Question

Difficulty: MediumVirtualization and Containerization Security

A security administrator is configuring runtime security settings for a container execution host that processes untrusted third-party workloads. Which TWO of the following security controls should be implemented to reduce the kernel attack surface and prevent persistent host filesystem modifications during container execution?

  1. Apply secure computing mode (seccomp) profiles to restrict the system calls containers can make to the host kernel.Answer
  2. Mount the container's root filesystem as read-only and redirect temporary write operations to volatile memory storage.Answer
  3. C
    Assign dedicated vCPUs through hypervisor CPU affinity to prevent cross-container hardware cache leaks.
  4. D
    Configure the network perimeter firewall to automatically trust all outbound network traffic originating from internal container subnets.

Answer

The two correct security controls are restricting host kernel system calls via seccomp profiles and mounting the container root filesystem as read-only while using volatile memory for temporary write operations.
Implementing seccomp profiles directly reduces the kernel attack surface by blocking dangerous or unnecessary syscalls from reach of containerized applications. Additionally, forcing a read-only root filesystem prevents unauthorized file creation or persistent malicious modifications within the container image.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the goal of reducing kernel attack surface exposure.
System call filtering (seccomp) limits the syscalls available to container processes, preventing compromised containers from invoking vulnerable host kernel routines.
Containers share the host operating system kernel directly, making syscall filtering essential for kernel attack surface reduction.
2
Analyze the goal of preventing persistent host filesystem modifications.
Configuring root filesystems as read-only forces any file modifications to fail or stay strictly in ephemeral storage.
Immutable infrastructure principles ensure that malicious modifications cannot persist across container restarts or infect the host file structure.

Key Concept

Container Host Hardening & Kernel Attack Surface Reduction
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