Kubernetes Patterns, 2nd Edition

Chapter 23. Process Containment

This chapter describes techniques that help apply the principle of least privilege to constrain a process to the minimum privileges it needs to run. The Process Containment pattern helps make applications more secure by limiting the attack surface and creating a line of defense. It also prevents any rogue process from running out of its designated boundary.

Problem

One of the primary attack vectors for Kubernetes workloads is through the application code. Many techniques can help improve code security. For example, static code analysis tools can check the source code for security flaws. Dynamic scanning tools can simulate malicious attackers with the goal of breaking into the system through well-known service attacks such as SQL injection (SQLi), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and cross-site scripting (XSS). Then there are tools for regularly scanning the application’s dependencies for security vulnerabilities. As part of the image build process, the containers are scanned for known vulnerabilities. This is usually done by checking the base image and all its packages against a database that tracks vulnerable packages. These are only a few of the steps involved in creating secure applications and protecting against malicious actors, compromised users, unsafe container images, or dependencies with vulnerabilities.

Regardless of how many checks are in place, new code and new dependencies can introduce new vulnerabilities, and there is no way to ...