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plugin_server_keymanager_gcp_kms.md

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Server plugin: KeyManager "gcp_kms"

The gcp_kms key manager plugin leverages the Google Cloud Key Management Service to create, maintain, and rotate key pairs, signing SVIDs as needed. No Google Cloud principal can view or export the raw cryptographic key material represented by a key. Instead, Cloud KMS accesses the key material on behalf of SPIRE.

Configuration

The plugin accepts the following configuration options:

Key Type Required Description Default
key_policy_file string no A file path location to a custom IAM Policy (v3) in JSON format to be attached to created CryptoKeys. ""
key_metadata_file string no A file path location where key metadata used by the plugin will be persisted (deprecated). See "Management of keys" for more information. ""
key_identifier_file string Required if key_identifier_value is not set A file path location where key metadata used by the plugin will be persisted. See "Management of keys" for more information. ""
key_identifier_value string Required if key_identifier_file is not set A static identifier for the SPIRE server instance (used instead of key_metadata_file) ""
key_ring string yes Resource ID of the key ring where the keys managed by this plugin reside, in the format projects/*/locations/*/keyRings/* ""
service_account_file string no Path to the service account file used to authenticate with the Cloud KMS API. Value of GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable.

Authenticating with the Cloud KMS API

The plugin uses the Application Default Credentials to authenticate with the Google Cloud KMS API, as documented by Setting Up Authentication For Server to Server. When SPIRE Server is running inside GCP, it will use the default service account credentials available to the instance it is running under. When running outside GCP, or if non-default credentials are needed, the path to the service account file containing the credentials may be specified using the GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS environment variable or the service_account_file configurable (see Configuration).

Use of key versions

In Cloud KMS, the cryptographic key material that is used to sign data is stored in a key version (CryptoKeyVersion). A key (CryptoKey) can have zero or more key versions.

For each SPIRE Key ID that the server manages, this plugin maintains a CryptoKey. When a key is rotated, a new CryptoKeyVersion is added to the CryptoKey and the rotated CryptoKeyVersion is scheduled for destruction.

Management of keys

The plugin assigns labels to the CryptoKeys that it manages in order to keep track of them. The use of these labels also allows efficient filtering when performing the listing operations in the service. All the labels are named with the spire- prefix. Users don't need to interact with the labels managed by the plugin. The following table is provided for informational purposes only:

Label Description
spire-server-td SHA-1 checksum of the trust domain name of the server.
spire-server-id Auto-generated ID that is unique to the server and is persisted in the Key Metadata File (see the key_metadata_file configurable).
spire-last-update Unix time of the last time that the plugin updated the CryptoKey to keep it active.
spire-active Indicates if the CryptoKey is still in use by the plugin.

If the Key Metadata File is not found during server startup, the file is recreated, with a new auto-generated server ID. Consequently, if the file is lost, the plugin will not be able to identify keys that it has previously managed and will recreate new keys on demand.

The plugin attempts to detect and prune stale CryptoKeys. To facilitate stale CryptoKey detection, the plugin actively updates the spire-last-update label on all CryptoKeys managed by the server every 6 hours. The plugin periodically scans the CryptoKeys looking for active CryptoKeys within the trust domain that have a spire-last-update value older than two weeks and don't belong to the server. The corresponding CryptoKeyVersions of those stale CryptoKeys are scheduled for destruction, and the spire-active label in the CryptoKey is updated to indicate that the CryptoKey is no longer active. Additionally, if the plugin detects that a CryptoKey doesn't have any enabled CryptoKeyVersions, it also updates the spire-active label in the CryptoKey to set it as inactive.

Required permissions

The plugin requires the following IAM permissions be granted to the authenticated service account in the configured key ring:

cloudkms.cryptoKeys.create
cloudkms.cryptoKeys.getIamPolicy
cloudkms.cryptoKeys.list
cloudkms.cryptoKeys.setIamPolicy
cloudkms.cryptoKeys.update
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.create
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.destroy
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.get
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.list
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.useToSign
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.viewPublicKey

IAM policy

Google Cloud resources are organized hierarchically, and resources inherit the allow policies of the parent resource. The plugin sets a default IAM policy to CryptoKeys that it creates. Alternatively, a user defined IAM policy can be defined. The effective allow policy for a CryptoKey is the union of the allow policy set at that resource by the plugin and the allow policy inherited from its parent.

Default IAM policy

The plugin defines a default IAM policy that is set to created CryptoKeys. This policy binds the authenticated service account with the Cloud KMS CryptoKey Signer/Verifier (roles/cloudkms.signerVerifier) predefined role.

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "role": "roles/cloudkms.signerVerifier",
            "members": [
                "serviceAccount:SERVICE_ACCOUNT_EMAIL"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "version": 3
}

The roles/cloudkms.signerVerifier role grants the following permissions:

cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.useToSign
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.useToVerify
cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.viewPublicKey
cloudkms.locations.get
cloudkms.locations.list
resourcemanager.projects.get

Custom IAM policy

It is also possible for the user to define a custom IAM policy that will be attached to the created CryptoKeys. If the configurable key_policy_file is set, the plugin uses the policy defined in the file instead of the default policy. Custom IAM policies must be defined using version 3.

Sample Plugin Configuration

KeyManager "gcp_kms" {
    plugin_data {        
        key_ring = "projects/project-id/locations/location/keyRings/keyring"
        key_metadata_file = "./gcpkms-key-metadata"
    }
}

Supported Key Types

The plugin supports all the key types supported by SPIRE: rsa-2048, rsa-4096, ec-p256, and ec-p384.