UDS Exemption

Exemption

• Exemption Scope:
  • Granting exemption for custom resources is restricted to the uds-policy-exemptions namespace by default, unless specifically configured to allow exemptions across all namespaces.
• Policy Updates:
  • Updating the policies Pepr store with registered exemptions.

Example UDS Exemption CR

apiVersion: uds.dev/v1alpha1
kind: Exemption
metadata:
  name: neuvector
  namespace: uds-policy-exemptions
spec:
  exemptions:
    - policies:
        - DisallowHostNamespaces
        - DisallowPrivileged
        - RequireNonRootUser
        - DropAllCapabilities
        - RestrictHostPathWrite
        - RestrictVolumeTypes
      matcher:
        namespace: neuvector
        name: "^neuvector-enforcer-pod.*"

    - policies:
        - DisallowPrivileged
        - RequireNonRootUser
        - DropAllCapabilities
        - RestrictHostPathWrite
        - RestrictVolumeTypes
      matcher:
        namespace: neuvector
        name: "^neuvector-controller-pod.*"

    - policies:
        - DropAllCapabilities
      matcher:
        namespace: neuvector
        name: "^neuvector-prometheus-exporter-pod.*"

Configuring UDS Core Policy Exemptions

Default policy exemptions and namespace restriction/config are confined to a singular namespace: uds-policy-exemptions. We find this to be an optimal approach for UDS due to the following reasons:

• Emphasis on Security Impact:
  • An exemption has the potential to diminish the overall security stance of the cluster. By isolating these exemptions within a designated namespace, administrators can readily recognize and assess the security implications associated with each exemption.
• Simplified RBAC Maintenance:
  • Adopting this pattern streamlines the management of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for overseeing exemptions. Placing all UDS exemptions within a dedicated namespace simplifies the task of configuring and maintaining RBAC policies, enhancing overall control and transparency.
• Mitigation of Configuration Risks:
  • By restricting exemptions to a specific namespace, the risk of unintentional misconfigurations in RBAC is significantly reduced. This ensures that cluster exemptions are only granted intentionally and within the confines of the designated namespace, minimizing the potential for security vulnerabilities resulting from misconfigured permissions.

Allow All Namespaces

If you find that the default scoping is not the right approach for your cluster, you have the option to configure UDS-CORE at deploy time to allow exemption CRs in all namespaces:

zarf package deploy zarf-package-uds-core-*.zst --set ALLOW_ALL_NS_EXEMPTIONS=true

You can also achieve this through the uds-config.yaml:

options:
  # options here

shared:
   ALLOW_ALL_NS_EXEMPTIONS: "true"

variables:
 # package specific variables here