Skip to content
Published on

Security vulnerability action playbook: OS package, container image, runtime hardening

Authors
  • Name
    Twitter

Entering

When a security scanner pours out a list of CVEs, it becomes difficult to know where to start. The important thing is not to immediately fix all vulnerabilities, but to have a process to prioritize based on risk, take systematic action, and prevent recurrence.

In this article, we present a practical playbook covering OS package vulnerability patching, container image security, and runtime hardening.


1. Vulnerability response process overview```

┌─────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ │ 발견 │ → │ 분류 │ → │ 조치 │ → │ 검증 │ → │ 보고 │ │ Scanning │ │ Triage │ │ Remediate│ │ Verify │ │ Report │ └─────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────┘


| Severity | CVSS score | Action Deadline | Example |
| ------------ | --------- | ------------------------ | -------------------- |
| **Critical** | 9.0~10.0 | 24~72 hours | RCE, authentication bypass |
| **High** | 7.0~8.9 | 7 days | Escalation of privilege, information leakage |
| **Medium** | 4.0~6.9 | 30 days | XSS, Denial of Service |
| **Low** | 0.1~3.9 | 90 days or next regular patch | Information disclosure (limited) |

> **Core Principle**: Do not judge only the CVSS score, but comprehensively judge **Exploit Possibility (EPSS)**, **Internet Exposure**, and **Importance of Affected Assets**.

---

## 2. OS package vulnerability management

### 2.1 Vulnerability scan```bash
# RHEL / Rocky - 보안 업데이트 확인
dnf updateinfo list security
dnf updateinfo list --sec-severity=Critical
dnf updateinfo info RHSA-2026:1234

# Ubuntu - 보안 업데이트 확인
apt update
apt list --upgradable 2>/dev/null | grep -i security

# 설치된 패키지의 CVE 확인 (Trivy)
trivy rootfs --severity CRITICAL,HIGH /

# OpenSCAP 스캔 (컴플라이언스)
oscap xccdf eval \
  --profile xccdf_org.ssgproject.content_profile_cis \
  --results results.xml \
  --report report.html \
  /usr/share/xml/scap/ssg/content/ssg-rhel9-ds.xml
```### 2.2 Patch application procedure```bash
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# patch-os.sh - OS 보안 패치 적용 스크립트
set -euo pipefail

LOG_FILE="/var/log/security-patch-$(date +%Y%m%d).log"
SNAPSHOT_NAME="pre-patch-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"

log() { printf '[%s] %s\n' "$(date +%T)" "$1" | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"; }

# 1단계: 스냅샷/백업
log "=== 패치 시작 ==="
log "스냅샷 생성: $SNAPSHOT_NAME"
# LVM 스냅샷 (해당 시)
# lvcreate -L 10G -s -n "$SNAPSHOT_NAME" /dev/vg0/root

# 2단계: 현재 상태 기록
rpm -qa --qf '%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n' | sort > /tmp/packages-before.txt

# 3단계: 보안 업데이트만 적용
log "보안 업데이트 적용 중..."
if command -v dnf &>/dev/null; then
  dnf update --security -y 2>&1 | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
elif command -v apt-get &>/dev/null; then
  apt-get update
  apt-get upgrade -y -o Dpkg::Options::="--force-confold" 2>&1 | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
fi

# 4단계: 변경된 패키지 목록
rpm -qa --qf '%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n' | sort > /tmp/packages-after.txt
diff /tmp/packages-before.txt /tmp/packages-after.txt > /tmp/packages-diff.txt || true
log "변경된 패키지:"
cat /tmp/packages-diff.txt | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"

# 5단계: 서비스 재시작 필요 여부 확인
if command -v needs-restarting &>/dev/null; then
  log "재시작 필요 서비스:"
  needs-restarting -s 2>&1 | tee -a "$LOG_FILE"
  if needs-restarting -r 2>&1 | grep -q "Reboot is required"; then
    log "WARNING: 커널 업데이트로 리부팅 필요"
  fi
fi

log "=== 패치 완료 ==="
```### 2.3 Automatic security update settings

#### RHEL/Rocky```bash
# dnf-automatic 설치·설정
dnf install -y dnf-automatic

# /etc/dnf/automatic.conf
# [commands]
# apply_updates = yes
# upgrade_type = security  # 보안 업데이트만

systemctl enable --now dnf-automatic-install.timer
```#### Ubuntu```bash
# unattended-upgrades 설정
apt install -y unattended-upgrades
dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

# /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
# Unattended-Upgrade::Allowed-Origins {
#   "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-security";
# };
# Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "false";
# Unattended-Upgrade::Mail "admin@example.com";
```### 2.4 Patch Management Checklist

