Stackrox Inc. has released a new open-source tool – KubeLinter. The new tool is designed to identify misconfigurations in Kubernetes environment. Stackrox specializes in container security and threat detection and the components of cloud-native applications that the company secures are deployed via Kubernetes.
The complexity in configuring Kubernetes applications is real! Even if one achieves proper configuration, security issues may still exist. KubeLinter is the perfect fix for such issues. The open-source software is the first original contribution by Stackrox to the community. The container security firms seems to have throttled the development for various solutions to expedite container adoption, and the rigorous efforts paid off as Stackrox picked up $26.5 million in funding recently.
KubeLinter – Identify Kubernetes Misconfigurations
The new static analysis tool, KubeLinter, provides an easy way for developers to automate analysis of YAML files and Helm charts. Developers can do this analysis even before deploying them inside a cluster. It integrates security-as-a-code with DevOps and co-related processes. The integration ensures that Kubernetes is configured as per the promoted security best practices by the organization. Further, it also automatically implements strict security policies for every Kubernetes applications.
Stackrox recently released Fall 2020 State of Container and Kubernetes Security Report. The survey found that in over 67% of cases, misconfigurations were the second major reason for security incidents. Human errors, obviously, topped the list. So, KubeLinter helps with the security aspect too.
Viswa Venugopal, StackRox software engineer and the lead developer of KubeLinter, said, “if you’ve spent time crafting Kubernetes YAML files, you know it can be a pretty arduous endeavor as there are so many different objects, so many knobs and dials, so many cross-references to keep track of. Further, in most cases, default configurations for Kubernetes objects are geared toward making it easy for users to get their apps up and running quickly, and not for secure, production-ready configurations. KubeLinter is our answer to this problem.”
However, the solution still has scope for improvement and perhaps this is why Stackrox made it open-source. The developer community will help accelerate the deployment of required improvements. Kubernetes has been the most effective container management solution out there and solutions like KubeLinter will help further expedite its adoption.