CMS’ ISPG (Information Security and Privacy Group) decided to discontinue funding the customization of MITRE’s Security Automation Framework (SAF) for CMS after September 2023. This repo is now in archive mode, but still accessible. For more information about SAF with current links, see https://security.cms.gov/learn/security-automation-framework-saf
InSpec profile to validate the secure configuration of AWS EKS, against CIS's CIS Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Benchmark version 1.0.1 (Cluster requirements) tailored for CMS ARS 5.0.
The baseline includes tests that must be executed against the Kubernetes API and tests that must be executed against the underlying nodes over SSH. This profile handles only the cluster tests, and is intended to be run alongside the CMS ARS 5.0 EKS CIS Node Overlay profile.
For maximum flexibility/accessibility, we’re moving to “cinc-auditor”, the open-source packaged binary version of Chef InSpec, compiled by the CINC (CINC Is Not Chef) project in coordination with Chef using Chef’s always-open-source InSpec source code. For more information: https://cinc.sh/
It is intended and recommended that CINC-auditor and this profile overlay be run from a "runner" host (such as a DevOps orchestration server, an administrative management system, or a developer's workstation/laptop) against the target. This can be any Unix/Linux/MacOS or Windows runner host, with access to the Internet.
For the best security of the runner, always install on the runner the latest version of CINC-auditor.
The simplest way to install CINC-auditor is to use this command for a UNIX/Linux/MacOS runner platform:
curl -L https://omnitruck.cinc.sh/install.sh | sudo bash -s -- -P cinc-auditor
or this command for Windows runner platform (Powershell):
. { iwr -useb https://omnitruck.cinc.sh/install.ps1 } | iex; install -project cinc-auditor
To confirm successful install of cinc-auditor:
cinc-auditor -v
sample output: 4.24.32
Latest versions and other installation options are available at https://cinc.sh/start/auditor/.
This profile is executed against an AWS EKS cluster via the Kubernetes API and the AWS CLI. The profile assumes that the runner is authenticated as an AWS role permitted to run the kubectl utility against the cluster and run queries using the aws eks CLI command.
The profile makes use of the kubectl utility to access the Kubernetes API. The runner host must have kubectl installed -- see the Kubernetes documentation for tools for details.
A host's connection to the Kubernetes API is established using credentials recorded in the kubeconfig file. For the profile to use the Kubernetes API, the runner host must either have a valid kubeconfig file either in the default location ($HOME/.kube/config) or have designated a file as the kubeconfig file using the $KUBECONFIG environment variable. See the Kubernetes documentation for kubeconfig for details.
You can test if the runner host has access to the Kubernetes API by running kubectl from the command line:
kubectl get nodes
If the command returns a list of information on the EC2 nodes that comprise the cluster, then kubectl is able to support the profile.
Some controls in the profile require the use of the AWS CLI to investigate the EKS cluster. Ensure the runner host has the AWS CLI installed as per Amazon's instructions.
The runner host must also have assumed a role with sufficient permissions to access the AWS components of the EKS cluster. If running AWS commands results in a permission error, work with your cloud administrator to ensure your role has the correct IAM privileges to access the cluster's components.
To ensure the AWS CLI is installed and configured correctly, use it to print information on the target cluster:
aws eks describe-cluster --name <cluster name> --region <cluster region>
# BASELINE (choices: Low, Low-HVA, Moderate, Moderate-HVA, High, High-HVA)
# (if undefined defaults to Moderate baseline)
on linux:
BASELINE=High
on Powershell:
$env:BASELINE="High"
The following inputs may be configured in an inputs ".yml" file for the profile to run correctly for your specific environment. More information about InSpec inputs can be found in the InSpec Profile Documentation.
# Used by the AWS CLI controls. Give the name of the cluster under test
# as a string, ex. "my-test-cluster"
cluster-name:
# Used by the AWS CLI controls. Give the region of the cluster under test
# as a string, ex. "us-east-1"
cluster-region:
# Used by 4.1.1. Give an array of roles which are permitted to hold the
# cluster-admin role.
# If not defined, default is: ["system:admin", "system:masters"]
allowed_cluster_admin_principals:
# Optional -- leave blank if no outside access should be allowed
# IPs from within this array of CIDR blocks should be the only ones allowed to
# access the cluster via k8s API from outside the VPC
# Can be configured via AWS console
# Ex. ["0.0.0.0/0"]
allowlist_cidr_blocks:Executing the profile by downloading it to the runner:
git clone https://github.com/cms-enterprise/cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay.git
cd cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay
# How to run (linux)
BASELINE=<your_system_categorization> cinc-auditor exec . --input-file <path_to_your_input_file/name_of_your_input_file.yml> --reporter cli json:cluster-results.json
Executing the profile by executing it from this GitHub repository:
# How to run (linux)
BASELINE=<your_system_categorization> cinc-auditor exec https://github.com/cms-enterprise/cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay/archive/main.tar.gz --input-file <path_to_your_input_file/name_of_your_input_file.yml> --reporter cli json:cluster-results.json
If your runner is not always expected to have direct access to GitHub, use the following steps to create an archive bundle of this profile and all of its dependent tests:
(Git is required to clone the InSpec profile using the instructions below. Git can be downloaded from the Git site.)
mkdir profiles
cd profiles
git clone https://github.com/cms-enterprise/cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay.git
cinc-auditor archive cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay
# How to run (linux)
BASELINE=<your_system_categorization> cinc-auditor exec <archive name> --input-file <path_to_your_input_file/name_of_your_input_file.yml> --reporter cli json:cluster-results.json
For every successive run, follow these steps to always have the latest version of this overlay and dependent profiles:
cd cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay
git pull
cd ..
cinc-auditor archive cms-ars-5.0-eks-cis-cluster-overlay --overwrite
# How to run (linux)
BASELINE=<your_system_categorization> cinc-auditor exec <archive name> --input-file <path_to_your_input_file/name_of_your_input_file.yml> --reporter cli json:cluster-results.json
The JSON results output file can be loaded into heimdall-lite for a user-interactive, graphical view of the InSpec results.
The JSON InSpec results file may also be loaded into a full heimdall server, allowing for additional functionality such as to store and compare multiple profile runs.
- Will Dower - wdower
- Shivani Karikar - karikarshivani
- Sumaa Sayed - ssayed118
To report a bug or feature request, please open an issue.
© 2018-2022 The MITRE Corporation.
Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Case Number 18-3678.
MITRE hereby grants express written permission to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, and otherwise leverage this software to the extent permitted by the licensed terms provided in the LICENSE.md file included with this project.
This software was produced for the U. S. Government under Contract Number HHSM-500-2012-00008I, and is subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation Clause 52.227-14, Rights in Data-General.
No other use other than that granted to the U. S. Government, or to those acting on behalf of the U. S. Government under that Clause is authorized without the express written permission of The MITRE Corporation.
For further information, please contact The MITRE Corporation, Contracts Management Office, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA 22102-7539, (703) 983-6000.
CIS Benchmarks are published by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), see: https://www.cisecurity.org/cis-benchmarks/.