Kubernetes etcd must enable client authentication to secure service.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-242423	CNTR-K8-001450	SV-242423r1043178_rule	CCI-001184	medium
Description
Kubernetes container and pod configuration are maintained by Kubelet. Kubelet agents register nodes with the API Server, mount volume storage, and perform health checks for containers and pods. Anyone who gains access to Kubelet agents can effectively control applications within the pods and containers. Using authenticity protection, the communication can be protected against man-in-the-middle attacks/session hijacking and the insertion of false information into sessions. The communication session is protected by utilizing transport encryption protocols, such as TLS. TLS provides the Kubernetes API Server with a means to be able to authenticate sessions and encrypt traffic. To enable encrypted communication for Kubelet, the parameter client-cert-auth must be set. This parameter gives the location of the SSL Certificate Authority file used to secure Kubelet communication.
STIG			Date
Kubernetes Security Technical Implementation Guide			2025-05-16

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 4 frameworks

SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

NET-09Session Integrity

1.00

DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2intersects(normalised)
DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)
SCF Secure Traceability Relationship Mapping (STRM)2026.2equal to

NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (30) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-17(2)Protection of Confidentiality and Integrity Using Encryption

1.00

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AU-10(1)Association of Identities

1.00

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AU-10(2)Validate Binding of Information Producer Identity

1.00

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AU-9(3)Cryptographic Protection

1.00

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DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2our copyintersects(normalised)DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)V2R6our copyintersects(normalised)
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DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)

CM-14Signed Components

1.00

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DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)

CM-5(3)Signed Components

1.00

DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2intersects(normalised)
DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)V2R2our copyintersects(normalised)
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DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)

CM-6Configuration Settings

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CM-7Least Functionality

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DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)V1R1intersects(normalised)
DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)

IA-2(1)Multi-factor Authentication to Privileged Accounts

1.00

DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2intersects(normalised)
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IA-2(12)Acceptance of PIV Credentials

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+20 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.13.15

1.00

DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2intersects(normalised)
DISA CCI List2025-01-23equal to(normalised)
NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2, Appendix DRev 2 (Feb 2020, errata Jan 2021)equal to(normalised)

CCI1 mapping

CCI-001184

1.00

DISA STIG Benchmark (XCCDF)2intersects(normalised)

Details

Check Text (C-242423r1043178_chk)

Change to the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Run the command: grep -i client-cert-auth * If the setting client-cert-auth is not configured in the Kubernetes etcd manifest file or set to "false", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-45656r863858_fix)

Edit the Kubernetes etcd manifest file in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Set the value of "--client-cert-auth" to "true" for the etcd.