fix(cloudflared): fsGroup so uid 65532 can read the 0440 credentials Secret
gate / gate (pull_request) Successful in 42s
gate / conformance (pull_request) Skipped

The pod ran as 65532:65532 with no fsGroup, so the kubelet laid the Secret's
credentials.json down root:root 0440 — unreadable to the container. cloudflared
logged "permission denied" and then the red-herring "Error locating origin cert".

- deployment.yaml: securityContext.fsGroup 65532 (mode stays 0440)
- L0 cloudflared-ingress-rules (7): Secret volumes must be readable by the
  container's run-as uid/groups; mutation self-tested
- runbook: permission-denied troubleshooting entry, credential rotation section
- decisions/2026-11-08-cloudflared-creds-permission.md

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
This commit is contained in:
jakman85andClaude Opus 5.5 committed 2026-11-08 15:49:56 -06:00
1 parent 9724445a08
commit d9ab57f2d1
5 files changed
+203 -10

No files matched your search

@@ -26,9 +26,19 @@
# (5) the Flux tier is ISOLATED: its own Kustomization, wait:false, not listed in
# platform/kustomization.yaml, nothing anywhere dependsOn it, and both overlays carry its
# SOPS decryption patch — so a missing or invalid credential can stall nothing else;
# AND (6) the rule evaluator is not vacuous: it is run against mutated copies of the real config
# (6) the rule evaluator is not vacuous: it is run against mutated copies of the real config
# (an API rule added, plex moved below the wildcard, the catch-all removed) and must
# flag each one.
# flag each one;
# AND (7) every Secret volume the container mounts — the tunnel credentials above all — is
# READABLE by the container's run-as identity, modelled the way the kubelet lays it out:
# files owned by uid 0, group-owned by fsGroup if set (else gid 0), with the item mode or
# defaultMode (API default 0644). The identity is the container securityContext over
# the pod's; the process's groups are runAsGroup + fsGroup + supplementalGroups. An
# unset runAsUser is a FAIL, not a pass: the image default cannot be read offline. The
# model is deliberately conservative — it does not credit the kubelet's habit of
# OR-ing group-read into fsGroup-owned volumes, so 0400+fsGroup fails here though it
# would work. Self-tested by mutation (fsGroup removed; mode 0400; runAsUser unset).
# This is the 2026-11-08 CrashLoop: runAsUser 65532, no fsGroup, 0440 root:root.
#
# NOT proven (static): that Cloudflare routes only the hostnames whose DNS points at the tunnel,
# that the Gateway's certificate validates from cloudflared, or that Envoy enforces (4) — those are
@@ -236,6 +246,69 @@ check(dep["spec"]["template"]["metadata"]["labels"].get("homelab.keithjackson.de
check(dep["spec"]["template"]["spec"].get("automountServiceAccountToken") is False,
"(4) the pods mount no ServiceAccount token")
# (7) the credentials Secret is readable by the run-as identity
def unreadable_secret_volumes(pod_spec):
"""Return a description per Secret volume the containers mount but cannot read."""
bad = []
psc = pod_spec.get("securityContext") or {}
vols = {v["name"]: v for v in pod_spec.get("volumes") or [] if "secret" in v}
for c in (pod_spec.get("initContainers") or []) + (pod_spec.get("containers") or []):
csc = c.get("securityContext") or {}
uid = csc.get("runAsUser", psc.get("runAsUser"))
gid = csc.get("runAsGroup", psc.get("runAsGroup"))
fs_group = psc.get("fsGroup")
groups = {g for g in [gid, fs_group, *(psc.get("supplementalGroups") or [])]
if g is not None}
for vm in c.get("volumeMounts") or []:
v = vols.get(vm["name"])
if v is None:
continue
sec = v["secret"]
if uid is None:
bad.append(f"container {c['name']} mounts Secret volume {vm['name']} but sets no "
f"runAsUser (pod or container) — readability cannot be proven offline")
continue
default = sec.get("defaultMode", 0o644)
modes = [it.get("mode", default) for it in sec.get("items") or []] or [default]
owner_gid = fs_group if fs_group is not None else 0
for mode in modes:
readable = ((uid == 0 and mode & 0o400) or (owner_gid in groups and mode & 0o040)
or mode & 0o004)
if not readable:
bad.append(f"container {c['name']} (uid {uid}, groups {sorted(groups)}) cannot "
f"read Secret volume {vm['name']} ({sec.get('secretName')}): files "
f"are 0:{owner_gid} mode {mode:04o} — set pod fsGroup to a group "
f"the container runs with, keeping 0440")
return bad
pod_spec = dep["spec"]["template"]["spec"]
creds_vol = [v for v in pod_spec.get("volumes") or []
if (v.get("secret") or {}).get("secretName") == "cloudflared-credentials"]
check(len(creds_vol) == 1, "(7) the Deployment mounts Secret cloudflared-credentials as a volume")
for v in unreadable_secret_volumes(pod_spec):
check(False, f"(7) {v}")
sec_mutants = {}
m = copy.deepcopy(pod_spec)
m["securityContext"].pop("fsGroup", None)
m["securityContext"].pop("supplementalGroups", None)
sec_mutants["fsGroup removed"] = m
m = copy.deepcopy(pod_spec)
for v in m["volumes"]:
if "secret" in v:
v["secret"]["defaultMode"] = 0o400
for it in v["secret"].get("items") or []:
it["mode"] = 0o400
sec_mutants["mode 0400"] = m
m = copy.deepcopy(pod_spec)
m["securityContext"].pop("runAsUser", None)
for c in m["containers"]:
(c.get("securityContext") or {}).pop("runAsUser", None)
sec_mutants["runAsUser unset"] = m
for name, mut in sec_mutants.items():
check(unreadable_secret_volumes(mut),
f"(7) self-test: the readability model did NOT flag the mutant '{name}' — vacuous")
if CHECKS < 25:
FAILURES.append(f"only {CHECKS} assertions ran — the check degenerated")
if FAILURES: