Alert.png The wiki is deprecated and due to be decommissioned by the end of September 2022.
The content is being migrated to other supports, new updates will be ignored and lost.
If needed you can get in touch with EGI SDIS team using operations @ egi.eu.

Difference between revisions of "SPG:Drafts:Virtualisation Policy"

From EGIWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 9: Line 9:
=== Introduction ===
=== Introduction ===


This document describes the security-related policy requirements for the generation, distribution and operations of virtual machine (VM) images on the Grid.  
This document describes the security-related policy requirements for the generation, distribution and operations of virtual machine (VM) images on a distributed infrastructure.  


The aim is to enable VM images to be generated according to best practices and to be both trusted  and operated elsewhere.
The aim is to enable VM images to be generated according to best practices and to be both trusted  and operated elsewhere.

Revision as of 14:00, 14 July 2011

Virtual Machines Endorsement Policy

As a result of the January 2011 SPG meeting, there is an item to work on a generalisation of the HEPiX Virtual Machines Endorsement Policy document.

The original HEPiX policy is available at https://edms.cern.ch/document/1080777

Policy on the Endorsement and Operations of Virtual Machine Images

Introduction

This document describes the security-related policy requirements for the generation, distribution and operations of virtual machine (VM) images on a distributed infrastructure.

The aim is to enable VM images to be generated according to best practices and to be both trusted and operated elsewhere.

This policy does not compel Sites to instantiate images endorsed in accordance with this policy nor limit the rights of a Site to decide to instantiate a VM image generated by any other non-compliant procedures, should they so desire. The Site is still bound by all applicable Grid security policies and is required to consider the security implications of such an action on other Grid participants.

Definitions

The following terms are defined.

  • Endorser: A role, held either by an individual or a team, who is responsible for confirming that a particular VM image has been produced according to the requirements of this policy and states that the image can be trusted. An Endorser should be one of a limited number of authorised and trusted individuals appointed either by a VO or a Site. The appointing VO or Site must assume responsibility for the actions of the Endorser and must ensure that he/she is aware of the requirements of this policy.
  • VM operator: A role, held either by an individual or a team, who is responsible for the security of the VM during its operation phase, from the time it is instantiated, until it is terminated. Typically this addresses individuals with root access on the VM.

Use case classification

The current policy document addresses the following use cases.

Endorser: Site, VM operator: Site

This class addresses use cases where the VM is provided and operated by the Site.

Virtualisation is not directly accessible by users. It includes, for example, the use of virtual Grid worker nodes that act in a similar way to real worker nodes.

The Site is both the Endorser and the VM operator and is responsible to ensure the compliance of the VM with existing security policies.

Endorser: Third party, VM operator: Site

This class addresses use cases where the site runs a VM as a site originated VM, as described in 3.1, when this VM is obtained as an untrusted party VM, as described in 3.3.

In this class, the site is the VM operator, and the trust relationship is established between the Site and the Endorser.

Endorser: Third party, VM operator: Third Party

This class addresses use cases where the VM is provided and operated by a third party (e.g. end users).

In this class, the Site runs the VM but is not the VM operator, and the trust relationship is established between:

  • the Site and the VM operator
  • the VM operator and the Endorser (both roles can be combined)

The Site is responsible to ensure sufficient traceability in order to enable malicious network activity to be linked with any VM and its VM operator, as defined in the Grid Security Traceability and Logging policy.

The Site has no direct trust relationship with the Endorser and is may decide to apply specific restrictions to control the access of the VM to other resources, including network services.

Policy Requirements on the VM Operator

By acting as an VM Operator you agree to the conditions laid down in this document and other referenced documents, which may be revised from time to time.

  1.  You are responsible to fulfil all the operational security and incident response requirements expressed in other policies
  2.  You are responsible to ensure that any VM being run has been endorsed and to ensure its compliance with existing security policies, including but not limited to security patching, vulnerability management, incident response, logging and traceability.
  3. You are responsible for handling all problems related to the execution of any licensed software in a VM image. You shall ensure that any software run in a VM, complies with applicable license conditions and you shall hold the Site running the image free and harmless from any liability with respect thereto.
  4. You are responsible for contextualising any endorsed image, including credentials and certificates.

Policy Requirements on the Endorser

By acting as an Endorser you agree to the conditions laid down in this document and other referenced documents, which may be revised from time to time.

  1. You are held responsible by the Grid and by the Sites for checking and confirming that a VM image has been produced according to the requirements of this policy and that there is no known reason, security-related or otherwise, why it should not be trusted.
  2. You recognise that the VM must be generated according to current best practice, the details of which may be documented elsewhere by the Grid. These include but are not limited to:
    1. any image generation tool used must be fully patched and up to date;
    2. all operating system security patches must be applied to all images and be up to date;
    3. images are assumed to be world-readable and as such must not contain any confidential information;
    4. there should be no installed accounts, host/service private keys, ssh private keys or user credentials of any form in an image;
    5. images must be configured such that they do not prevent Sites from meeting the finegrained monitoring and control requirements defined in the Grid Security Traceability and Logging policy to allow for security incident response;
    6. the image must not prevent Sites from implementing local authorisation and/or policy decisions, e.g. blocking the running of Grid work for a particular user.
  3. You must disclose to the Grid or to any Site on request the procedures and practices you use for checking and endorsing images.
  4. You must provide and maintain an up to date digitally signed list of your currently endorsed images together with the metadata relating to each VM image, as defined in the VM Image Catalogue document.
  5. You must keep an auditable history of every image endorsed including the unique identifier, date/time of generation and full list of OS/packages/versions in both the VM Base Image and VO Environment. This must be made available to sites on demand.
  6. You must remove or revoke images from the list of endorsed images whenever a problem is found, e.g. a new security update is required. This removal must also be recorded locally in your auditable history.
  7. You are responsible for handling all problems related to the distribution of any licensed software in a VM image. You shall ensure that any software distributed in a VM image, complies with applicable license conditions and you shall hold the Site running the image free and harmless from any liability with respect thereto.
  8. You must assist the Grid in security incident response and must have a security vulnerability assessment process in place.
  9. You recognise that the Grid, the Sites, and/or the VOs reserve the right to block any endorsed image or terminate any instance of a virtual machine and associated user workload for administrative, operational or security reasons.
  10. You recognise that if a Site runs an image which no longer appears on your list of endorsed images, that you are not responsible for any consequences of this beyond the time of your removal of the image from the list