Cloud and Container Misconfigurations

Cloud platforms and containerized deployments introduce new categories of misconfiguration. A publicly accessible AWS S3 bucket containing customer data, an open MongoDB instance without authentication, or a Kubernetes dashboard exposed to the internet—these misconfigurations regularly make headlines. The shared responsibility model in cloud computing means that while providers secure the infrastructure, customers must secure their configurations. Many assume cloud providers handle all security, leading to dangerous exposures.

Container orchestration platforms add another layer of complexity. Misconfigured container registries might allow anonymous access to proprietary images. Overly permissive pod security policies could enable container escapes. Service meshes with default mutual TLS disabled leave inter-service communication vulnerable. The dynamic nature of container deployments, where configurations might be spread across multiple YAML files, environment variables, and orchestration tools, makes maintaining secure configurations challenging.