Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing

Container & Kubernetes Security Testing

  • May 10, 2025
  • 0

🛡️ Sherlocked Security – Container & Kubernetes Security Testing

Secure from Dev to Deploy: Harden Your Cloud-Native Stack

📄 1. Statement of Work (SOW)

Service Name: Container & Kubernetes Security Testing
Client Type: SaaS, Cloud-Native Apps, DevOps Teams, Enterprises
Service Model: Automated Scanning + Manual Validation
Compliance Coverage: CIS Benchmarks, NIST SP 800-190, OWASP Kubernetes Top 10, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2
Testing Types:

  • Container Image Scanning
  • K8s Cluster Misconfiguration Testing
  • Runtime Exploitation Simulation
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Review
  • Network Policy & Pod Security Policy Testing

🧠 2. Our Approach

🔒 Cloud-Native | Infrastructure-Aware | Developer-Safe

[Image Analysis] → [K8s API Discovery] → [Cluster Misconfig Checks] → [RBAC Evaluation] → [Network Segmentation Review] → [Runtime Exploits] → [Compliance Mapping] → [Fix Guidance + Retest]

🧪 3. Methodology (with Visual)

[Kickoff] → [Container Inventory & Image Scan] → [K8s Audit & RBAC Check] → [Exploitation Simulation (e.g., privilege escalation)] → [Namespace & Policy Hardening Review] → [Findings & Recommendations] → [Client Feedback] → [Final Report & Certification]

📦 4. Deliverables to the Client

  1. ✅ Risk Matrix (Images, Clusters, Namespaces)
  2. 📘 Technical Report:
    • Vulnerability Name
    • Affected Asset (Pod, Container, Node, etc.)
    • CVSS v3.1 Score
    • Exploitation Potential
    • Misconfiguration Details
    • PoC (where applicable)
    • Fix Recommendation
  3. 📊 CIS Benchmark Summary
  4. 📽️ Walkthrough Call
  5. 🔁 One Round of Free Retesting
  6. 🎓 Final Security Certificate

🤝 5. What We Need from You (Client Requirements)

  • ✅ Image registry access (Harbor, DockerHub, etc.)
  • ✅ Kubeconfig or API access (read-only preferred)
  • ✅ Cluster architecture diagram (if available)
  • ✅ RBAC overview (YAML files or role dump)
  • ✅ Whitelisting of scanner IPs
  • ✅ DevOps contact for clarifications

🧰 6. Tools & Technology Stack

  • 🔍 Trivy / Grype / Clair (Image Scanning)
  • 🔧 kube-bench (CIS Kubernetes)
  • 🧪 kubescape / kubebench / kubesec
  • 📜 Manual RBAC policy reviews
  • 🧠 Custom exploitation scripts (container breakout, etc.)
  • 🔐 Falco (runtime detection, optional)

🚀 7. Engagement Lifecycle (Lead → Closure)

1. Discovery → 2. Scope + NDA → 3. Access Setup → 4. Assessment (5–10 days) → 5. Draft Report → 6. Fix Support → 7. Retesting → 8. Final Certificate

🌟 8. Why Sherlocked Security? (Our USP)

Feature Sherlocked Advantage
🔍 Cluster-Wide Visibility From image to namespace to RBAC
🔒 Real Exploit Simulation Privilege escalation & breakout tests
🧑‍💻 DevSecOps Friendly YAML-ready fix guidance
🔁 Free Retesting Round Verify fixes, ensure closure
📽️ Optional Walkthrough Cluster-wide review with your SRE team

📚 9. Real-World Case Studies

🧱 Overprivileged Service Account in Prod Cluster

Issue: Pod with admin cluster role
Impact: Cluster compromise via container breakout
Fix: Scoped RBAC, applied PSPs, runtime alerts added

🐳 Vulnerable Image in Private Registry

Client: E-Commerce App
Findings: Base image with CVE-2021-3156 (sudo flaw)
Our Role:

  • Provided safer base image alternatives
  • Guided CI/CD image policy integration
    Outcome:
  • Compliant with internal audit
  • CI/CD hardened against future image risks

🛡️ 10. SOP – Standard Operating Procedure

  1. Kickoff + Scope Confirmation
  2. Image and cluster access setup
  3. Run image scanning tools
  4. Perform K8s misconfiguration checks
  5. Evaluate RBAC + namespaces
  6. Attempt controlled privilege escalation
  7. Deliver findings and support fixes
  8. Retest post-remediation
  9. Final report and certification

📋 11. Sample Container/K8s Checklist (Preview)

  1. Review Dockerfile and image configurations.
  2. Check for secrets in container images.
  3. Evaluate runtime privilege configurations.
  4. Test Kubernetes RBAC policies.
  5. Analyze network policies and pod isolation.
  6. Review Ingress controllers and exposed services.
  7. Check for vulnerabilities in container images.
  8. Test etcd and other component access controls.
  9. Evaluate logging and monitoring configurations.
  10. Perform benchmark compliance (CIS/Kube-bench).

📬 Contact Us or 📅 Book a Consultation

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