
cis	4.2.9
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2

Rule Ensure That The kubelet Server Key Is Correctly Set [ref]

To ensure the kubelet TLS private server key certificate is configured, edit the kubelet configuration file /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf and configure the kubelet private key file.

tlsPrivateKeyFile: /path/to/TLS/private.key

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

{{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}/api/v1/namespaces/{{.hypershift_namespace_prefix}}-{{.hypershift_cluster}}/configmaps/kas-config{{else}}/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config{{end}} API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter {{if ne .hypershift_cluster "None"}}[.data."config.json" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"][] | select(test("/etc/kubernetes/certs/kubelet/tls.key"))]{{else}}[.data."config.yaml" | fromjson | select(.apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"]) | .apiServerArguments["kubelet-client-key"][] | select(test("{{.var_apiserver_kubelet_client_key}}"))]{{end}} and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces/openshift-kube-apiserver/configmaps/config#1e2b7c1158e0b9a602cb20d62c82b4660907bb57b63dac11c6c7c64211c49c69 file.

Rationale:

Without cryptographic integrity protections, information can be altered by unauthorized users without detection.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_configure_tls_key

Identifiers:

CCE-90614-9

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-007-3 R5.1
nist	SC-8, SC-8(1), SC-8(2)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-2.2.3, Req-2.3
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000441-CTR-001090, SRG-APP-000442-CTR-001095
cis	4.2.9
bsi	APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.5, 2.2.7, 2.2

Group OpenShift - Master Node Settings Group contains 1 rule

[ref] Contains evaluations for the master node configuration settings.

Rule Verify that Control Plane Nodes are not schedulable for workloads [ref]

User workloads should not be colocated with control plane workloads. To ensure that the scheduler won't schedule workloads on the master nodes, the taint "node-role.kubernetes.io/master" with the "NoSchedule" effect is set by default in most cluster configurations (excluding SNO and Compact Clusters).

The scheduling of the master nodes is centrally configurable without reboot via

oc edit schedulers.config.openshift.io cluster

for details see the Red Hat Solution https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4564851

If you run a setup, which requires the colocation of control plane and user workload you need to exclude this rule.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/api/v1/nodes API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter .items[] | select(.metadata.labels."node-role.kubernetes.io/master" == "" or .metadata.labels."node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane" == "" ) | .spec.taints[] | select(.key == "node-role.kubernetes.io/master" and .effect == "NoSchedule") and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/nodes#17a90876774be6b77ba144848cd6abef7db26fc4cfb1b71314faa3dcda45911c file.

Rationale:

-| By separating user workloads and the control plane workloads we can better ensure that there is no ill effects from workload boosts to each other. Furthermore we ensure that an adversary who gets control over a badly secured workload container is not colocated to critical components of the control plane. In some setups it might be necessary to make the control plane schedulable for workloads i.e. Single Node Openshift (SNO) or Compact Cluster (Three Node Cluster) setups.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_master_taint_noschedule

Identifiers:

CCE-88731-5

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A14

Group Kubernetes - Network Configuration and Firewalls Group contains 6 rules

[ref] Most systems must be connected to a network of some sort, and this brings with it the substantial risk of network attack. This section discusses the security impact of decisions about networking which must be made when configuring a system.

This section also discusses firewalls, network access controls, and other network security frameworks, which allow system-level rules to be written that can limit an attackers' ability to connect to your system. These rules can specify that network traffic should be allowed or denied from certain IP addresses, hosts, and networks. The rules can also specify which of the system's network services are available to particular hosts or networks.

Rule Ensure Appropriate Network Policies are Configured [ref]

Configure Network Policies in any application namespace in an appropriate way, so that only the required communications are allowed. The Network Policies should precisely define source and target using label selectors and ports.