- [ ] Subscribe to security update notification channel (RHSA, USN, CVE mailing list)
- [ ] Automated weekly vulnerability scanning
- [ ] Staging → Building a production patch pipeline
- [ ] Snapshot/backup required before patch application
- [ ] Automation of service health check after patch
- [ ] Establish reboot schedule when updating kernel
- [ ] Preservation of patch history and audit log (at least 1 year)

---

## 3. Container image security

### 3.1 Comparison of image scanning tools

| tools | License | Features | CI/CD integration |
| -------------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| **Trivy** | OSS (Apache-2.0) | OS + language package + IaC + Secret | GitHub Actions, GitLab CI |
| **Grype** | OSS (Apache-2.0) | SBOM-based scanning | CLI-centric |
| **Snyk Container** | Commercial (Free Plan) | Developer-friendly Fix PR | Most CI |
| **Prisma Cloud** | commercial | All CNAPP | Enterprise CI |
| **AWS ECR Scanning** | Includes AWS | Inspector-based | AWS Native |

### 3.2 Practical use of Trivy```bash
# 이미지 스캔 (Critical + High만)
trivy image --severity CRITICAL,HIGH myapp:latest

# SBOM 생성
trivy image --format spdx-json -o sbom.json myapp:latest

# 취약점이 있으면 빌드 실패 (CI용)
trivy image --exit-code 1 --severity CRITICAL myapp:latest

# .trivyignore - 허용된 취약점 (예외 처리)
# CVE-2024-XXXX  # 해당 코드 경로 미사용, 2026-04-01까지 예외
```### 3.3 Writing a secure Dockerfile```dockerfile
# 1. 최소 베이스 이미지 사용
FROM cgr.dev/chainguard/python:latest-dev AS builder
# 또는 distroless, Alpine, UBI-micro

# 2. 빌드 의존성과 런타임 분리 (멀티스테이지)
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir --prefix=/install -r requirements.txt
COPY . .

FROM cgr.dev/chainguard/python:latest
WORKDIR /app
COPY --from=builder /install /usr/local
COPY --from=builder /app .

# 3. non-root 사용자 (Chainguard은 기본 non-root)
# 일반 이미지의 경우:
# RUN addgroup -S app && adduser -S app -G app
# USER app

# 4. 불필요한 패키지 제거, 캐시 정리
# (멀티스테이지로 해결)

# 5. 건강 검사
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD ["python", "-c", "import urllib.request; urllib.request.urlopen('http://localhost:8000/health')"]

ENTRYPOINT ["python", "-m", "uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]
```### 3.4 Base image selection guide

| Image Type | size | Number of vulnerabilities | package manager | shell | Recommended use |
| -------------- | ----- | --------- | ------------- | ----------- | --------------- |
|`ubuntu:24.04`| ~78MB | middle | apt | bash | universal |
|`alpine:3.20`| ~7MB | low | apk | ash | lightweight service |
|`distroless`| ~20MB | very low | None | None | Production Runtime |
|`chainguard`| ~15MB | almost 0 | apk (dev only) | None (dev only) | Focus on security |
|`ubi-micro`| ~35MB | low | None | None | Requires RHEL Compatibility |
|`scratch`| 0MB | 0 | None | None | Go binary |

### 3.5 CI/CD pipeline integration```yaml
# GitHub Actions 예시
name: Container Security
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Build image
        run: docker build -t myapp:${{ github.sha }} .

      - name: Trivy vulnerability scan
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          image-ref: myapp:${{ github.sha }}
          severity: CRITICAL,HIGH
          exit-code: 1
          format: sarif
          output: trivy-results.sarif

      - name: Upload scan results
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        if: always()
        with:
          sarif_file: trivy-results.sarif

      - name: Generate SBOM
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          image-ref: myapp:${{ github.sha }}
          format: spdx-json
          output: sbom.spdx.json

