In a recent interview with Help Net Security, Emily Long, CEO of Edera, delved into the prevalent vulnerabilities found in Kubernetes clusters and discussed effective mitigation strategies to address these issues.
Long emphasized that while Kubernetes has made significant strides in security since its inception a decade ago, there are still inherent vulnerabilities that organizations need to be aware of. Despite the secure defaults provided by managed Kubernetes platforms like Amazon’s EKS, Google’s GKE, and Microsoft’s Azure, the responsibility for ensuring the security of workloads and multi-tenancy lies with the customer under the shared responsibility model.
One of the key vulnerabilities highlighted by Long is the lack of container isolation, which poses a significant risk in limiting exposure from compromised pods. While keeping Kubernetes clusters and container images up-to-date can mitigate known vulnerabilities to some extent, the absence of true isolation for containers leaves room for unknown or in-house software-specific vulnerabilities to compromise the entire cluster.
To address these vulnerabilities, Long recommended implementing pod security practices and leveraging container runtimes with built-in isolation technology, which has emerged as a new development in the security landscape this year.
When it comes to securing Kubernetes pods for production workloads, Long underscored the importance of network policies and resource limitations. While network policies control the network traffic of pods, resource limits prevent resource-intensive pods from monopolizing available resources. However, Long noted that these measures are insufficient to fully secure production workloads in Kubernetes, stressing the need for technologies that provide true pod security and isolation without the need for complex configurations.
Regarding Kubernetes Secrets management, Long emphasized the use of a Key Management Service (KMS) for secret encryption as a best practice. However, she also pointed out the vulnerability of secrets existing in plaintext memory, making pod isolation crucial to prevent the theft of sensitive information like database passwords and service account credentials.
In terms of aligning Kubernetes security policies with evolving regulatory requirements, Long suggested leveraging managed Kubernetes offerings from cloud providers to handle compliance configurations like CIS benchmarks. Additionally, she recommended having a Pod Security Standards (PSS) Baseline policy in place to enhance security measures.
Looking ahead, Long predicted that secure by design Kubernetes products and technologies that prioritize prevention over monitoring would shape the future of containerized environments’ security. She highlighted the use of a type 1 hypervisor for isolation at the container level, which eliminates shared kernel state between containers and enhances workload security. This innovative approach, coupled with a memory-safe Rust control plane, offers a robust security posture that can be implemented across various environments without additional infrastructure requirements.
As organizations continue to navigate the complexities of Kubernetes security, advancements in isolation technology are poised to redefine the landscape and enhance the protection of containerized environments.