Rationale:

By default, all pod to pod traffic within a cluster is allowed. Network Policy creates a pod- level firewall that can be used to restrict traffic between sources. Pod traffic is restricted by having a Network Policy that selects it (through the use of labels). Once there is any Network Policy in a namespace selecting a particular pod, that pod will reject any connections that are not allowed by any Network Policy. Other pods in the namespace that are not selected by any Network Policy will continue to accept all traffic. Implementing Kubernetes Network Policies with minimal allowed communication enhances security by reducing entry points and limiting attacker movement within the cluster. It ensures pods and services communicate only with necessary entities, reducing unauthorized access risks. In case of a breach, these policies contain compromised pods, preventing widespread malicious activity. Additionally, they enhance monitoring and detection of anomalous network activities.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_configure_appropriate_network_policies

Identifiers:

CCE-89537-5

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A18

Rule Check Egress IPs Assignable to Nodes [ref]

The OpenShift Container Platform egress IP address functionality allows you to ensure that the traffic from one or more pods in one or more namespaces has a consistent source IP address for services outside the cluster network.

The necessary labeling on the designated nodes is configurable without reboot via

$ oc label nodes $NODENAME k8s.ovn.org/egress-assignable=""

for details see the Red Hat Documentation https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/openshift_container_platform/4.17/html/networking/ovn-kubernetes-network-plugin#nw-egress-ips-about_configuring-egress-ips-ovn

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/api/v1/nodes API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [ .items[] | .metadata.labels["k8s.ovn.org/egress-assignable"] != null ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/nodes#d5749842142262e738c55528e212900732fadfa5c5d7668c27d7547258a7645d file.

Rationale:

-| By using egress IPs you can provide a consistent IP to external services and configure special firewall rules which precisely select this IP. This allows for more control on external systems. Furthermore you can bind the IPs to specific nodes, which handle all the network connections to achieve a better separation of duties between the different nodes.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_configure_egress_ip_node_assignable

Identifiers:

CCE-86787-9

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A14

Rule Limiting Network Bandwidth in Pods [ref]

Network bandwidth, SHOULD be appropriately reserved and limited.

Rationale:

Extend pod configuration with network bandwidth annotations to prevent a bad actor or a malfunction in the pod to consume all the bandwidth in the cluster. A network bandwidth limitation on the pod level can mitigate the bearing onto the cluster.

Severity:

unknown

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_configure_network_bandwidth

Identifiers:

CCE-87610-2

References:

bsi	SYS.1.6.A15

Rule Ensure that the CNI in use supports Network Policies [ref]

There are a variety of CNI plugins available for Kubernetes. If the CNI in use does not support Network Policies it may not be possible to effectively restrict traffic in the cluster. OpenShift supports Kubernetes NetworkPolicy using a Kubernetes Container Network Interface (CNI) plug-in.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/operator.openshift.io/v1/networks/cluster API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.spec.defaultNetwork.type] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/operator.openshift.io/v1/networks/cluster#35e33d6dc1252a03495b35bd1751cac70041a511fa4d282c300a8b83b83e3498 file.

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.

Severity:

high

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_configure_network_policies

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-1.1.4, Req-1.2, Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000038-CTR-000105, CNTR-OS-000100
cis	5.3.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A7, APP.4.4.A18, SYS.1.6.A5, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	1.4.1, 1.4, 2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257514r921485_rule

Rule Ensure that application Namespaces have Network Policies defined. [ref]

Use network policies to isolate traffic in your cluster network.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/networking.k8s.io/v1/networkpolicies API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.namespace | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.namespace | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.namespace != "default" and ({{if ne .var_network_policies_namespaces_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.namespace | test("{{.var_network_policies_namespaces_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}})) | .metadata.namespace] | unique and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/networking.k8s.io/v1/networkpolicies#7400bb301fff2f7fc7b1b0fb7448b8e3f15222a8d23f992204315b19eeefa72f file.
/api/v1/namespaces API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select((.metadata.name | startswith("openshift") | not) and (.metadata.name | startswith("kube-") | not) and .metadata.name != "default" and ({{if ne .var_network_policies_namespaces_exempt_regex "None"}}.metadata.name | test("{{.var_network_policies_namespaces_exempt_regex}}") | not{{else}}true{{end}}))] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/api/v1/namespaces#f673748db2dd4e4f0ad55d10ce5e86714c06da02b67ddb392582f71ef81efab2 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

high

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_configure_network_policies_namespaces

