Profile Applicability:

  • Level 1

Description:
 The kubelet kubeconfig file is responsible for defining the configuration for the Kubernetes Kubelet to interact with the Kubernetes API server. Ensuring that the ownership is set to root:root helps prevent unauthorized modifications to the kubelet's configuration and secures the system.

Rationale:
 Proper ownership of the kubelet kubeconfig file ensures that only the root user has control over the file, thus mitigating the risk of unauthorized users modifying the configuration. This is crucial for maintaining the security and integrity of the Kubernetes cluster.

Impact:

  • Pros:

    • Prevents unauthorized modification of critical kubelet configuration.

    • Ensures that only the root user has write access to the kubelet configuration file.

  • Cons:
    Might require adjusting access for users who need to modify the kubeconfig file.

Default Value:
 The ownership of the kubelet kubeconfig file may vary, but it is generally recommended to have root:root ownership for security purposes.

Pre-requisites:
 Ensure that you have the necessary administrative permissions to change the ownership of system files.

Remediation:

Test Plan:

Using Azure Console:

  1. Use the system’s file management interface to navigate to the kubelet kubeconfig file.

  2. Verify the file ownership to confirm it is set to root:root.

Using Azure CLI:

  1. Use the following command to check the ownership of the kubelet kubeconfig file:

     ls -l /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf


  2. Ensure the owner is root and the group is root.

Implementation Plan:

Using AWS Console:

  1. Navigate to the location of the kubelet kubeconfig file.

  2. Modify the file ownership to root:root using the file management interface.

Using AWS CLI:

  1. Update the file ownership for the kubelet kubeconfig file:

     sudo chown root:root /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf

Backout Plan:

Using AWS Console:

  1. If the ownership change causes issues, revert to the original ownership using the file management interface.

Using Azure CLI:

  1. Revert the ownership to the previous state using the following command:

     sudo chown <previous-owner>:<previous-group> /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf

References:

  1. Kubernetes Documentation on Kubelet

  2. Linux File Ownership and Permissions