CNTR-K8-002011 - Kubernetes must have a Pod Security Admission control file configured.

Information

An admission controller intercepts and processes requests to the Kubernetes API prior to persistence of the object, but after the request is authenticated and authorized.

Kubernetes (> v1.23)offers a built-in Pod Security admission controller to enforce the Pod Security Standards. Pod security restrictions are applied at the namespace level when pods are created.

The Kubernetes Pod Security Standards define different isolation levels for Pods. These standards define how to restrict the behavior of pods in a clear, consistent fashion.

Solution

Edit the Kubernetes API Server manifest file in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane.

Set the value of '--admission-control-config-file' to a valid path for the file.

Create an admission controller config file:
Example File:
yaml
apiVersion: apiserver.config.k8s.io/v1
kind: AdmissionConfiguration
plugins:
- name: PodSecurity
configuration:
apiVersion: pod-security.admission.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityConfiguration
# Defaults applied when a mode label is not set.
defaults:
enforce: 'privileged'
enforce-version: 'latest'
exemptions:
# Don't forget to exempt namespaces or users that are responsible for deploying
# cluster components, because they need to run privileged containers
usernames: ['admin']
namespaces: ['kube-system']

See for more details:
Migrate from PSP to PSA:
https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/migrate-from-psp/

Best Practice: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-policy/#recommended-practice.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Kubernetes_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL

References: 800-53|AC-16a., CAT|I, CCI|CCI-002263, Rule-ID|SV-254800r961359_rule, STIG-ID|CNTR-K8-002011, Vuln-ID|V-254800

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: 2dfac512f95e21cd128f62d668720f515fb4c2622b8ce832a7adc7c7e3580e00