4.2.10 Ensure that the --tls-cert-file and --tls-private-key-file arguments are set as appropriate - key

Information

Setup TLS connection on the Kubelets.

Rationale:

The connections from the apiserver to the kubelet are used for fetching logs for pods, attaching (through kubectl) to running pods, and using the kubelet's port-forwarding functionality. These connections terminate at the kubelet's HTTPS endpoint. By default, the apiserver does not verify the kubelet's serving certificate, which makes the connection subject to man-in-the-middle attacks, and unsafe to run over untrusted and/or public networks.

Solution

If using a Kubelet config file, edit the file to set tlsCertFile to the location of the certificate file to use to identify this Kubelet, and tlsPrivateKeyFile to the location of the corresponding private key file.
If using command line arguments, edit the kubelet service file /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf on each worker node and set the below parameters in KUBELET_CERTIFICATE_ARGS variable.
--tls-cert-file=<path/to/tls-certificate-file> --tls-private-key-file=<path/to/tls-key-file>
Based on your system, restart the kubelet service. For example:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl restart kubelet.service

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/files/4111

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL, IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION, SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|AC-17(2), 800-53|IA-5, 800-53|IA-5(1), 800-53|SC-8, 800-53|SC-8(1), CSCv7|14.4

Plugin: Unix

Control ID: fbaa5449d745f677926a696e5d607b10c894f14bdfc1c4fa7d427b43f8dcbc3b