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R4, CIP-003-8 R4.2, CIP-003-8 R5, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R2.2.4, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R2, CIP-007-3 R2.1, CIP-007-3 R2.2, CIP-007-3 R2.3, CIP-007-3 R5.1, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	AC-4, AC-4(21), CA-3(5), CM-6, CM-6(1), CM-7, CM-7(1), SC-7, SC-7(3), SC-7(5), SC-7(8), SC-7(12), SC-7(13), SC-7(18), SC-7(10), SI-4(22)
pcidss	Req-1.1.4, Req-1.2, Req-1.2.1, Req-1.3.1, Req-1.3.2, Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000038-CTR-000105, CNTR-OS-000100
cis	5.3.2
bsi	APP.4.4.A7, APP.4.4.A18, SYS.1.6.A5, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	1.2.6, 1.2, 1.3.1, 1.3, 1.4.1, 1.4, 2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257514r921485_rule

Rule Ensure that project templates autocreate Network Policies [ref]

Configure a template for newly created projects to use default network policies and make sure this template is referenced from the default project template. The OpenShift Container Platform API server automatically provisions new projects based on the project template that is identified by the projectRequestTemplate parameter in the cluster’s project configuration resource. As a cluster administrator, you can modify the default project template so that new projects created would satisfy the chosen compliance standards. For more information on configuring default network policies, follow the relevant documentation.

/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | any(.objects[]?; .kind == "NetworkPolicy") ] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/template.openshift.io/v1/namespaces/openshift-config/templates#8044d7f899788c96acdbb06244837a64dfa1e0973c59b2ad26596e080e12482d file.

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. When a network policy is introduced to a given namespace, all traffic not allowed by the policy is denied. Editing the default project template to include NetworkPolicies in all new namespaces ensures that all namespaces include at least some NetworkPolicy objects. Ensuring that the project configuration references a project template that sets up the required objects for new projects ensures that all new projects will be set in accordance with centralized settings.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_project_config_and_template_network_policy

Identifiers:

CCE-86070-0

References:

app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000039-CTR-000110, CNTR-OS-000110
bsi	APP.4.4.A7, APP.4.4.A18
stigref	SV-257515r921488_rule

Remediation Kubernetes snippet ⇲

---
apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: Project
metadata:
  name: cluster
spec:
  projectRequestTemplate:
    name: co-project-request
---
apiVersion: template.openshift.io/v1
kind: Template
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: null
  name: co-project-request
  namespace: openshift-config
objects:
- apiVersion: project.openshift.io/v1
  kind: Project
  metadata:
    annotations:
      openshift.io/description: ${PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}
      openshift.io/display-name: ${PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME}
      openshift.io/requester: ${PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER}
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  spec: {}
  status: {}
- apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
  kind: RoleBinding
  metadata:
    creationTimestamp: null
    name: admin
    namespace: ${PROJECT_NAME}
  roleRef:
    apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: ClusterRole
    name: admin
  subjects:
  - apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
    kind: User
    name: ${PROJECT_ADMIN_USER}
- apiVersion: v1
  kind: ResourceQuota
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-quota
  spec:
    hard:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: 5Gi
      pods: "40"
- apiVersion: "v1"
  kind: "LimitRange"
  metadata:
    name: ${PROJECT_NAME}-limit-range
  spec:
    limits:
      - type: "Container"
        default:
          cpu: "200m"
        defaultRequest:
          cpu: "10m"    
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-same-namespace
  spec:
    podSelector: {}
    ingress:
    - from:
      - podSelector: {}
- apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: NetworkPolicy
  metadata:
    name: allow-from-openshift-ingress
  spec:
    ingress:
    - from:
      - namespaceSelector:
          matchLabels:
            network.openshift.io/policy-group: ingress
    podSelector: {}
    policyTypes:
    - Ingress
parameters:
- name: PROJECT_NAME
- name: PROJECT_DISPLAYNAME
- name: PROJECT_DESCRIPTION
- name: PROJECT_ADMIN_USER
- name: PROJECT_REQUESTING_USER

Group Role-based Access Control Group contains 6 rules

[ref] Role-based access control (RBAC) objects determine whether a user is allowed to perform a given action within a project. Cluster administrators can use the cluster roles and bindings to control who has various access levels to the OpenShift Container Platform platform itself and all projects. Developers can use local roles and bindings to control who has access to their projects. Note that authorization is a separate step from authentication, which is more about determining the identity of who is taking the action.

