cis-ocp-v170-5-7-1

name	cis-ocp-v170-5.7.1
description	Create administrative boundaries using namespaces (Manual)
category	cis-openshift
version	1.7.0
author	cyberstrike-official
tags	["cis","openshift","kubernetes","redhat","policies","general-policies"]
cis_id	5.7.1
cis_benchmark	CIS Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Benchmark v1.7.0
tech_stack	["kubernetes","openshift","redhat"]
cwe_ids	[]
chains_with	[]
prerequisites	[]
severity_boost	{}

CIS Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Benchmark v1.7.0 - Control 5.7.1

Profile Applicability

• Level: 1

Description

Use namespaces to isolate your Kubernetes objects.

Rationale

Limiting the scope of user permissions can reduce the impact of mistakes or malicious activities. A Kubernetes namespace allows you to partition created resources into logically named groups. Resources created in one namespace can be hidden from other namespaces. By default, each resource created by a user in Kubernetes cluster runs in a default namespace, called default. You can create additional namespaces and attach resources and users to them. You can use Kubernetes Authorization plugins to create policies that segregate access to namespace resources between different users.

Impact

You need to switch between namespaces for administration.

Audit Procedure

OpenShift Projects wrap Kubernetes namespaces and are used by default in OpenShift 4.

Run the following command to obtain a list of all non-default OpenShift and Kubernetes namespaces in the cluster.

oc get namespaces -o json | jq '.items[] |
select(.metadata.name|test("(?!default|kube-.|openshift.)^.*")) |
.metadata.name'

Ensure that these namespaces are the ones you need and are adequately administered as per your requirements.

Remediation

Follow the documentation and create namespaces for objects in your deployment as you need them.

Default Value

By default, Kubernetes starts with two initial namespaces:

1. default - The default namespace for objects with no other namespace
2. kube-system - The namespace for objects created by the Kubernetes system
3. openshift -
4. openshift-* - The namespace for objects created by OpenShift

References

1. https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/namespaces/
2. https://kubernetes.io/blog/2016/08/security-best-practices-kubernetes-deployment/

CIS Controls

Controls Version	Control	IG 1	IG 2	IG 3