sec-design.md

BUSINESS POSTURE

• Business Priorities and Goals:

  • Secure Containerization: Provide a secure container runtime environment that isolates workloads and protects against container escape vulnerabilities.
  • Workload Isolation: Ensure strong isolation between containers, comparable to virtual machines, to prevent cross-container interference and security breaches.
  • Compatibility: Maintain compatibility with standard container ecosystems and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes and Docker.
  • Performance: Offer a balance between security and performance, minimizing overhead compared to traditional virtual machines while providing enhanced security compared to native containers.
  • Open Source Collaboration: Foster an open and collaborative community to drive innovation and adoption of secure container technologies.

• Most Important Business Risks:

  • Security Vulnerabilities: Risk of vulnerabilities in the Kata Containers runtime, hypervisor, or related components that could be exploited to compromise container isolation or the host system.
  • Integration Challenges: Risk of integration issues with existing container orchestration platforms, leading to operational complexities or instability.
  • Performance Overhead: Risk of performance degradation compared to native containers, potentially impacting application performance and user experience.
  • Adoption Barriers: Risk of slow adoption due to complexity, lack of awareness, or perceived overhead compared to less secure container runtimes.
  • Supply Chain Security: Risk of compromised dependencies or build processes introducing vulnerabilities into the Kata Containers distribution.

SECURITY POSTURE

• Existing Security Controls:

  • security control: Secure coding practices are likely followed by the open-source community contributing to the project. (Described in project's development guidelines, if available).
  • security control: Regular security audits and vulnerability scanning are likely performed by the community and security researchers. (Described in project's security documentation, if available).
  • security control: Use of memory-safe languages like Go and Rust in some components to reduce the risk of memory-related vulnerabilities. (Implicit in the project's codebase).
  • security control: Strong isolation provided by hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x/AMD-V) to separate containers. (Architectural design of Kata Containers).
  • security control: Minimalist guest kernel and initramfs to reduce the attack surface within the container VM. (Design principle of Kata Containers).
  • security control: Rootless container support to reduce the privileges required for running containers. (Feature of Kata Containers).

• Accepted Risks:

  • accepted risk: Complexity of managing virtual machines compared to native containers, potentially leading to misconfigurations.
  • accepted risk: Performance overhead associated with virtualization, which might be noticeable for certain workloads.
  • accepted risk: Reliance on the security of the underlying hypervisor and hardware virtualization features.
  • accepted risk: Potential for vulnerabilities in third-party dependencies used by Kata Containers.

• Recommended Security Controls:

  • security control: Implement automated security testing (SAST, DAST, SCA) in the CI/CD pipeline to identify vulnerabilities early in the development process.
  • security control: Establish a formal security incident response plan to handle security vulnerabilities and breaches effectively.
  • security control: Conduct regular penetration testing to proactively identify and address security weaknesses.
  • security control: Implement a robust supply chain security strategy, including dependency scanning and verification of build artifacts.
  • security control: Provide security hardening guidelines and best practices for deploying and configuring Kata Containers.

• Security Requirements:

  • Authentication:
    • Requirement: Kata Containers itself does not directly handle user authentication. Authentication is typically managed by the container orchestration platform (e.g., Kubernetes) or the host operating system.
    • Requirement: Secure communication channels (e.g., TLS) should be used for communication between Kata Containers components and with external systems.
  • Authorization:
    • Requirement: Kata Containers should enforce authorization policies defined by the container orchestration platform to control access to container resources and operations.
    • Requirement: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) should be supported to manage permissions for different users and roles interacting with Kata Containers.
    • Requirement: Least privilege principle should be applied to all Kata Containers components and processes.
  • Input Validation:
    • Requirement: All inputs to Kata Containers components, including API requests, configuration files, and container images, must be thoroughly validated to prevent injection attacks and other input-related vulnerabilities.
    • Requirement: Input validation should be performed at multiple layers, including at the API level, within container runtime components, and in the guest kernel.
  • Cryptography:
    • Requirement: Cryptographic mechanisms should be used to protect sensitive data at rest and in transit, such as container images, secrets, and communication channels.
    • Requirement: Strong cryptographic algorithms and protocols should be used, and key management practices should be secure.
    • Requirement: Support for encrypted container images and secure secret management should be provided.

