Pod Security Admission (PSA) Testing for Kubernetes 1.24

Testing Summary

Several test scenarios were executed against a Kubernetes 1.24 cluster, with Pod Security Admission (PSA) and Pod Security Standards (PSS) Privileged profile enabled by default. The testing was designed to exercise different PSA modes and PSS profiles, while producing the following responses:

Allowing Pods that meet profile requirements
Disallowing pods that don’t meet profile requirements
Allowing Deployments, even if Pods did not meet PSS profile requirements
Failure (forbidden) responses to Kubernetes API server clients when Pods don’t meet profile requirements
Deployment resource statuses, reflecting failed (forbidden) Pods
Kubernetes API server logs with PSA controller responses, reflecting failed (forbidden) Pods
Warning messages to Kubernetes API server clients when Deployments contained Pod specs that failed PSS profile requirements

Testing Outcomes

PSA functions correctly in Kubernetes 1.24
PSS profiles (Privileged, Baseline, and Restricted) function as expected in Kubenetes 1.24
PSA modes (audit, enforce, and warn) function as expected in Kubernetes 1.24:

Testing Assumptions

PSA Enforce mode only affects Pods, and does not affect workload resource controllers (Deployment, etc.) that create Pods.
No PSA exemptions are configured at API server startup, for the PSA controller.
The Privileged PSS profile is configured by default for all PSA modes, and set to latest versions.

apiVersion: apiserver.config.k8s.io/v1
kind: AdmissionConfiguration
plugins:
- name: PodSecurity
  configuration:
    apiVersion: pod-security.admission.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
    kind: PodSecurityConfiguration
    # Defaults applied when a mode label is not set.
    #
    # Level label values must be one of:
    # - "privileged" (default)
    # - "baseline"
    # - "restricted"
    #
    # Version label values must be one of:
    # - "latest" (default) 
    # - specific version like "v1.24"
    defaults:
      enforce: "privileged"
      enforce-version: "latest"
      audit: "privileged"
      audit-version: "latest"
      warn: "privileged"
      warn-version: "latest"
    exemptions:
      # Array of authenticated usernames to exempt.
      usernames: []
      # Array of runtime class names to exempt.
      runtimeClasses: []
      # Array of namespaces to exempt.
      namespaces: []

Testing Setup and Execution

policy-test Namespace created

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: policy-test
  labels:    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: baseline
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted

Known good Kubernetes Deployment created and then deleted

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
namespace: policy-test
... 
    spec: 
      containers:
      - name: test
        image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        securityContext:  
          allowPrivilegeEscalation: false  
          runAsUser: 1000  
          readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
          runAsNonRoot: true
          capabilities:
            drop: ["ALL"]  
          seccompProfile:
            type: "RuntimeDefault"
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
...

Known bad Kubernetes Deployment created
- No securityContext element at the Pod level
- No securityContext element at the Container level

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: test
  namespace: policy-test
...
    spec: 
      containers:
      - name: test
        image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
...

Known bad Pod created
- No securityContext element at the Pod level
- No securityContext element at the Container level

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test
  namespace: policy-test
...
spec:
  containers:
    - name: test
      image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
      ports:
      - containerPort: 8080
...

Known bad Pod created
- securityContext element at the Pod level exists with valid runAsUser and runAsNonRoot elements.
- No securityContext element at the Container level

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test2
  namespace: policy-test
...
spec:
  securityContext:  
    runAsUser: 1000  
    runAsNonRoot: true
  containers:
    - name: test
      image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
      ports:
      - containerPort: 8080
...

Known bad Pod created
- No securityContext element at the Pod level.
- securityContext element at the Container level exists with incorrect settings for allowPrivilegeEscalation, readOnlyRootFilesystem, and runAsNonRoot

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test3
  namespace: policy-test
...
spec:
  containers:
    - name: test
      image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
      securityContext:  
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: true  
        runAsUser: 1000  
        readOnlyRootFilesystem: false
        runAsNonRoot: false
        capabilities:
          drop: ["ALL"]  
        seccompProfile:
          type: "RuntimeDefault"
      ports:
...

