CKS Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) Question and Answers

ssh-add ~/.ssh/tempprivate

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

cd contrib/terraform/aws

vi terraform.tfvars

terraform init

terraform apply -var-file=credentials.tfvars

ansible-playbook -i ./inventory/hosts ./cluster.yml -e ansible_ssh_user=core -e bootstrap_os=coreos -b --become-user=root --flush-cache -e ansible_user=core

worker1 $ vim /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml

anonymous:

enabled: true #Delete this

enabled: false #Replace by this

authorization:

mode: AlwaysAllow #Delete this

mode: Webhook #Replace by this

worker1 $ systemctl restart kubelet.    # To reload kubelet config

ssh to master1

master1 $ vim /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

- -- authorization-mode=Node,RBAC

master1 $ vim /etc/kubernetes/manifests/etcd.yaml

- --client-cert-auth=true

Explanationssh to worker1

worker1 $ vim /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml

apiVersion: kubelet.config.k8s.io/v1beta1

authentication:

anonymous:

enabled: true #Delete this

enabled: false #Replace by this

webhook:

cacheTTL: 0s

enabled: true

x509:

clientCAFile: /etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt

authorization:

mode: AlwaysAllow #Delete this

mode: Webhook #Replace by this

webhook:

cacheAuthorizedTTL: 0s

cacheUnauthorizedTTL: 0s

cgroupDriver: systemd

clusterDNS:

- 10.96.0.10

clusterDomain: cluster.local

cpuManagerReconcilePeriod: 0s

evictionPressureTransitionPeriod: 0s

fileCheckFrequency: 0s

healthzBindAddress: 127.0.0.1

healthzPort: 10248

httpCheckFrequency: 0s

imageMinimumGCAge: 0s

kind: KubeletConfiguration

logging: {}

nodeStatusReportFrequency: 0s

nodeStatusUpdateFrequency: 0s

resolvConf: /run/systemd/resolve/resolv.conf

rotateCertificates: true

runtimeRequestTimeout: 0s

staticPodPath: /etc/kubernetes/manifests

streamingConnectionIdleTimeout: 0s

syncFrequency: 0s

volumeStatsAggPeriod: 0s

worker1 $ systemctl restart kubelet.    # To reload kubelet config

ssh to master1

master1 $ vim /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

master1 $ vim /etc/kubernetes/manifests/etcd.yaml

You can create a "default" isolation policy for a namespace by creating a NetworkPolicy that selects all pods but does not allow any ingress traffic to those pods.

---

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1

kind: NetworkPolicy

metadata:

name: default-deny-ingress

spec:

podSelector: {}

policyTypes:

- Ingress

You can create a "default" egress isolation policy for a namespace by creating a NetworkPolicy that selects all pods but does not allow any egress traffic from those pods.

---

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1

kind: NetworkPolicy

metadata:

name: allow-all-egress

spec:

podSelector: {}

egress:

- {}

policyTypes:

- Egress

You can create a "default" policy for a namespace which prevents all ingress AND egress traffic by creating the following NetworkPolicy in that namespace.

---

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1

kind: NetworkPolicy

metadata:

name: default-deny-all

spec:

podSelector: {}

policyTypes:

- Ingress

- Egress

This ensures that even pods that aren't selected by any other NetworkPolicy will not be allowed ingress or egress traffic.

$vim /etc/falco/falco_rules.local.yaml

- rule: Container Drift Detected (open+create)

desc: New executable created in a container due to open+create

condition: >

evt.type in (open,openat,creat) and

evt.is_open_exec=true and

container and

not runc_writing_exec_fifo and

not runc_writing_var_lib_docker and

not user_known_container_drift_activities and

evt.rawres>=0

output: >

%evt.time,%user.uid,%proc.name # Add this/Refer falco documentation

priority: ERROR

$kill -1

Explanation[desk@cli] $ ssh node01

[node01@cli] $ vim /etc/falco/falco_rules.yaml

search for Container Drift Detected & paste in falco_rules.local.yaml

[node01@cli] $ vim /etc/falco/falco_rules.local.yaml

- rule: Container Drift Detected (open+create)

desc: New executable created in a container due to open+create

condition: >

evt.type in (open,openat,creat) and

evt.is_open_exec=true and

container and

not runc_writing_exec_fifo and

not runc_writing_var_lib_docker and

not user_known_container_drift_activities and

evt.rawres>=0

output: >

%evt.time,%user.uid,%proc.name # Add this/Refer falco documentation

priority: ERROR

[node01@cli] $ vim /etc/falco/falco.yaml

send HUP signal to falco process to re-read the configuration

Below is the CKS exam-ready, step-by-step solution for QUESTION 15.