Rule Ensure cluster roles are defined in the cluster [ref]

RBAC is a critical feature in terms of security for Kubernetes and OpenShift. It enables administrators to segment the privileges granted to a service account, and thus allows us to limit the access to resources that they get. By defining cluster roles appropriately one is able to codify organizational policy. [1]

[1] https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/latest/authentication/using-rbac.html

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterroles?limit=1000 API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/clusterroles?limit=1000 file.

Rationale:

By defining RBAC cluster roles, one is able to limit the permissions given to a Service Account, and thus limit the blast radius that an account compromise would have.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_cluster_roles_defined

Identifiers:

CCE-86595-6

References:

pcidss	Req-7.1.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	7.2.1, 7.2

Rule Ensure that the RBAC setup follows the principle of least privilege [ref]

Role-based access control (RBAC) objects determine whether a user is allowed to perform a given action within a project. If users or groups exist that are bound to roles they must not have, modify the user or group permissions using the following cluster and local role binding commands: Remove a User from a Cluster RBAC role by executing the following: oc adm policy remove-cluster-role-from-user role username Remove a Group from a Cluster RBAC role by executing the following: oc adm policy remove-cluster-role-from-group role groupname Remove a User from a Local RBAC role by executing the following: oc adm policy remove-role-from-user role username Remove a Group from a Local RBAC role by executing the following: oc adm policy remove-role-from-group role groupname NOTE: For additional information. https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/latest/authentication/using-rbac.html

Rationale:

Controlling and limiting users access to system services and resources is key to securing the platform and limiting the intentional or unintentional comprimising of the system and its services. OpenShift provides a robust RBAC policy system that allows for authorization policies to be as detailed as needed. Additionally there are two layers of RBAC policies, the first is Cluster RBAC policies which administrators can control who has what access to cluster level services. The other is Local RBAC policies, which allow project developers/administrators to control what level of access users have to a given project or namespace.

Severity:

high

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_least_privilege

Identifiers:

CCE-90678-4

References:

nist	AC-3, CM-5(6), IA-2, IA-2(5), AC-6(10), CM-11(2), CM-5(1), CM-7(5)(b)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000033-CTR-000090, SRG-APP-000033-CTR-000095, SRG-APP-000033-CTR-000100, SRG-APP-000133-CTR-000290, SRG-APP-000133-CTR-000295, SRG-APP-000133-CTR-000300, SRG-APP-000133-CTR-000305, SRG-APP-000133-CTR-000310, SRG-APP-000148-CTR-000350, SRG-APP-000153-CTR-000375, SRG-APP-000340-CTR-000770, SRG-APP-000378-CTR-000880, SRG-APP-000378-CTR-000885, SRG-APP-000378-CTR-000890, SRG-APP-000380-CTR-000900, SRG-APP-000386-CTR-000920, CNTR-OS-000090
cis	5.2.10
bsi	APP.4.4.A3, APP.4.4.A7, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A8, SYS.1.6.A19
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257513r921482_rule

Rule Ensure that the cluster-admin role is only used where required [ref]

The RBAC role cluster-admin provides wide-ranging powers over the environment and should be used only where and when needed.

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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_limit_cluster_admin

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1), CM-8(3)
pcidss	Req-2.2, Req-7.1.2, Req-10.5.1
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.1.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2, 10.3.1, 10.3

Rule Limit Access to Kubernetes Secrets [ref]

The Kubernetes API stores secrets, which may be service account tokens for the Kubernetes API or credentials used by workloads in the cluster. Access to these secrets should be restricted to the smallest possible group of users to reduce the risk of privilege escalation. To restrict users from secrets, remove get, list, and watch access to unauthorized users to secret objects in the cluster.

