Transforming Kubernetes Secret Management

Configuration management has always been an important aspect of application deployments since inception, from the times of traditional IT infrastructures to the latest cutting-edge cloud platforms. These configurations are vital as they offer the flexibility to modify application behavior in various environments. For instance, adjusting log levels or altering database connections can significantly impact how an application functions in different environments.

However, some configurations are sensitive and demand protection. This includes safeguarding against external threats such as cyberattacks by bots and hackers, as well as internal risks like the accidental exposure of sensitive data to unauthorized personnel within an organization. The sensitivity of data, especially Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and other confidential information, necessitates stringent security measures. This need for security is further underscored by compliance frameworks such as HIPAA for healthcare, ISO standards for information security management, PCI-DSS for financial service providers, GDPR, and SOC-2 for service organizations.

The rise of container technologies and orchestrators like Kubernetes has revolutionized deployment processes, offering numerous benefits in terms of scalability and efficiency. However, this advancement has also introduced a new threat landscape. With AI-powered cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, the management of secrets – sensitive data crucial for the operation of applications – becomes increasingly critical.

Kubernetes, despite being one of the most popular container orchestrators, has inherent challenges in secret management. While Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can restrict access to secrets, these are often stored as base64-encoded strings, which are not truly secure and can be easily decoded with basic shell commands. This weakness highlights the importance of using external secret stores that offer enhanced security measures. There are a few more hidden challenges with native secret management in Kubernetes –

1. Scalability and Automation: As the number of microservices increases, managing secrets for each service manually becomes impractical.
2. Security: Sensitive data needs to be protected both at rest and in transit within the Kubernetes ecosystem.
3. Secret Rotation and Management: Frequent updating and management of secrets is required without causing service disruptions.

Prominent tools for managing these secrets include AWS Secret Manager, and HashiCorp Vault, along with options provided by other cloud platforms like Google Cloud’s Secret Manager and Azure Key Vault. Each of these tools offers unique features to securely manage and access secrets across distributed systems and cloud-native environments.

In this post, we will focus on using AWS Secret Manager to manage secret configurations in applications deployed on an AWS EKS Cluster. This choice allows us to maintain simplicity while illustrating a robust security mechanism, ensuring that sensitive configurations are securely managed and accessed in a cloud-native environment.

These hidden shortcomings of Kubernetes Native secret managing can be overcome by using AWS Secret Manager Service –

1. Limited Access Control: Kubernetes Secrets have limited access control, and access is managed through Kubernetes Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This means that anyone with access to the Kubernetes cluster can potentially access the secrets stored in Kubernetes Secrets. In contrast, AWS Secrets Manager provides granular access control, allowing you to restrict access to specific secrets based on user roles.
2. Limited Secret Types: Kubernetes Secrets are limited to storing only small amounts of data, such as usernames and passwords. AWS Secrets Manager, on the other hand, can store a wide range of secrets, including database credentials, API keys, and certificates.
3. Lack of Encryption Options: Kubernetes Secrets are encrypted at rest, but you have limited control over the encryption mechanism. AWS Secrets Manager provides more advanced encryption options, including customer-managed keys and AWS Key Management Service (KMS) encryption.
4. Limited Auditing and Monitoring: Kubernetes Secrets does not provide extensive auditing and monitoring capabilities. AWS Secrets Manager provides detailed logging and auditing of secret access, helping you identify potential security threats.