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

graph LR
    subgraph "Container Orchestration Platform"
        C[Container Orchestrator (e.g., Kubernetes)]
    end
    subgraph "Users"
        A[Developers]
        B[Operators]
    end
    D[Container Registry]
    E[Kata Containers]
    F[Hardware Infrastructure]

    A --> C
    B --> C
    C --> E
    C --> D
    E --> F
    D --> E

    style E fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

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• Context Diagram Elements:
  • • Name: Developers
    • Type: Person
    • Description: Software developers who build and package applications as containers.
    • Responsibilities: Develop containerized applications, define container specifications, and push container images to registries.
    • Security controls: Code signing of container images (potentially), secure development practices.
  • • Name: Operators
    • Type: Person
    • Description: System administrators and operations teams responsible for deploying, managing, and monitoring containerized applications and infrastructure.
    • Responsibilities: Deploy and manage container orchestration platforms, configure and monitor Kata Containers, and ensure the security and stability of the container environment.
    • Security controls: Access control to infrastructure and orchestration platform, security monitoring and logging.
  • • Name: Container Orchestrator (e.g., Kubernetes)
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: A platform for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Manages the lifecycle of containers, including scheduling, networking, and storage.
    • Responsibilities: Orchestrate containers, manage networking and storage, enforce policies, and interact with container runtimes like Kata Containers.
    • Security controls: Authentication and authorization of users and services, network policies, RBAC, audit logging, secret management.
  • • Name: Container Registry
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: A storage and distribution system for container images. Holds container images that are pulled by the container orchestrator to run containers.
    • Responsibilities: Store and serve container images, manage image versions and tags, and potentially perform vulnerability scanning of images.
    • Security controls: Access control to images, image signing and verification, vulnerability scanning, content trust.
  • • Name: Kata Containers
    • Type: Software System
    • Description: A secure container runtime that uses lightweight virtual machines to provide strong isolation for containers. It acts as a container runtime interface (CRI) implementation for container orchestrators.
    • Responsibilities: Create and manage secure container environments using lightweight VMs, isolate containers from each other and the host, and provide a standard container runtime interface.
    • Security controls: Hardware virtualization, minimal guest OS, secure boot, memory isolation, seccomp/AppArmor/SELinux profiles within the guest VM.
  • • Name: Hardware Infrastructure
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: The physical or virtual servers that host the container orchestration platform and Kata Containers. Provides the underlying compute, network, and storage resources.
    • Responsibilities: Provide reliable and secure hardware resources for running containers.
    • Security controls: Physical security of data centers, firmware security, hardware-based security features (e.g., TPM, Secure Boot), operating system hardening.

C4 CONTAINER

graph LR
    subgraph "Kata Containers"
        subgraph "Runtime"
            A[Runtime Core]
            B[Agent]
            C[Shim]
        end
        D[Hypervisor (e.g., Qemu, Firecracker)]
        E[Guest Kernel]
        F[Guest Initramfs]
    end
    G[Container Orchestrator API]

    G --> C
    C --> A
    A --> D
    D --> E
    D --> F
    A --> B
    B -- Communication --> E

    style D fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style E fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style F fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px

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• Container Diagram Elements:
  • • Name: Runtime Core
    • Type: Container
    • Description: The main component of the Kata Containers runtime. It manages the lifecycle of containers, interacts with the hypervisor, and communicates with the agent inside the guest VM.
    • Responsibilities: Container lifecycle management (create, start, stop, delete), VM management, image management, networking setup, storage management, communication with the agent and shim.
    • Security controls: Input validation, secure communication with other components, privilege separation, resource limits.
  • • Name: Agent
    • Type: Container
    • Description: Runs inside the guest VM and is responsible for managing containers within the VM. It communicates with the Runtime Core to execute container operations.
    • Responsibilities: Container management within the VM, process management, resource isolation within the VM, execution of commands from the Runtime Core.
    • Security controls: Minimal attack surface, secure communication with Runtime Core, process isolation within the VM, seccomp/AppArmor/SELinux profiles within the guest VM.
  • • Name: Shim
    • Type: Container
    • Description: A lightweight process that acts as an intermediary between the container orchestrator and the Runtime Core. It is responsible for process supervision and signal forwarding.
    • Responsibilities: Container process supervision, signal handling, communication with the container orchestrator and Runtime Core.
    • Security controls: Minimal privileges, input validation, secure communication.
  • • Name: Hypervisor (e.g., Qemu, Firecracker)
    • Type: Container
    • Description: The virtualization software that creates and manages the lightweight virtual machines for containers.
    • Responsibilities: VM creation and management, hardware virtualization, resource isolation between VMs, secure boot (if enabled).
    • Security controls: Hardened configuration, vulnerability management, secure boot, memory protection features.
  • • Name: Guest Kernel
    • Type: Container
    • Description: A minimal Linux kernel running inside the guest VM. Provides the operating system environment for containers within the VM.
    • Responsibilities: Operating system functionality within the VM, process scheduling, memory management, device drivers, system calls.
    • Security controls: Minimal attack surface, kernel hardening, security patches, seccomp/AppArmor/SELinux profiles.
  • • Name: Guest Initramfs
    • Type: Container
    • Description: Initial RAM filesystem loaded by the guest kernel at boot time. Contains essential utilities and scripts to set up the guest VM environment.
    • Responsibilities: Initial VM setup, mounting root filesystem, starting the agent.
    • Security controls: Minimal content, secure configuration, integrity checks.