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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_limit_secrets_access

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.1.2
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Ensure roles are defined in the cluster [ref]

RBAC is a critical feature in terms of security for Kubernetes and OpenShift. It enables administrators to segment the privileges granted to a service account, and thus allows us to limit the access to resources that they get. By defining roles appropriately one is able to codify organizational policy. [1]

[1] https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/latest/authentication/using-rbac.html

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/roles?limit=1000 API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1/roles?limit=1000 file.

Rationale:

By defining RBAC roles, one is able to limit the permissions given to a Service Account, and thus limit the blast radius that an account compromise would have.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_roles_defined

Identifiers:

CCE-86588-1

References:

pcidss	Req-7.1.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	7.2.1, 7.2

Rule Minimize Wildcard Usage in Cluster and Local Roles [ref]

Kubernetes Cluster and Local Roles provide access to resources based on sets of objects and actions that can be taken on those objects. It is possible to set either of these using a wildcard * which matches all items. This violates the principle of least privilege and leaves a cluster in a more vulnerable state to privilege abuse.

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.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_rbac_wildcard_use

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.1.3
bsi	APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Group Kubernetes - Registry Security Practices Group contains 4 rules

[ref] Contains evaluations for Kubernetes registry security practices, and cluster-wide registry configuration.

Rule Allowed registries are configured [ref]

The configuration registrySources.allowedRegistries determines the permitted registries that the OpenShift container runtime can access for builds and pods. This configuration setting ensures that all registries other than those specified are blocked. You can set the allowed repositories by applying the following manifest using

oc patch

, e.g. if you save the following snippet to

/tmp/allowed-registries-patch.yaml

spec:
  registrySources:
    allowedRegistries:
    - my-trusted-registry.internal.example.com

you would call

oc patch image.config.openshift.io cluster --patch="$(cat /tmp/allowed-registries-patch.yaml)" --type=merge

Rationale:

Allowed registries should be configured to restrict the registries that the OpenShift container runtime can access, and all other registries should be blocked.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_ocp_allowed_registries

References:

nist	CM-5(3), CM-7(2), CM-7(5), CM-11
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000456-CTR-001125, CNTR-OS-000890, CNTR-OS-000900
cis	5.5.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A6, SYS.1.6.A12
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257571r921656_rule, SV-257572r921659_rule

Rule Allowed registries for import are configured [ref]

The configuration allowedRegistriesForImport limits the container image registries from which normal users may import images. This is important to control, as a user who can stand up a malicious registry can then import content which claims to include the SHAs of legitimate content layers. You can set the allowed repositories for import by applying the following manifest using

oc patch

, e.g. if you save the following snippet to

/tmp/allowed-import-registries-patch.yaml

spec:
  allowedRegistriesForImport:
  - domainName: my-trusted-registry.internal.example.com
    insecure: false

you would call

oc patch image.config.openshift.io cluster --patch="$(cat /tmp/allowed-import-registries-patch.yaml)" --type=merge

Rationale:

Allowed registries for import should be specified to limit the registries from which users may import images.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_ocp_allowed_registries_for_import

References:

nist	CM-5(3), CM-7(2), CM-7(5), CM-11
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000456-CTR-001125, CNTR-OS-000890, CNTR-OS-000900
cis	5.5.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A6, SYS.1.6.A12
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257571r921656_rule, SV-257572r921659_rule

Rule Check configured allowed registries for import uses secure protocol [ref]

The configuration allowedRegistriesForImport limits the container image registries from which normal users may import images. This is a list of the registries that can be trusted to contain valid images and the image location configured is assumed to be secured unless configured otherwise. It is important to allow only secure registries to avoid man in the middle attacks, as the insecure image import request can be impersonated and could lead to fetching malicious content. List all the allowed repositories for import configured with insecure set to true using the following command:

oc get image.config.openshift.io/cluster -o json | jq '.spec | (.allowedRegistriesForImport[])? | select(.insecure==true)'

Remove or edit the listed registries having insecure set by using the command:

oc edit image.config.openshift.io/cluster

For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Rationale:

Configured list of allowed registries for import should be from the secure source.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_ocp_insecure_allowed_registries_for_import

Identifiers:

CCE-86235-9

References:

nist	CM-5(3)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000014-CTR-000035, CNTR-OS-000010
cis	5.5.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A12, SYS.1.6.A6
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257505r921458_rule

Rule Check if any insecure registry sources is configured [ref]

The configuration registrySources.insecureRegistries determines the insecure registries that the OpenShift container runtime can access for builds and pods. This configuration setting is for accessing the configured registries without TLS validation which could lead to security breaches and should be avoided. Remove any insecureRegistries configured using the following command:

oc patch image.config.openshift.io cluster --type=json -p "[{'op': 'remove', 'path': '/spec/registrySources/insecureRegistries'}]"

For more information, follow the relevant documentation.

