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Ephemeral Credentials

Ephemeral credentials are short-lived authentication tokens that provide temporary access to Kubernetes resources. This approach significantly reduces the security risks associated with long-lived credentials.

Implementation Details

The Secure CINC Auditor Kubernetes Container Scanning solution implements ephemeral credentials through:

  • Short-lived tokens are generated for each scan
  • Token expiration can be configured (default: 1 hour)
  • No long-lived tokens stored in CI/CD variables or config files

Token Generation Process

Tokens are generated using the Kubernetes TokenRequest API, which creates temporary credentials with a specified expiration time:

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kubectl create token scanner-service-account \
  --bound-object-kind=Pod \
  --bound-object-name=scanner-pod \
  --audience=kubernetes \
  --validity-duration=1h

This token is automatically invalidated after the specified duration (1 hour in this example).

Security Benefits

Ephemeral credentials provide several security advantages:

  1. Limited Exposure Window: Even if credentials are leaked, they have a short validity period
  2. No Persistent Storage: Tokens are generated on-demand and not persistently stored
  3. Audience Binding: Tokens can be bound to specific target systems
  4. Automatic Invalidation: No manual revocation required when access is no longer needed
  5. CI/CD Security: Reduces risk of credential leakage in CI/CD pipelines

Implementation Considerations

When implementing ephemeral credentials:

  • Set an appropriate token validity period based on scan duration requirements
  • Implement proper error handling for token expiration during long-running scans
  • Consider regenerating tokens for batch operations rather than using a single token
  • Integrate token generation within automated workflows
Scanning Scenario Recommended Token Lifetime
Interactive Debugging 15-30 minutes
CI/CD Pipeline Scan Duration of pipeline + 5 minutes
Scheduled Batch Scans Maximum duration of batch + 15 minutes
Production Monitoring 1 hour maximum

Integration with CI/CD Systems

For CI/CD integrations:

  1. Generate token at the beginning of the pipeline
  2. Use token for all scanning operations
  3. Token automatically expires after pipeline completion
  4. No token storage between pipeline runs