## Guide to the Secure Configuration of Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service

> with profile CIS Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Benchmark - Node
> This profile defines a baseline that aligns to the Center for Internet Security® Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Benchmark™, V1.0.1. This profile includes Center for Internet Security® Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)™ content. This profile is applicable to EKS 1.21 and greater.

The ComplianceAsCode Project
https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide
This guide presents a catalog of security-relevant configuration settings for Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service. It is a rendering of content structured in the eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) in order to support security automation. The SCAP content is is available in the `scap-security-guide` package which is developed at https://www.open-scap.org/security-policies/scap-security-guide.
Providing system administrators with such guidance informs them how to securely configure systems under their control in a variety of network roles. Policy makers and baseline creators can use this catalog of settings, with its associated references to higher-level security control catalogs, in order to assist them in security baseline creation. This guide is a catalog, not a checklist, and satisfaction of every item is not likely to be possible or sensible in many operational scenarios. However, the XCCDF format enables granular selection and adjustment of settings, and their association with OVAL and OCIL content provides an automated checking capability. Transformations of this document, and its associated automated checking content, are capable of providing baselines that meet a diverse set of policy objectives. Some example XCCDF Profiles, which are selections of items that form checklists and can be used as baselines, are available with this guide. They can be processed, in an automated fashion, with tools that support the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). The NIST National Checklist Program (NCP), which provides required settings for the United States Government, is one example of a baseline created from this guidance.
Do not attempt to implement any of the settings in this guide without first testing them in a non-operational environment. The creators of this guidance assume no responsibility whatsoever for its use by other parties, and makes no guarantees, expressed or implied, about its quality, reliability, or any other characteristic.

## Profile Information

Profile Title | CIS Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Benchmark - Node
Profile ID | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_cis-node

#### CPE Platforms

- cpe:/a:amazon:elastic_kubernetes_service_node:1.21
- cpe:/o:amazon:elastic_kubernetes_service_node:1
- cpe:/a:amazon:elastic_kubernetes_service:1

## Revision History

Current version: 0.1.80

- draft (as of 2026-03-14)

## Table of Contents

1. Kubernetes Settings
   1. Kubernetes Kubelet Settings
   2. Kubernetes - Worker Node Settings

## Checklist

Group Guide to the Secure Configuration of Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service Group contains 3 groups and 15 rules
Group Kubernetes Settings Group contains 2 groups and 15 rules

[ref] Each section of this configuration guide includes information about the configuration of a Kubernetes cluster and a set of recommendations for hardening the configuration. For each hardening recommendation, information on how to implement the control and/or how to verify or audit the control is provided. In some cases, remediation information is also provided. Some of the settings in the hardening guide are in place by default. The audit information for these settings is provided in order to verify that the cluster administrator has not made changes that would be less secure. A small number of items require configuration. Finally, there are some recommendations that require decisions by the system operator, such as audit log size, retention, and related settings.

Group Kubernetes Kubelet Settings Group contains 9 rules
[ref] The Kubernetes Kubelet is an agent that runs on each node in the cluster. It makes sure that containers are running in a pod. The kubelet takes a set of PodSpecs that are provided through various mechanisms and ensures that the containers described in those PodSpecs are running and healthy. The kubelet doesn’t manage containers which were not created by Kubernetes.

#### Rule Disable Anonymous Authentication to the Kubelet [ref]

By default, anonymous access to the Kubelet server is enabled. This configuration check ensures that anonymous requests to the Kubelet server are disabled. Edit the Kubelet server configuration file `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json` on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:

    authentication:
      ...
      anonymous:
        enabled: false
      ...

Rationale: | When enabled, requests that are not rejected by other configured authentication methods are treated as anonymous requests. These requests are then served by the Kubelet server. OpenShift Operators should rely on authentication to authorize access and disallow anonymous requests.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_anonymous_auth

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.1
bsi | APP.4.4.A3
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Ensure authorization is set to Webhook [ref]

Unauthenticated/unauthorized users should have no access to OpenShift nodes. The Kubelet should be set to only allow Webhook authorization. To ensure that the Kubelet requires authorization, validate that `authorization` is configured to `Webhook` in `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json`:

    authorization:
      mode: Webhook
      ...

Rationale: | Ensuring that the authorization is configured correctly helps enforce that unauthenticated/unauthorized users have no access to OpenShift nodes.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_authorization_mode

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.2
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule kubelet - Hostname Override handling [ref]

Normally, OpenShift lets the kubelet get the hostname from either the cloud provider itself, or from the node's hostname. This ensures that the PKI allocated by the deployment uses the appropriate values, is valid and keeps working throughout the lifecycle of the cluster. IP addresses are not used, and hence this makes it easier for security analysts to associate kubelet logs with the appropriate node.

Rationale: | Allowing hostnames to be overridden creates issues around resolving nodes in addition to TLS configuration, certificate validation, and log correlation and validation.
Severity: | low
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_disable_hostname_override

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-3 R6, CIP-004-3 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
cis | 3.2.8

#### Rule kubelet - Enable Certificate Rotation [ref]

To enable the kubelet to rotate client certificates, edit the kubelet configuration file `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json` on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:

    ...
    rotateCertificates: true
    ...