Rationale:

Insecure registries should not be configured, which would restrict the possibilities of OpenShift container runtime accessing registries which cannot be validated.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_ocp_insecure_registries

Identifiers:

CCE-86123-7

References:

nist	CM-5(3)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000014-CTR-000035, CNTR-OS-000010
cis	5.5.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A12, SYS.1.6.A6
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257505r921458_rule

Group OpenShift - Risk Assessment Settings Group contains 3 rules

[ref] Contains evaluations for the cluster's risk assessment configuration settings.

Rule Enable AutoApplyRemediation for at least One ScanSetting [ref]

The Compliance Operator scans the hosts and the platform (OCP) configurations for software flaws and improper configurations according to different compliance benchmarks. Compliance Operator allows its scans to automatically apply remediations for failed rules, if such remediations exist. Applying remediations automatically should only be done with careful consideration. The Compliance Operator does not automatically resolve dependency issues that can occur between remediations. Users should perform a rescan after remediations are applied to ensure accurate results.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettings API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettings file.

Rationale:

With enabled AutoApplyRemediation compliance failures get automatically corrected.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scansetting_has_autoapplyremediations

References:

bsi	APP.4.4.A13

Rule Ensure that Compliance Operator is scanning the cluster [ref]

The Compliance Operator scans the hosts and the platform (OCP) configurations for software flaws and improper configurations according to different compliance benchmarks. It uses OpenSCAP as a backend, which is a known and certified tool to do such scans.

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the /apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettingbindings?limit=5 API endpoint to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettingbindings?limit=5 file.

Rationale:

Vulnerability scanning and risk management are important detective controls for all systems, to detect potential flaws and unauthorised access.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scansettingbinding_exists

Identifiers:

CCE-83697-3

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R1.3, CIP-003-8 R4.3, CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 4.1, CIP-004-6 4.2, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-004-6 R4, CIP-004-6 R4.2, CIP-005-6 R1, CIP-005-6 R1.1, CIP-005-6 R1.2, CIP-007-3 R3, CIP-007-3 R3.1, CIP-007-3 R6.1, CIP-007-3 R8.4
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1), RA-5, RA-5(5), SA-4(8)
pcidss	Req-2.2.4
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000472-CTR-001170, CNTR-OS-000910
bsi	APP.4.4.A13
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2.6, 2.2
stigref	SV-257573r921662_rule

Rule Ensure that Compliance Operator scans are running periodically [ref]

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettings API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[]] | map(.schedule != "" and .schedule != null) and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1/scansettings#c9e8242304a62f077a87b2b045f62b01340e80a8798e58477faa58c06e918211 file.

Rationale:

Without periodical scanning and verification, security functions may not operate correctly and this failure may go unnoticed within the container platform.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scansettings_have_schedule

Identifiers:

CCE-90762-6

References:

nist	SI-6(b)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000473-CTR-001175, CNTR-OS-000920
bsi	APP.4.4.A13
stigref	SV-257574r921665_rule

Group Security Context Constraints (SCC) Group contains 11 rules

[ref] Similar to the way that RBAC resources control user access, administrators can use Security Context Constraints (SCCs) to control permissions for pods. These permissions include actions that a pod, a collection of containers, can perform and what resources it can access. You can use SCCs to define a set of conditions that a pod must run with in order to be accepted into the system.

Rule Drop Container Capabilities [ref]

Containers should not enable more capabilities than needed as this opens the door for malicious use. To disable the capabilities, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set all capabilities as * or a list of capabilities in requiredDropCapabilities.

