Ensure that the --profiling argument is set to false (Controller Manager)

Disable profiling, if not needed. Profiling allows for the identification of specific performance bottlenecks. It generates a significant amount of program data that could potentially be exploited to uncover system and program details. If you are not experiencing any bottlenecks and do not need the profiler for troubleshooting purposes, it is recommended to turn it off to reduce the potential attack surface.

Risk Level: High
Cloud Entity: Pods
CloudGuard Rule ID: D9.K8S.IAM.12
Covered by Spectral: Yes
Category: Compute

GSL LOGIC

KubernetesPod where labels contain [value='kube-controller-manager'] and namespace = 'kube-system' should have spec.containers with [parsedArgs contain [key like 'profiling' and value = 'false']]

REMEDIATION

Edit the Controller Manager pod specification file $controllermanagerconf
on the master node and set the below parameter.
--profiling=false

References

  1. https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/kube-controller-manager/
  2. https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/master/contributors/devel/profiling.md

Pods

Pods are the smallest deployable units of computing that can be created and managed in Kubernetes.A Pod is a group of one or more containers (such as Docker containers), with shared storage/network, and a specification for how to run the containers.

Compliance Frameworks

  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.20
  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.23
  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.24
  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.4.0
  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.5.1
  • CIS Kubernetes Benchmark v1.6.1
  • Kubernetes NIST.SP.800-190
  • Kubernetes v.1.13 CloudGuard Best Practices
  • Kubernetes v.1.14 CloudGuard Best Practices