Rationale: | Allowing the kubelet to auto-update the certificates ensure that there is no downtime in certificate renewal as well as ensures confidentiality and integrity.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_cert_rotation

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.10
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule kubelet - Enable Client Certificate Rotation [ref]

To enable the kubelet to rotate client certificates, edit the kubelet configuration file `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json` on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:

    featureGates:
    ...
      RotateKubeletClientCertificate: true
    ...

Rationale: | Allowing the kubelet to auto-update the certificates ensure that there is no downtime in certificate renewal as well as ensures confidentiality and integrity.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_client_cert_rotation

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.10
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule kubelet - Allow Automatic Firewall Configuration [ref]

The kubelet has the ability to automatically configure the firewall to allow the containers required ports and connections to networking resources and destinations parameters potentially creating a security incident. To allow the kubelet to modify the firewall, edit the kubelet configuration file `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json` on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:

    makeIPTablesUtilChains: true

Rationale: | The kubelet should automatically configure the firewall settings to allow access and networking traffic through. This ensures that when a pod or container is running that the correct ports are configured as well as removing the ports when a pod or container is no longer in existence.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_iptables_util_chains

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.7
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule kubelet - Enable Protect Kernel Defaults [ref]

Protect tuned kernel parameters from being overwritten by the kubelet.
Rationale: | Kernel parameters are usually tuned and hardened by the system administrators before putting the systems into production. These parameters protect the kernel and the system. Your kubelet kernel defaults that rely on such parameters should be appropriately set to match the desired secured system state. Ignoring this could potentially lead to running pods with undesired kernel behavior.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_protect_kernel_defaults

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325

#### Rule kubelet - Enable Server Certificate Rotation [ref]

To enable the kubelet to rotate server certificates, edit the kubelet configuration file `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json` on the kubelet node(s) and set the below parameter:

    serverTLSBootstrap: true

Rationale: | Allowing the kubelet to auto-update the certificates ensure that there is no downtime in certificate renewal as well as ensures confidentiality and integrity.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_server_cert_rotation

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.11
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule kubelet - Do Not Disable Streaming Timeouts [ref]

Timouts for streaming connections should not be disabled as they help to prevent denial-of-service attacks. To configure streaming connection timeouts To set the `streamingConnectionIdleTimeout` option for the kubelet, create a `KubeletConfig` option along these lines:

    apiVersion: machineconfiguration.openshift.io/v1
    kind: KubeletConfig
    metadata:
       name: kubelet-config-$pool
    spec:
        machineConfigPoolSelector:
            matchLabels:
                pools.operator.machineconfiguration.openshift.io/$pool_name: ""
        kubeletConfig:
            streamingConnectionIdleTimeout: 4h0m0s

Rationale: | Ensuring connections have timeouts helps to protect against denial-of-service attacks as well as disconnect inactive connections. In addition, setting connections timeouts helps to prevent from running out of ephemeral ports.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_kubelet_enable_streaming_connections

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.2.5
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

Group Kubernetes - Worker Node Settings Group contains 6 rules
[ref] Contains evaluations for the worker node configuration settings.

#### Rule Verify Group Who Owns The Kubelet Configuration File [ref]

To properly set the group owner of `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json`, run the command:

    $ sudo chgrp root /etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json

Rationale: | The kubelet configuration file contains information about the configuration of the OpenShift node that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_groupowner_kubelet_conf

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.1.4
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Verify Group Who Owns The Worker Kubeconfig File [ref]

To properly set the group owner of `/var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig`, run the command:

    $ sudo chgrp root /var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig

Rationale: | The worker kubeconfig file contains information about the administrative configuration of the OpenShift cluster that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_groupowner_worker_kubeconfig

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Verify User Who Owns The Kubelet Configuration File [ref]

To properly set the owner of `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json`, run the command:

    $ sudo chown root /etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json

Rationale: | The kubelet configuration file contains information about the configuration of the OpenShift node that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_owner_kubelet_conf

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.1.4
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Verify User Who Owns The Worker Kubeconfig File [ref]

To properly set the owner of `/var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig`, run the command:

    $ sudo chown root /var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig

Rationale: | The worker kubeconfig file contains information about the administrative configuration of the OpenShift cluster that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_owner_worker_kubeconfig

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.1.2
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Verify Permissions on The Kubelet Configuration File [ref]

To properly set the permissions of `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json`, run the command:

    $ sudo chmod 0644 /etc/kubernetes/kubelet/kubelet-config.json

Rationale: | If the kubelet configuration file is writable by a group-owner or the world the risk of its compromise is increased. The file contains the configuration of an OpenShift node that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_permissions_kubelet_conf

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.1.3
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

#### Rule Verify Permissions on the Worker Kubeconfig File [ref]

To properly set the permissions of `/var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig`, run the command:

    $ sudo chmod 0644 /var/lib/kubelet/kubeconfig

Rationale: | If the worker kubeconfig file is writable by a group-owner or the world the risk of its compromise is increased. The file contains the administration configuration of the OpenShift cluster that is configured on the system. Protection of this file is critical for OpenShift security.
Severity: | medium
Rule ID: | xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_rule_file_permissions_worker_kubeconfig

References:

nerc-cip | CIP-003-8 R6, CIP-004-6 R3, CIP-007-3 R6.1
nist | CM-6, CM-6(1)
app-srg-ctr | SRG-APP-000516-CTR-001325
cis | 3.1.1
bsi | APP.4.4.A17
pcidss4 | 2.2.1, 2.2

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