Known bad Pod created
- No securityContext element at the Pod level.
- securityContext element at the Container level exists with correct settings
- Pod spec has incorrect hostNetwork, hostPID, and hostIPC settings

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test4
  namespace: policy-test
...
spec:
  hostNetwork: true
  hostPID: true
  hostIPC: true
  containers:
    - name: test
      image: public.ecr.aws/r2l1x4g2/go-http-server:v0.1.0-23ffe0a715
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
      securityContext:  
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false  
        runAsUser: 1000  
        readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
        runAsNonRoot: true
        capabilities:
          drop: ["ALL"]  
        seccompProfile:
          type: "RuntimeDefault"
      ports:
      - containerPort: 8080
...

Testing Scenarios

PSA Modes Enabled with Default (Cluster Level) PSS Privileged Profile

Namespace Config (no Namespace-level settings)

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: policy-test
  labels:    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: baseline
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted

Test Output - Default PSS Privileged Profile Applied (5 Pods allowed, 0 Pods disallowed)

namespace/policy-test created


>>> 1. Good config...
deployment.apps/test created
deployment.apps "test" deleted


>>> 2. Deployment - Missing container security context element...
deployment.apps/test created


>>> 3. Pod - Missing container security context element...
pod/test created


>>> 4. Pod - Pod security context, but Missing container security context element...
pod/test2 created


>>> 5. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect settings...
pod/test3 created


>>> 6. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect spec.hostNetwork, spec.hostPID, spec.hostIPC settings...
pod/test4 created

k -n policy-test get po
NAME                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
test                   1/1     Running   0          70s
test-59955f994-djtqz   1/1     Running   0          76s
test2                  1/1     Running   0          65s
test3                  1/1     Running   0          59s
test4                  1/1     Running   0          55s

All PSA Modes Enabled for Privileged PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

Namespace Config

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: policy-test
  labels:    
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: baseline
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted

Test Output - Namespace-level PSS Privileged Profile Applied (5 Pods allowed, 0 Pods disallowed)

namespace/policy-test created


>>> 1. Good config...
deployment.apps/test created
deployment.apps "test" deleted


>>> 2. Deployment - Missing container security context element...
deployment.apps/test created


>>> 3. Pod - Missing container security context element...
pod/test created


>>> 4. Pod - Pod security context, but Missing container security context element...
pod/test2 created


>>> 5. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect settings...
pod/test3 created


>>> 6. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect spec.hostNetwork, spec.hostPID, spec.hostIPC settings...
pod/test4 created

k -n policy-test get po
NAME                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
test                   1/1     Running   0          54s
test-59955f994-cssz9   1/1     Running   0          59s
test2                  1/1     Running   0          48s
test3                  1/1     Running   0          42s
test4                  1/1     Running   0          38s

All PSA Modes Enabled for Baseline PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

Namespace Config

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: policy-test
  labels:    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged
    
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: baseline
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: baseline
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted

Test Output - Namespace-level PSS Baseline Profile Applied (4 Pods allowed, 1 Pod disallowed)

namespace/policy-test created


>>> 1. Good config...
deployment.apps/test created
deployment.apps "test" deleted


>>> 2. Deployment - Missing container security context element...
deployment.apps/test created


>>> 3. Pod - Missing container security context element...
pod/test created


>>> 4. Pod - Pod security context, but Missing container security context element...
pod/test2 created


>>> 5. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect settings...
pod/test3 created


>>> 6. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect spec.hostNetwork, spec.hostPID, spec.hostIPC settings...
Error from server (Forbidden): error when creating "policy/psa-pss/tests/6-pod.yaml": pods "test4" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "baseline:latest": host namespaces (hostNetwork=true, hostPID=true, hostIPC=true), hostPort (container "test" uses hostPort 8080)

k -n policy-test get po
NAME                   READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
test                   1/1     Running   0          46s
test-59955f994-6tbj7   1/1     Running   0          52s
test2                  1/1     Running   0          42s
test3                  1/1     Running   0          37s

All PSA Modes Enabled for Restricted PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

Namespace Config

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: policy-test
  labels:
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: privileged
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: privileged
    
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: baseline
    # pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: baseline
    
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
    pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted

Test Output - Namespace-level PSS Restricted Profile Applied (0 Pods allowed, 5 Pods disallowed)
- 1 Deployment created, with 0 Pods allowed

namespace/policy-test created


>>> 1. Good config...
deployment.apps/test created
deployment.apps "test" deleted