DEPLOYMENT

• Deployment Options:

  • Kubernetes Cluster: Kata Containers is commonly deployed as a container runtime within a Kubernetes cluster.
  • Standalone Docker: Kata Containers can also be used with standalone Docker deployments, replacing the default runc runtime.
  • Cloud Environments: Kata Containers can be deployed in various cloud environments, leveraging cloud provider infrastructure.

• Detailed Deployment (Kubernetes Cluster):

graph LR
    subgraph "Kubernetes Control Plane"
        A[kube-apiserver]
        B[kube-scheduler]
        C[kube-controller-manager]
        D[etcd]
    end
    subgraph "Kubernetes Worker Node"
        E[kubelet]
        F[containerd]
        G[Kata Containers Runtime]
        H[Container VM]
        I[Containers in VM]
    end
    J[Network]
    K[Storage]

    E --> F
    F --> G
    G --> H
    H --> I
    A -- Network --> E
    B -- Network --> E
    C -- Network --> E
    E -- Network --> J
    I -- Network --> J
    I -- Storage --> K

    style G fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style H fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style I fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px

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• Deployment Diagram Elements:
  • • Name: kube-apiserver
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Kubernetes API server, the front-end for the Kubernetes control plane.
    • Responsibilities: Exposes the Kubernetes API, authenticates and authorizes requests.
    • Security controls: TLS encryption, authentication and authorization mechanisms, audit logging.
  • • Name: kube-scheduler
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Kubernetes scheduler, responsible for scheduling pods to worker nodes.
    • Responsibilities: Pod scheduling based on resource requirements and constraints.
    • Security controls: Secure communication with API server, RBAC.
  • • Name: kube-controller-manager
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Kubernetes controller manager, runs core control loops like node controller, replication controller, etc.
    • Responsibilities: Node management, replication management, endpoint management, etc.
    • Security controls: Secure communication with API server, RBAC.
  • • Name: etcd
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Kubernetes backing store, a distributed key-value store used to store Kubernetes cluster data.
    • Responsibilities: Persistent storage of Kubernetes cluster state.
    • Security controls: Access control, encryption at rest and in transit, backups.
  • • Name: kubelet
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Agent that runs on each Kubernetes worker node. It is responsible for registering the node with the control plane, managing pods and containers on the node.
    • Responsibilities: Node registration, pod and container lifecycle management on the node, communication with the container runtime.
    • Security controls: Node authentication and authorization, secure communication with API server, resource limits.
  • • Name: containerd
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Container runtime daemon, manages the container lifecycle on the worker node. In this case, it delegates container creation to Kata Containers.
    • Responsibilities: Container image management, container lifecycle management, CRI implementation.
    • Security controls: Namespaces, cgroups, seccomp, AppArmor/SELinux, secure image handling.
  • • Name: Kata Containers Runtime
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Kata Containers runtime, integrated with containerd as the CRI implementation. Creates and manages secure container VMs.
    • Responsibilities: Secure container VM creation and management, container isolation.
    • Security controls: Hardware virtualization, minimal guest OS, secure boot, memory isolation.
  • • Name: Container VM
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: Lightweight virtual machine created by Kata Containers to run containers.
    • Responsibilities: Provides isolated environment for containers.
    • Security controls: VM isolation, resource limits, minimal guest OS.
  • • Name: Containers in VM
    • Type: Software
    • Description: Actual containerized applications running inside the Kata Containers VM.
    • Responsibilities: Run application workloads.
    • Security controls: Application-level security controls, resource limits within the VM.
  • • Name: Network
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: Network infrastructure connecting Kubernetes components and containers.
    • Responsibilities: Network connectivity for Kubernetes cluster and containers.
    • Security controls: Network segmentation, network policies, encryption in transit (TLS).
  • • Name: Storage
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: Storage infrastructure used by Kubernetes and containers for persistent data.
    • Responsibilities: Persistent storage for applications and Kubernetes data.
    • Security controls: Access control, encryption at rest, backups.