Follow exactly in this order. No extra changes.

QUESTION 15 — Istio mTLS (EXAM MODE)

1) Connect to the correct host

ssh cks000041

sudo -i

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf

2) Ensure sidecar injection is enabled for the mtls namespace

2.1 Check current namespace labels

kubectl get ns mtls --show-labels

2.2 Enable automatic Istio sidecar injection

kubectl label namespace mtls istio-injection=enabled --overwrite

Verify:

kubectl get ns mtls --show-labels | grep istio-injection

Expected:

istio-injection=enabled

3) Ensure ALL Pods get the istio-proxy sidecar

Existing Pods will not get sidecars automatically.

You must restart workloads in the namespace.

3.1 Restart all Deployments in mtls

kubectl -n mtls rollout restart deployment

3.2 Verify Pods now have 2 containers (app + istio-proxy)

kubectl -n mtls get pods

Then check one Pod:

kubectl -n mtls get pod -o jsonpath='{.spec.containers[*].name}{"\n"}'

Expected output includes:

istio-proxy

4) Configure mutual TLS (mTLS) in STRICT mode

4.1 Create a PeerAuthentication for the mtls namespace

cat <

apiVersion: security.istio.io/v1beta1

kind: PeerAuthentication

metadata:

name: mtls-strict

namespace: mtls

spec:

mtls:

mode: STRICT

EOF

5) Verify mTLS policy is applied

kubectl -n mtls get peerauthentication

kubectl -n mtls describe peerauthentication mtls-strict

Expected:

Mode: STRICT

6) Final verification (exam confidence check)

6.1 Confirm all Pods are Running

kubectl -n mtls get pods

6.2 Confirm sidecar injection everywhere

kubectl -n mtls get pods -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{" -> "}{.spec.containers[*].name}{"\n"}{end}'

Each line must include istio-proxy.

$ kubectl get ing -n

NAME HOSTS ADDRESS PORTS AGE

cafe-ingress cafe.com 10.0.2.15 80 25s

$ kubectl describe ing -n

Name: cafe-ingress

Namespace: default

Address: 10.0.2.15

Default backend: default-http-backend:80 (172.17.0.5:8080)

Rules:

Host Path Backends

---- ---- --------

cafe.com

/tea tea-svc:80 ()

/coffee coffee-svc:80 ()

Annotations:

kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: {"apiVersion":"networking.k8s.io/v1","kind":"Ingress","metadata":{"annotations":{},"name":"cafe-ingress","namespace":"default","selfLink":"/apis/networking/v1/namespaces/default/ingresses/cafe-ingress"},"spec":{"rules":[{"host":"cafe.com","http":{"paths":[{"backend":{"serviceName":"tea-svc","servicePort":80},"path":"/tea"},{"backend":{"serviceName":"coffee-svc","servicePort":80},"path":"/coffee"}]}}]},"status":{"loadBalancer":{"ingress":[{"ip":"169.48.142.110"}]}}}

Events:

Type Reason Age From Message

---- ------ ---- ---- -------

Normal CREATE 1m ingress-nginx-controller Ingress default/cafe-ingress

Normal UPDATE 58s ingress-nginx-controller Ingress default/cafe-ingress

$ kubectl get pods -n

NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE

ingress-nginx-controller-67956bf89d-fv58j 1/1 Running 0 1m

$ kubectl logs -n ingress-nginx-controller-67956bf89d-fv58j

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NGINX Ingress controller

Release: 0.14.0

Build: git-734361d

Repository: https://github.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[desk@cli] $ k create sa backend-qa -n qa

sa/backend-qa created

[desk@cli] $ k get role,rolebinding -n qa

No resources found in qa namespace.

