How to Improve Docker Container Security With Penetration Testing

Reveal Container Vulnerabilities With Pentesting

In this article, I want to explain the importance of pen testing Docker containers and give advice on what to consider when conducting such tests.

There are two ways of testing containers:

1. Static vulnerability analysis allows you to detect known vulnerabilities when scanning container images.

2. Dynamic vulnerability analysis allows you to detect anomalous container behavior during runtime. This approach works with unknown weaknesses and threats but may be limited by testing tools.

Security specialists advocate using dynamic scanning in addition to static container analysis to uncover malicious container behavior. By submitting containers to complex stress tests during pen testing, you can identify two of the most common security risks: container vulnerabilities and misconfiguration.

For a month, Prevasio bombarded 4 million container images running inside a dedicated virtual environment. This dynamic vulnerability analysis allowed researchers to detect images with dynamic payloads that execute malware only at runtime. Among the discovered payloads were cryptocurrency miners, hacking tools, Windows malware and backdoor Trojans.

Tips For Efficient Penetration Testing

Here are five tips for efficiently pen testing Docker containers:

However, before running any CIS tests, verify you have access to the container environment. If you don’t, you’ll be able to complete only the fourth section of the CIS checklist (container images and build file configuration).

2. Always check container images for vulnerabilities. Even when you’re working with container images from reliable sources, it’s crucial to check the security of each image and its layers. Use the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list and CVE Details to verify that installed applications are free from known and unpatched vulnerabilities.

4. Perform automated code review for applications running in containers. Your choice of automated code review tools will depend on what programming language, components and architecture you use. For instance, if you’re using Go, you can run Go Vet for automatic analysis. To run a static analysis of Python code, you can use Mypy and SonarLint. To achieve better code coverage, consider combining several code analysis tools.

Save your time by selecting a set of scripts for automating various stages of testing. You can use both custom and open-source scripts with extended functionality. Also, never limit your testing efforts to automated tests, as they can generate a lot of false positives.

5. Run manual code reviews. Checking your code manually is necessary to exclude false positives from automated tests. For effective manual code review, focus on the most valuable pieces of your application’s code.

Knowing the specifics of the programming language used is crucial for quality code review. Therefore, make sure to delegate manual code review only to highly qualified testers and developers.

While it’s a promising software development approach, containerization raises a lot of security concerns. Looking at your application from an attacker’s point of view may help you find unobvious security gaps and prevent devastating data breaches.

Make sure to thoroughly review your application’s code and run mandatory checks of all container images, no matter how trusted their sources. Detailed audit planning will help you make the entire pen testing process systemized and efficient.

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