BUILD

graph LR
    A[Developer] --> B{Code Changes};
    B --> C[Version Control System (e.g., GitHub)];
    C --> D[CI/CD Pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions)];
    D --> E{Build Process (Compilation, Testing, Security Scans)};
    E --> F[Artifact Repository (e.g., Container Registry)];
    F --> G[Deployment Environment];

    subgraph "CI/CD Pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions)"
        style D fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
        H[Source Code Checkout]
        I[Dependency Management]
        J[Compilation/Build]
        K[Unit Tests]
        L[Integration Tests]
        M[SAST/Linting]
        N[Container Image Build]
        O[Container Image Scan (Vulnerability)]
        P[Artifact Upload]

        D --> H
        H --> I
        I --> J
        J --> K
        K --> L
        J --> M
        M --> N
        N --> O
        O --> P
    end

    style F fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px

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• Build Process Description:

  • Developer commits code changes to a Version Control System (e.g., GitHub).
  • CI/CD pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions) is triggered upon code changes (e.g., push, pull request).
  • CI/CD pipeline performs the following steps:
    • Source Code Checkout: Clones the source code repository.
    • Dependency Management: Resolves and downloads project dependencies.
    • Compilation/Build: Compiles the code and builds executables or libraries.
    • Unit Tests: Executes unit tests to verify code functionality.
    • Integration Tests: Executes integration tests to verify component interactions.
    • SAST/Linting: Performs Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and code linting to identify potential security vulnerabilities and code quality issues.
    • Container Image Build: Builds container images for Kata Containers components or related tools.
    • Container Image Scan (Vulnerability): Scans container images for known vulnerabilities using vulnerability scanners.
    • Artifact Upload: Uploads build artifacts (binaries, container images, etc.) to an artifact repository (e.g., Container Registry).
  • Artifacts are then deployed to the target deployment environment.

• Build Process Security Controls:

  • security control: Automated build process using CI/CD pipeline to ensure consistency and repeatability.
  • security control: Version control system (e.g., Git) to track code changes and enable rollback.
  • security control: Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools integrated into the pipeline to detect code-level vulnerabilities.
  • security control: Dependency scanning to identify vulnerabilities in third-party libraries and dependencies.
  • security control: Container image scanning to detect vulnerabilities in container images.
  • security control: Code linting to enforce coding standards and improve code quality.
  • security control: Unit and integration tests to verify code functionality and reduce bugs.
  • security control: Secure artifact repository to store and manage build artifacts.
  • security control: Access control to CI/CD pipeline and artifact repository to restrict unauthorized access and modifications.
  • security control: Supply chain security practices, such as verifying checksums of dependencies and using trusted base images.

RISK ASSESSMENT

• Critical Business Processes:

  • Secure execution of containerized workloads: Protecting applications and data running in containers from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.
  • Maintaining isolation between containerized workloads: Preventing cross-container contamination and ensuring that a security breach in one container does not impact others.
  • Protecting the host system from container escape vulnerabilities: Ensuring that containers cannot break out of their isolation and compromise the underlying host operating system or infrastructure.
  • Ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of container images and related artifacts: Protecting the software supply chain and preventing the introduction of malicious components.

• Data Sensitivity:

  • Kata Containers itself does not directly handle application data. However, it provides a secure environment for containers that may process sensitive data.
  • Data sensitivity depends on the applications running within Kata Containers. It can range from public data to highly confidential and regulated data (e.g., PII, financial data, health records).
  • The sensitivity of data within containers should be assessed based on the specific applications and use cases.
  • Metadata related to container configurations and runtime operations might also be considered sensitive and require protection.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

• BUSINESS POSTURE Questions:

  • What are the specific compliance requirements (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR) that Kata Containers aims to help address?
  • What is the target market and user base for Kata Containers (e.g., enterprises, service providers, security-conscious organizations)?
  • What are the key differentiators of Kata Containers compared to other secure container runtime solutions?

• BUSINESS POSTURE Assumptions:

  • The primary business driver for Kata Containers is to provide a more secure container runtime environment than traditional runtimes like runc.
  • Security is a top priority for organizations considering adopting Kata Containers.
  • Kata Containers is intended to be used in environments where strong workload isolation and security are critical requirements.

• SECURITY POSTURE Questions:

  • What is the process for reporting and addressing security vulnerabilities in Kata Containers?
  • Are there any specific security certifications or attestations for Kata Containers?
  • What are the recommended security hardening guidelines for deploying and configuring Kata Containers in production environments?

• SECURITY POSTURE Assumptions:

  • The Kata Containers project has an active security community and follows responsible disclosure practices.
  • Security is a primary design consideration throughout the Kata Containers development lifecycle.
  • Users of Kata Containers are expected to implement additional security controls at the application and infrastructure levels.

• DESIGN Questions:

  • What are the performance implications of using Kata Containers compared to native containers for different types of workloads?
  • What are the resource requirements (CPU, memory, storage) for running Kata Containers and container VMs?
  • How does Kata Containers handle networking and storage for containers within VMs?

• DESIGN Assumptions:

  • Kata Containers is designed to be compatible with existing container orchestration platforms and tools.
  • The architecture of Kata Containers is modular and extensible, allowing for integration with different hypervisors and hardware platforms.
  • The performance overhead of virtualization is acceptable for use cases where strong security isolation is paramount.