Rationale:

By default, containers run with a default set of capabilities as assigned by the Container Runtime which can include dangerous or highly privileged capabilities. Capabilities should be dropped unless absolutely critical for the container to run software as added capabilities that are not required allow for malicious containers or attackers.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_drop_container_capabilities

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.2.9
bsi	APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Limit Container Capabilities [ref]

Containers should not enable more capabilites than needed as this opens the door for malicious use. To enable only the required capabilities, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set capabilities as a list in allowedCapabilities.

In case an SCC outside the default allow list in the variable var-sccs-with-allowed-capabilities-regex is being flagged, create a TailoredProfile and add the additional SCC to the regular expression in the variable var-sccs-with-allowed-capabilities-regex. An example allowing an SCC named additional follows:

apiVersion: compliance.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: TailoredProfile
metadata:
  name: cis-additional-scc
spec:
  description: Allows an additional scc
  setValues:
  - name: ocp4-var-sccs-with-allowed-capabilities-regex
    rationale: Allow our own custom SCC
    value: ^privileged$|^hostnetwork-v2$|^restricted-v2$|^nonroot-v2$|^additional$
  extends: ocp4-cis
  title: Modified CIS allowing one more SCC

Finally, reference this TailoredProfile in a ScanSettingBinding For more information on Tailoring the Compliance Operator, please consult the OpenShift documentation: https://docs.openshift.com/container-platform/latest/security/compliance_operator/co-scans/compliance-operator-tailor.html

Warning: This rule's check operates on the cluster configuration dump. Therefore, you need to use a tool that can query the OCP API, retrieve the following:

/apis/security.openshift.io/v1/securitycontextconstraints API endpoint, filter with with the jq utility using the following filter [.items[] | select(.metadata.name | test("{{.var_sccs_with_allowed_capabilities_regex}}"; "") | not) | select(.allowedCapabilities != null) | .metadata.name] and persist it to the local /kubernetes-api-resources/apis/security.openshift.io/v1/securitycontextconstraints#821f2c3e5c4100d5609ac6070d8a51075295651614a05c65a5f744ba751c15b0 file.

Rationale:

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_container_allowed_capabilities

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.2.8
bsi	APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Limit Containers Ability to use the HostDir volume plugin [ref]

Containers should be allowed to use the hostPath volume type unless necessary. To prevent containers from using the host filesystem the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowHostDirVolumePlugin to false.

Rationale:

hostPath volumes allow workloads to access the host filesystem from the workload. Access to the host filesystem can be used to escalate privileges and access resources such as keys or access tokens.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_host_dir_volume_plugin

Identifiers:

CCE-86255-7

References:

nist	AC-6, AC-6(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000142-CTR-000330, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.12
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A19, SYS.1.6.A21
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Containers Ability to bind to privileged ports [ref]

Containers should be limited to bind to non-privileged ports directly on the hosts. To prevent containers from binding to privileged ports on the host the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowHostPorts to false.

Rationale:

Privileged ports are those ports below 1024 and that require system privileges for their use. If containers are able to use these ports, the container must be run as a privileged user. The container platform must stop containers that try to map to these ports directly. Allowing non-privileged ports to be mapped to the container-privileged port is the allowable method when a certain port is needed. An example is mapping port 8080 externally to port 80 in the container.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_host_ports

Identifiers:

CCE-86205-2

References:

nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000142-CTR-000330, CNTR-OS-000660
bsi	APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Access to the Host IPC Namespace [ref]

Containers should not be allowed access to the host's Interprocess Communication (IPC) namespace. To prevent containers from getting access to a host's IPC namespace, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowHostIPC to false.

Rationale:

A container running in the host's IPC namespace can use IPC to interact with processes outside the container potentially allowing an attacker to exploit a host process thereby enabling an attacker to exploit other services.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_ipc_namespace

Identifiers:

CCE-84042-1

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.3
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Use of the CAP_NET_RAW [ref]

Containers should not enable more capabilities than needed as this opens the door for malicious use. CAP_NET_RAW enables a container to launch a network attack on another container or cluster. To disable the CAP_NET_RAW capability, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set NET_RAW in requiredDropCapabilities.

