Container Security

What I Do

Provide security hardening guidance for RabbitMQ container deployment using Podman, following production security best practices.

Security Model

Defense in Depth

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Host System                          │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │              Podman Container                    │   │
│  │  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐    │   │
│  │  │         Non-root User (10001)            │    │   │
│  │  │  ┌─────────────────────────────────┐    │    │   │
│  │  │  │       Read-only Root FS         │    │    │   │
│  │  │  │   ┌─────────────────────────┐   │    │    │   │
│  │  │  │   │   tmpfs /tmp (rw)       │   │    │    │   │
│  │  │  │   └─────────────────────────┘   │    │    │   │
│  │  │  └─────────────────────────────────┘    │    │   │
│  │  └─────────────────────────────────────────┘    │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Security Configuration

Podman Compose Security (from podman-compose.yml)

services:
  crypto-scout-mq:
    image: rabbitmq:4.1.4-management
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges=true
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    read_only: true
    tmpfs:
      - /tmp:rw,size=64m,mode=1777,nodev,nosuid
    init: true
    pids_limit: 1024
    cpus: "1.0"
    mem_limit: "256m"
    mem_reservation: "128m"
    ulimits:
      nofile:
        soft: 65536
        hard: 65536
    restart: unless-stopped
    stop_signal: SIGTERM
    stop_grace_period: 1m

Security Options Explained

Network Security

# Only management UI exposed to localhost
ports:
  - "127.0.0.1:15672:15672"

# AMQP and Streams use container network only (no host exposure)
networks:
  - crypto-scout-bridge

Volume Mounts (Read-only)

volumes:
  - "./data/rabbitmq:/var/lib/rabbitmq"              # Data (read-write)
  - "./rabbitmq/enabled_plugins:/etc/rabbitmq/enabled_plugins:ro"
  - "./rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf:/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.conf:ro"
  - "./rabbitmq/definitions.json:/etc/rabbitmq/definitions.json:ro"

Secret Management

Erlang Cookie

# Generate secure cookie
cd crypto-scout-mq
COOKIE=$(openssl rand -base64 48 | tr -dc 'A-Za-z0-9' | head -c 48)
printf "RABBITMQ_ERLANG_COOKIE=%s\n" "$COOKIE" > secret/rabbitmq.env

# Secure permissions
chmod 600 secret/rabbitmq.env

File Permissions Check

# Verify secret files
ls -la secret/
# Should show: -rw------- (600)

# Verify in .gitignore
grep secret/ .gitignore
# Should show: secret/*.env

Access Control

Management UI

# rabbitmq.conf - Management on all interfaces (restricted by container port binding)
management.tcp.ip = 0.0.0.0
management.tcp.port = 15672

The container port binding ensures it's only accessible via localhost:

ports:
  - "127.0.0.1:15672:15672"  # Localhost only

User Security

# Create admin user (do not use default guest)
./script/rmq_user.sh -u admin -p 'strong_random_password' -t administrator -y

# Or manually
rabbitmqctl add_user admin 'strong_random_password'
rabbitmqctl set_user_tags admin administrator
rabbitmqctl set_permissions -p / admin ".*" ".*" ".*"

# Delete guest user
rabbitmqctl delete_user guest

# Create service-specific user
./script/rmq_user.sh -u crypto_scout_mq -p 'service_password' -t none -y

Security Auditing

Container Scanning

# Scan image for vulnerabilities
podman image inspect rabbitmq:4.1.4-management | jq '.[0].Config'

# Check running container security
podman inspect crypto-scout-mq | jq '.[0].HostConfig'

# Verify security options
podman inspect crypto-scout-mq | jq '.[0].HostConfig.SecurityOpt'
podman inspect crypto-scout-mq | jq '.[0].HostConfig.CapDrop'
podman inspect crypto-scout-mq | jq '.[0].HostConfig.ReadonlyRootfs'

Log Monitoring

# Monitor authentication attempts
podman logs crypto-scout-mq | grep -i "auth\|login"

# Monitor connections
podman logs crypto-scout-mq | grep "accepting connection"

# Check for errors
podman logs crypto-scout-mq | grep -i "error\|warning"

Hardening Checklist

Container Level

• Non-root user execution (RabbitMQ user inside container)
• Read-only root filesystem
• tmpfs for writable areas (/tmp)
• No new privileges (no-new-privileges=true)
• All capabilities dropped (cap_drop: ALL)
• Resource limits configured (CPU, memory)
• PID limits set (pids_limit: 1024)
• Init system enabled for proper signal handling

Network Level

• AMQP (5672) not exposed to host
• Streams (5552) not exposed to host
• Management UI on localhost only (127.0.0.1:15672)
• External network for service communication (crypto-scout-bridge)

Application Level

• Guest user deleted
• Strong passwords for all users
• Principle of least privilege for permissions
• Secure Erlang cookie
• Definitions file loaded securely (read-only mount)

Host Level

• Secret files with 600 permissions
• Secrets not committed to git
• Data directory with appropriate permissions
• Regular security updates

Security Incidents

Unauthorized Access Detected

# Check current connections
podman exec crypto-scout-mq rabbitmqctl list_connections peer_host user

# Review recent logins
podman logs crypto-scout-mq | grep -i "auth\|login" | tail -50

# Rotate passwords immediately
./script/rmq_user.sh -u user -p 'new_password' -y

Container Compromise

# Stop container immediately
./script/rmq_compose.sh down

# Do not remove - preserve for forensics
# Create new container with rotated secrets
# Review all user connections

Compliance Notes

Data Protection

• No PII stored in messages
• Encryption in transit (TLS recommended for production)
• No persistent sensitive data in container

Audit Trail

• RabbitMQ logs connection attempts
• Management UI tracks user actions
• Container logs retained per policy

When to Use Me

Use this skill when:

• Setting up production deployments
• Auditing security configuration
• Implementing security hardening
• Managing secrets and credentials
• Troubleshooting security incidents
• Reviewing access controls
• Ensuring compliance

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