C-0137 - Ensure that the API Server --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments are set as appropriate

Framework

cis-v1.23-t1.0.1

Severity

High

Description of the the issue

etcd is a highly-available key value store used by Kubernetes deployments for persistent storage of all of its REST API objects. These objects are sensitive in nature and should be protected by client authentication. This requires the API server to identify itself to the etcd server using a client certificate and key.

Related resources

Pod

What does this control test

etcd should be configured to make use of TLS encryption for client connections.

How to check it manually

Run the following command on the Control Plane node:

ps -ef | grep kube-apiserver

Verify that the --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments exist and they are set as appropriate.

Remediation

Follow the Kubernetes documentation and set up the TLS connection between the apiserver and etcd. Then, edit the API server pod specification file /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml on the master node and set the etcd certificate and key file parameters.

--etcd-certfile=<path/to/client-certificate-file> 
--etcd-keyfile=<path/to/client-key-file>

Impact Statement

TLS and client certificate authentication must be configured for etcd.

Default Value

By default, --etcd-certfile and --etcd-keyfile arguments are not set

Example

No example