>>> 2. Deployment - Missing container security context element...
Warning: would violate PodSecurity "restricted:latest": allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "test" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false), unrestricted capabilities (container "test" must set securityContext.capabilities.drop=["ALL"]), runAsNonRoot != true (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.runAsNonRoot=true), seccompProfile (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.seccompProfile.type to "RuntimeDefault" or "Localhost")
deployment.apps/test created


>>> 3. Pod - Missing container security context element...
Error from server (Forbidden): error when creating "policy/psa-pss/tests/3-pod.yaml": pods "test" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "restricted:latest": allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "test" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false), unrestricted capabilities (container "test" must set securityContext.capabilities.drop=["ALL"]), runAsNonRoot != true (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.runAsNonRoot=true), seccompProfile (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.seccompProfile.type to "RuntimeDefault" or "Localhost")


>>> 4. Pod - Pod security context, but Missing container security context element...
Error from server (Forbidden): error when creating "policy/psa-pss/tests/4-pod.yaml": pods "test2" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "restricted:latest": allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "test" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false), unrestricted capabilities (container "test" must set securityContext.capabilities.drop=["ALL"]), seccompProfile (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.seccompProfile.type to "RuntimeDefault" or "Localhost")


>>> 5. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect settings...
Error from server (Forbidden): error when creating "policy/psa-pss/tests/5-pod.yaml": pods "test3" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "restricted:latest": allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "test" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false), runAsNonRoot != true (container "test" must not set securityContext.runAsNonRoot=false)


>>> 6. Pod - Container security context element present, with incorrect spec.hostNetwork, spec.hostPID, spec.hostIPC settings...
Error from server (Forbidden): error when creating "policy/psa-pss/tests/6-pod.yaml": pods "test4" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "restricted:latest": host namespaces (hostNetwork=true, hostPID=true, hostIPC=true), hostPort (container "test" uses hostPort 8080)

k -n policy-test get po
No resources found in policy-test namespace.

k -n policy-test get deploy test -oyaml
...
status:
  conditions:
...
  - lastTransitionTime: "2022-07-12T23:56:10Z"
    lastUpdateTime: "2022-07-12T23:56:10Z"
    message: 'pods "test-59955f994-wl8hf" is forbidden: violates PodSecurity "restricted:latest":
      allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "test" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false),
      unrestricted capabilities (container "test" must set securityContext.capabilities.drop=["ALL"]),
      runAsNonRoot != true (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.runAsNonRoot=true),
      seccompProfile (pod or container "test" must set securityContext.seccompProfile.type
      to "RuntimeDefault" or "Localhost")'
    reason: FailedCreate
    status: "True"
    type: ReplicaFailure
...

Useful Commands

Label Namespace

kubectl label --overwrite ns policy-test pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=restricted

Check Namespace Labels

kubectl get ns policy-test -L pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce \
-L pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn -L pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 8 Commits
tests		tests
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
psa_valid_pod_deployed.yaml		psa_valid_pod_deployed.yaml
psp_valid_pod_deployed.yaml		psp_valid_pod_deployed.yaml
psp_valid_pod_output.yaml		psp_valid_pod_output.yaml

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Pod Security Admission (PSA) Testing for Kubernetes 1.24

Testing Summary

Testing Outcomes

Testing Assumptions

Testing Setup and Execution

Testing Scenarios

PSA Modes Enabled with Default (Cluster Level) PSS Privileged Profile

All PSA Modes Enabled for Privileged PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

All PSA Modes Enabled for Baseline PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

All PSA Modes Enabled for Restricted PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

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Label Namespace

Check Namespace Labels

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Pod Security Admission (PSA) Testing for Kubernetes 1.24

Testing Summary

Testing Outcomes

Testing Assumptions

Testing Setup and Execution

Testing Scenarios

PSA Modes Enabled with Default (Cluster Level) PSS Privileged Profile

All PSA Modes Enabled for Privileged PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

All PSA Modes Enabled for Baseline PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

All PSA Modes Enabled for Restricted PSS Profile (Namespace Level)

Useful Commands

Label Namespace

Check Namespace Labels

References

Security

License

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