🪂Secure Your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Security Risk Items and Control Recommendations for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Unauthorized Access to AKS Cluster
Risk: Unauthorized users may gain access to the AKS cluster, leading to potential security breaches and data exposure.
Control Recommendation:
Use Azure Active Directory (AAD) for AKS cluster authentication.
Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to manage user permissions.
Regularly review and update access permissions and roles.
Container Vulnerabilities
Risk: Containers may have vulnerabilities that can be exploited, leading to compromised applications or services.
Control Recommendation:
Use vulnerability scanning tools (e.g., Azure Security Center, Trivy) to scan container images.
Regularly update container images and base images to the latest versions.
Use trusted sources for container images and avoid using unverified third-party images.
Insecure Network Communication
Risk: Network communication within the cluster or between the cluster and external services may be intercepted.
Control Recommendation:
Use network policies to restrict pod-to-pod and pod-to-service communications.
Implement HTTPS and TLS for encrypting network traffic.
Use Azure Private Link and network security groups (NSGs) to secure communication with external services.
Misconfigured Cluster Settings
Risk: Misconfigured cluster settings can lead to security vulnerabilities and operational issues.
Control Recommendation:
Regularly review and audit cluster configurations.
Use Azure Policy to enforce configuration best practices and compliance standards.
Implement best practices for Kubernetes security configurations (e.g., pod security policies, admission controllers).
Lack of Monitoring and Logging
Risk: Insufficient monitoring and logging can delay the detection and response to security incidents.
Control Recommendation:
Enable Azure Monitor and Azure Log Analytics for comprehensive monitoring and logging.
Use Azure Security Center to monitor security posture and detect threats.
Implement centralized logging for all Kubernetes components and applications.
Privilege Escalation
Risk: Users or processes may gain elevated privileges within the cluster, leading to potential security breaches.
Control Recommendation:
Implement least privilege principles for user and service accounts.
Use Kubernetes RBAC to restrict access to sensitive resources and operations.
Regularly audit and review role bindings and service account permissions.
Insecure API Access
Risk: Kubernetes API access might be exploited to gain unauthorized control over the cluster.
Control Recommendation:
Secure the Kubernetes API server with AAD authentication and RBAC.
Use network policies and firewalls to restrict access to the API server.
Enable audit logging for Kubernetes API server access.
Data at Rest and In Transit
Risk: Data stored in the cluster or transmitted between components may be accessed by unauthorized parties.
Control Recommendation:
Enable encryption for data at rest using Azure Disk Encryption.
Use TLS for all data in transit between cluster components.
Implement secrets management using Azure Key Vault or Kubernetes secrets.
Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
Risk: DoS attacks can disrupt the availability of services running in the AKS cluster.
Control Recommendation:
Use Azure DDoS Protection to guard against DDoS attacks.
Implement resource quotas and limits to prevent resource exhaustion.
Monitor and scale cluster resources to handle increased traffic loads.
Supply Chain Risks
Risk: Dependencies and third-party components may introduce vulnerabilities.
Control Recommendation:
Use secure supply chain practices, including verifying the integrity of third-party components.
Regularly update dependencies and third-party libraries.
Implement image signing and verification to ensure the integrity of container images.
Last updated