Rationale:

By default, containers run with a default set of capabilities as assigned by the Container Runtime which can include dangerous or highly privileged capabilities. If the CAP_NET_RAW is enabled, it may be misused by malicious containers or attackers.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_net_raw_capability

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.2.7
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Limit Access to the Host Network Namespace [ref]

Containers should not be allowed access to the host's network namespace. To prevent containers from getting access to a host's network namespace, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowHostNetwork to false.

Rationale:

A container running in the host's network namespace could access the host network traffic to and from other pods potentially allowing an attacker to exploit pods and network traffic.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_network_namespace

Identifiers:

CCE-83492-9

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000142-CTR-000330, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.4
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Containers Ability to Escalate Privileges [ref]

Containers should be limited to only the privileges required to run and should not be allowed to escalate their privileges. To prevent containers from escalating privileges, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowPrivilegeEscalation to false.

Rationale:

Privileged containers have access to more of the Linux Kernel capabilities and devices. If a privileged container were compromised, an attacker would have full access to the container and host.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_privilege_escalation

Identifiers:

CCE-83447-3

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.2.5
bsi	APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Limit Privileged Container Use [ref]

Containers should be limited to only the privileges required to run. To prevent containers from running as privileged containers, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowPrivilegedContainer to false.

Rationale:

Privileged containers have access to all Linux Kernel capabilities and devices. If a privileged container were compromised, an attacker would have full access to the container and host.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_privileged_containers

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000342-CTR-000775, SRG-APP-000142-CTR-000330, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.1
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Access to the Host Process ID Namespace [ref]

Containers should not be allowed access to the host's process ID namespace. To prevent containers from getting access to a host's process ID namespace, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set allowHostPID to false.

Rationale:

A container running in the host's PID namespace can inspect processes running outside the container which can be used to escalate privileges outside of the container.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_process_id_namespace

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.2
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Rule Limit Container Running As Root User [ref]

Containers should run as a random non-privileged user. To prevent containers from running as root user, the appropriate Security Context Constraints (SCCs) should set .runAsUser.type to MustRunAsRange.

Rationale:

It is strongly recommended that containers running on OpenShift should support running as any arbitrary UID. OpenShift will then assign a random, non-privileged UID to the running container instance. This avoids the risk from containers running with specific uids that could map to host service accounts, or an even greater risk of running as root level service. OpenShift uses the default security context constraints (SCC), restricted, to prevent containers from running as root or other privileged user ids. Pods may be configured to use an scc policy that allows the container to run as a specific uid, including root(0) when approved. Only a cluster administrator may grant the change of an scc policy.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID: xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_scc_limit_root_containers

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000342-CTR-000775, CNTR-OS-000660
cis	5.2.6
bsi	APP.4.4.A4, APP.4.4.A9, SYS.1.6.A16, SYS.1.6.A18, SYS.1.6.A21
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2
stigref	SV-257557r921614_rule

Group Kubernetes Secrets Management Group contains 2 rules

[ref] Secrets let you store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth tokens, and ssh keys. Such information might otherwise be put in a Pod specification or in an image.

Rule Consider external secret storage [ref]

Consider the use of an external secrets storage and management system, instead of using Kubernetes Secrets directly, if you have more complex secret management needs. Ensure the solution requires authentication to access secrets, has auditing of access to and use of secrets, and encrypts secrets. Some solutions also make it easier to rotate secrets.

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 secrets are used across both Kubernetes and non-Kubernetes environments.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_secrets_consider_external_storage

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.4.2
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

Rule Do Not Use Environment Variables with Secrets [ref]

Secrets should be mounted as data volumes instead of environment variables.

Rationale:

Environment variables are subject and very susceptible to malicious hijacking methods by an adversary, as such, environment variables should never be used for secrets.

Severity:

medium

Rule ID:

xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_secrets_no_environment_variables

References:

nerc-cip	CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist	CM-6, CM-6(1)
pcidss	Req-2.2
app-srg-ctr	SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis	5.4.1
bsi	SYS.1.6.A8
pcidss4	2.2.1, 2.2

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