[desk@cli] $ k create role backend -n qa --resource pods,namespaces,configmaps --verb list

# No access to secret

[desk@cli] $ k create rolebinding backend -n qa --role backend --serviceaccount qa:backend-qa

[desk@cli] $ vim /home/cert_masters/frontend-pod.yaml

apiVersion: v1

kind: Pod

metadata:

 name: frontend

spec:

 serviceAccountName: backend-qa # Add this

  image: nginx

  name: frontend

[desk@cli] $ k apply -f /home/cert_masters/frontend-pod.yaml

pod created

[desk@cli] $ k create sa backend-qa -n qa

serviceaccount/backend-qa created

[desk@cli] $ k get role,rolebinding -n qa

No resources found in qa namespace.

[desk@cli] $ k create role backend -n qa --resource pods,namespaces,configmaps --verb list

role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/backend created

[desk@cli] $ k create rolebinding backend -n qa --role backend --serviceaccount qa:backend-qa

rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/backend created

[desk@cli] $ vim /home/cert_masters/frontend-pod.yaml

apiVersion: v1

kind: Pod

metadata:

 name: frontend

spec:

 serviceAccountName: backend-qa # Add this

  image: nginx

  name: frontend

[desk@cli] $ k apply -f /home/cert_masters/frontend-pod.yaml

pod/frontend created

https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-service-account/

1) SSH to control-plane node

ssh cks000002

sudo -i

2) Edit API Server static pod manifest

API server in kubeadm runs as a static pod.

vi /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

3) Apply required API Server security settings

3.1 Forbid anonymous authentication

Find command: section and ensure this line exists:

- --anonymous-auth=false

3.2 Use authorization mode Node,RBAC

Ensure exactly this line exists (and no AlwaysAllow):

- --authorization-mode=Node,RBAC

❌ Remove if present:

- --authorization-mode=AlwaysAllow

3.3 Enable admission controller NodeRestriction

Find --enable-admission-plugins and ensure NodeRestriction is included.

Correct example:

- --enable-admission-plugins=NodeRestriction

If other plugins already exist, append NodeRestriction, e.g.:

- --enable-admission-plugins=NamespaceLifecycle,ServiceAccount,NodeRestriction

4) Save file and let kubelet restart API server

👉 Just save and exit (:wq)

Kubelet will automatically restart the API server pod.

5) Switch kubectl to secured config

⚠️ Current kubectl will stop working after API server hardening.

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf

Verify access:

kubectl get nodes

6) Remove insecure ClusterRoleBinding

Delete system:anonymous binding:

kubectl delete clusterrolebinding system:anonymous

Verify removal:

kubectl get clusterrolebinding | grep anonymous

(no output = correct)

7) Quick validation (optional but fast)

API server flags check:

grep -n "anonymous-auth" /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

grep -n "authorization-mode" /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

grep -n "NodeRestriction" /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml

apiVersion: policy/v1beta1

kind: PodSecurityPolicy

metadata:

name: restricted

annotations:

seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/allowedProfileNames: 'docker/default,runtime/default'

apparmor.security.beta.kubernetes.io/allowedProfileNames: 'runtime/default'

seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/defaultProfileName: 'runtime/default'

apparmor.security.beta.kubernetes.io/defaultProfileName: 'runtime/default'

spec:

privileged: false

# Required to prevent escalations to root.

allowPrivilegeEscalation: false

# This is redundant with non-root + disallow privilege escalation,

# but we can provide it for defense in depth.

requiredDropCapabilities:

- ALL

# Allow core volume types.

volumes:

- 'configMap'

- 'emptyDir'

- 'projected'

- 'secret'

- 'downwardAPI'

# Assume that persistentVolumes set up by the cluster admin are safe to use.

- 'persistentVolumeClaim'

hostNetwork: false

hostIPC: false

hostPID: false

runAsUser:

# Require the container to run without root privileges.

rule: 'MustRunAsNonRoot'

seLinux:

# This policy assumes the nodes are using AppArmor rather than SELinux.

rule: 'RunAsAny'

supplementalGroups:

rule: 'MustRunAs'

ranges:

# Forbid adding the root group.

- min: 1

max: 65535

fsGroup:

rule: 'MustRunAs'

ranges:

# Forbid adding the root group.

- min: 1

max: 65535

readOnlyRootFilesystem: false

To add a Kubernetes cluster to your project, group, or instance:

Navigate to your:

Project’s Operations > Kubernetes page, for a project-level cluster.

