hardening-docker-containers-for-production

# Hardening Docker Containers for Production ## Overview Hardening Docker containers for production involves applying security best practices aligned with CIS Docker Benchmark v1.8.0 to minimize attack surface, prevent privilege escalation, and enforce least-privilege principles across Docker daemon, images, containers, and runtime configurations. ## When to Use - When deploying or configuring hardening docker containers for production capabilities in your environment - When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements - When building or improving security architecture for this domain - When conducting security assessments that require this implementation ## Prerequisites - Docker Engine 24.0+ installed - Docker Compose v2 - Linux host with kernel 5.10+ - Root or sudo access on Docker host - docker-bench-security tool - Hadolint for Dockerfile linting - Dockle for image linting ## Core Concepts ### CIS Docker Benchmark Sections 1. **Host Configuration** - Audit Docker daemon files, restrict access to /var/run/docker.sock 2. **Docker Daemon Configuration** - Enable TLS, restrict inter-container communication, configure logging 3. **Docker Daemon Configuration Files** - Set ownership and permissions on daemon.json 4. **Container Images and Build File** - Use trusted base images, scan for vulnerabilities, multi-stage builds 5. **Container Runtime** - Drop capabilities, read-only rootfs, restrict syscalls 6. **Docker Security Operations** - Monitor, audit, and rotate credentials ### Key Hardening Principles - **Least Privilege**: Run containers as non-root, drop all capabilities except required - **Immutability**: Use read-only root filesystem, tmpfs for writable directories - **Minimalism**: Use distroless or Alpine base images, multi-stage builds - **Isolation**: Apply seccomp profiles, AppArmor/SELinux, namespace restrictions - **Auditability**: Enable content trust, log all container activity ## Workflow ### Step 1: Harden the Dockerfile ```dockerfile # Use specific digest for reproducibility FROM python:3.12-slim@sha256:abc123... AS builder WORKDIR /app COPY requirements.txt . RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --user -r requirements.txt # Production stage - minimal image FROM gcr.io/distroless/python3-debian12 # Copy only necessary artifacts COPY --from=builder /root/.local /root/.local COPY --from=builder /app /app WORKDIR /app # Create non-root user USER 65534:65534 # Set read-only filesystem expectation LABEL org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/org/app" ENTRYPOINT ["python", "app.py"] ``` ### Step 2: Harden Docker Daemon Configuration ```json { "icc": false, "log-driver": "json-file", "log-opts": { "max-size": "10m", "max-file": "3" }, "live-restore": true, "userland-proxy": false, "no-new-privileges": true, "default-ulimits": { "nofile": { "Name": "nofile", "Hard": 64000, "Soft": 64000 }, "nproc": { "Name": "nproc", "Hard": 1024, "Soft": 1024 } }, "seccomp-profile": "/etc/docker/seccomp-default.json", "tls": true, "tlscacert": "/etc/docker/tls/ca.pem", "tlscert": "/etc/docker/tls/server-cert.pem", "tlskey": "/etc/docker/tls/server-key.pem", "tlsverify": true } ``` ### Step 3: Harden Container Runtime ```bash docker run -d \ --name production-app \ --read-only \ --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid,size=100m \ --tmpfs /var/run:rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10m \ --cap-drop ALL \ --cap-add NET_BIND_SERVICE \ --security-opt no-new-privileges:true \ --security-opt seccomp=/etc/docker/seccomp-default.json \ --security-opt apparmor=docker-default \ --pids-limit 100 \ --memory 512m \ --memory-swap 512m \ --cpus 1.0 \ --user 65534:65534 \ --network custom-bridge \ --restart on-failure:3 \ --health-cmd "curl -f http://localhost:8080/health || exit 1" \ --health-interval 30s \ --health-timeout 10s \ --health-retries 3 \ myapp:latest ``` ### Step 4: Enable Docker Content Trust ```bash export DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 export DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST_SERVER=https://notary.example.com # Sign and push image docker trust sign myregistry.com/myapp:v1.0.0 # Verify image signature before pull docker trust inspect --pretty myregistry.com/myapp:v1.0.0 ``` ### Step 5: Configure Host-Level Auditing ```bash # Add audit rules for Docker files and directories cat >> /etc/audit/rules.d/docker.rules << 'EOF' -w /usr/bin/docker -k docker -w /var/lib/docker -k docker -w /etc/docker -k docker -w /lib/systemd/system/docker.service -k docker -w /lib/systemd/system/docker.socket -k docker -w /etc/default/docker -k docker -w /etc/docker/daemon.json -k docker -w /usr/bin/containerd -k docker -w /usr/bin/runc -k docker EOF systemctl restart auditd ``` ## Validation Commands ```bash # Run Docker Bench Security docker run --rm --net host --pid host \ --userns host --cap-add audit_control \ -e DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=$DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST \ -v /etc:/etc:ro \ -v /usr/bin/containerd:/usr/bin/containerd:ro \ -v /usr/bin/runc:/usr/bin/runc:ro \ -v /usr/lib/systemd:/usr/lib/systemd:ro \ -v /var/lib:/var/lib:ro \ -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \ docker/docker-bench-security # Lint Dockerfile hadolint Dockerfile # Lint built image dockle myapp:latest # Verify no containers running as root docker ps -q | xargs docker inspect --format '{{.Id}}: User={{.Config.User}}' ``` ## Key Security Controls | Control | Implementation | CIS Section | |---------|---------------|-------------| | Non-root user | USER instruction in Dockerfile | 4.1 | | Read-only rootfs | --read-only flag | 5.12 | | Drop capabilities | --cap-drop ALL | 5.3 | | Resource limits | --memory, --cpus, --pids-limit | 5.10 | | No new privileges | --security-opt no-new-privileges | 5.25 | | Content trust | DOCKER_CONTENT_TRUST=1 | 4.5 | | TLS for daemon | daemon.json TLS config | 2.6 | | Audit logging | auditd rules | 1.1 | ## References - [CIS Docker Benchmark](https://www.cisecurity.org/benchmark/docker) - [Docker Security Best Practices](https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/) - [Docker Bench Security Tool](https://github.com/docker/docker-bench-security) - [Hadolint - Dockerfile Linter](https://github.com/hadolint/hadolint)