Rootless containers in Kubernetes environmentGorjan Novak, Anže (Avtor) Ciglarič, Mojca (Mentor) Baunach, Marcel (Mentor) Pančur, Matjaž (Komentor) Krisper, Michael (Komentor) rootless containersKubernetescontainer securityIn recent years, containerization has revolutionized the way software is developed, deployed, and managed, offering a lightweight alternative to traditional virtual machines. However, the traditional approach requires root privileges, which poses security challenges, as a container escape attack could compromise the entire host system. To address this, the rootless approach offers a promising alternative, eliminating the requirement for root-level access and thus enhancing security. With Kubernetes leading the way in containerized application orchestration, some Kubernetes distributions are beginning to implement this approach, running all components without root permissions. This thesis explores the concept and challenges of rootless container technology in Kubernetes, evaluating its maturity, performance, limitations, security implications, and potential applications. Through extensive benchmarking, we evaluate various aspects, including network, disk, and CPU performance in both rootless and rootful modes. Our findings reveal that while rootless Kubernetes significantly enhances security by minimizing the risk associated with container escape vulnerabilities, it does so at the expense of reduced network and disk performance. We also highlight the current limitations of rootless Kubernetes, such as its complexity, experimental nature, and the lack of multi-node cluster support, which currently limit its practical applications.20242024-03-28 09:55:01Magistrsko delo/naloga155378VisID: 35452COBISS_ID: 192115971sl