Group’s Kubernetes page, for a group-level cluster.

Admin Area > Kubernetes page, for an instance-level cluster.

Click Add Kubernetes cluster.

Click the Add existing cluster tab and fill in the details:

Kubernetes cluster name (required) - The name you wish to give the cluster.

Environment scope (required) - The associated environment to this cluster.

API URL (required) - It’s the URL that GitLab uses to access the Kubernetes API. Kubernetes exposes several APIs, we want the “base” URL that is common to all of them. For example, https://kubernetes.example.com  rather than https://kubernetes.example.com/api/v1 .

Get the API URL by running this command:

kubectl cluster-info | grep -E 'Kubernetes master|Kubernetes control plane' | awk '/http/ {print $NF}'

CA certificate (required) - A valid Kubernetes certificate is needed to authenticate to the cluster. We use the certificate created by default.

List the secrets with kubectl get secrets, and one should be named similar to default-token-xxxxx. Copy that token name for use below.

Get the certificate by running this command:

kubectl get secret -o jsonpath="{['data']['ca\.crt']}"

1) Connect to the correct host

ssh cks000037

sudo -i

2) Remove user developer from the docker group ONLY

2.1 Verify current groups (optional but fast)

id developer

2.2 Remove ONLY from docker group

gpasswd -d developer docker

2.3 Verify removal

id developer

✅ docker should not appear; other groups must remain.

3) Reconfigure Docker to secure the socket and disable TCP

Docker config file:

vi /etc/docker/daemon.json

3.1 Set socket group to root and disable TCP listeners

Ensure the file contains exactly these relevant settings (merge with existing JSON if present):

{

"group": "root",

"hosts": ["unix:///var/run/docker.sock"]

}

Important:

"group": "root" → docker.sock owned by group root

"hosts" includes ONLY the unix socket (no tcp://)

If the file already exists with other keys, add/adjust only these keys and keep valid JSON (commas!).

Save and exit:

wq

4) Restart Docker daemon

systemctl daemon-reload

systemctl restart docker

systemctl status docker --no-pager

5) Verify Docker socket ownership and permissions

ls -l /var/run/docker.sock

Expected:

srw-rw---- 1 root root ...

✅ Owner: root

✅ Group: root

6) Verify Docker is NOT listening on TCP

ss -lntp | grep docker

Expected:

No output (or nothing bound to TCP by dockerd)

Optional double-check:

ps aux | grep dockerd | grep -v grep

Ensure no -H tcp://... flags.

7) Ensure Kubernetes cluster is healthy

7.1 Check node and pods

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf

kubectl get nodes

kubectl get pods -A

All nodes should be Ready, core pods Running.

1) Connect to the correct host

ssh cks000032

sudo -i

2) Use admin kubeconfig

export KUBECONFIG=/etc/kubernetes/admin.conf

3) Verify prerequisites (quick check)

These should already exist per task.

kubectl -n prod get svc web

kubectl -n prod get secret web-cert

kubectl get pods -n ingress-nginx

(If the ingress controller pods exist, you’re good.)

4) Create the Ingress resource

Create Ingress named web in namespace prod with:

host: web.k8s.local

all paths → Service web

TLS using Secret web-cert

HTTP → HTTPS redirect (NGINX)

cat <

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1

kind: Ingress

metadata:

name: web

namespace: prod

annotations:

nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"

nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/force-ssl-redirect: "true"

spec:

ingressClassName: nginx

tls:

- hosts:

- web.k8s.local

secretName: web-cert

rules:

- host: web.k8s.local

http:

paths:

- path: /

pathType: Prefix

backend:

service:

name: web

port:

number: 80

EOF

5) Verify Ingress creation

kubectl -n prod get ingress web

kubectl -n prod describe ingress web

Confirm:

Host = web.k8s.local

TLS Secret = web-cert

Backend Service = web

6) Test HTTP → HTTPS redirect

curl -L http://web.k8s.local

Expected:

Redirects to https://web.k8s.local

Returns application response over HTTPS