      - name: Upload SBOM
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: sbom
          path: sbom.spdx.json
```---

## 4. Runtime hardening

### 4.1 Container runtime security

#### Docker hardening```bash
# /etc/docker/daemon.json
{
  "userns-remap": "default",
  "no-new-privileges": true,
  "log-driver": "json-file",
  "log-opts": {
    "max-size": "10m",
    "max-file": "3"
  },
  "storage-driver": "overlay2",
  "live-restore": true,
  "icc": false,
  "default-ulimits": {
    "nofile": { "Name": "nofile", "Hard": 65535, "Soft": 65535 }
  }
}
```#### Security options when running containers```bash
docker run -d \
  --name myapp \
  --read-only \
  --tmpfs /tmp:rw,noexec,nosuid,size=100m \
  --cap-drop ALL \
  --cap-add NET_BIND_SERVICE \
  --security-opt no-new-privileges:true \
  --security-opt seccomp=default.json \
  --pids-limit 100 \
  --memory 512m \
  --cpus 1.0 \
  --user 1000:1000 \
  myapp:latest
```#### Kubernetes Pod Security```yaml
# Pod Security Standards - Restricted 프로파일
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: secure-app
spec:
  securityContext:
    runAsNonRoot: true
    runAsUser: 1000
    runAsGroup: 1000
    fsGroup: 1000
    seccompProfile:
      type: RuntimeDefault
  containers:
    - name: app
      image: myapp:latest
      securityContext:
        allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
        readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
        capabilities:
          drop: ['ALL']
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 512Mi
          cpu: '1'
        requests:
          memory: 256Mi
          cpu: '0.5'
      volumeMounts:
        - name: tmp
          mountPath: /tmp
  volumes:
    - name: tmp
      emptyDir:
        sizeLimit: 100Mi
```### 4.2 Kubernetes cluster hardening checklist

| area | Item | Command/Settings |
| ------------ | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Certification** | Block anonymous access |`--anonymous-auth=false`|
| **Is it** | Enable RBAC |`--authorization-mode=RBAC`|
| **API** | NodeRestriction Admission |`--enable-admission-plugins=NodeRestriction`|
| **Etcd** | Encryption Settings |`--encryption-provider-config`|
| **Network** | Apply NetworkPolicy | Calico/Cilium Network Policy |
| **Pod** | PSA (Pod Security Admission) | in the namespace`enforce: restricted`|
| **Secret** | External Secret Manager | Vault, AWS Secrets Manager |
| **Thanks** | Audit logging |`--audit-log-path`, `--audit-policy-file`|
| **Image** | Signature Verification | Cosign + Admission Webhook |
| **Runtime** | Seccomp/AppArmor Profile | Pod securityContext |

### 4.3 Network policy example```yaml
# 기본 거부 정책 (deny-all)
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: default-deny-all
  namespace: production
spec:
  podSelector: {}
  policyTypes:
    - Ingress
    - Egress

---
# 앱 특정 허용 정책
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: allow-app-traffic
  namespace: production
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  policyTypes:
    - Ingress
    - Egress
  ingress:
    - from:
        - podSelector:
            matchLabels:
              app: nginx-ingress
      ports:
        - port: 8080
          protocol: TCP
  egress:
    - to:
        - podSelector:
            matchLabels:
              app: postgres
      ports:
        - port: 5432
          protocol: TCP
    - to: # DNS 허용
        - namespaceSelector: {}
          podSelector:
            matchLabels:
              k8s-app: kube-dns
      ports:
        - port: 53
          protocol: UDP
        - port: 53
          protocol: TCP
```---

## 5. Playbook for each vulnerability response scenario

### Scenario 1: Critical CVE Emergency Patch```
1. [즉시] CVE 공지 확인 → 영향받는 패키지·버전 식별
2. [1시간] 자산 인벤토리에서 영향 범위 파악
3. [2시간] 패치 가용 여부 확인
   ├── 패치 있음 → 스테이징 적용 → 테스트 → 프로덕션 롤링
   └── 패치 없음 → Workaround 적용 (WAF 룰, 설정 변경, 서비스 격리)
4. [24시간] 프로덕션 패치 완료
5. [48시간] 스캔으로 조치 검증 → 보고서 작성
```### Scenario 2: Container image vulnerability```
1. 이미지 스캔 결과 확인 (Trivy/Snyk)
2. 취약점 분류:
   ├── OS 패키지 → 베이스 이미지 업데이트
   ├── 언어 라이브러리 → dependency 업데이트
   └── 설정 문제 → Dockerfile 수정
3. 이미지 재빌드 + 스캔 재실행
4. 스테이징 배포 → E2E 테스트
5. 프로덕션 롤링 업데이트
6. 이전 이미지 태그 비활성화
```### Scenario 3: Runtime breach detection response```
1. [즉시] 알림 확인 (Falco, 감사 로그)
2. [즉시] 해당 Pod/컨테이너 격리 (NetworkPolicy deny-all)
3. [1시간] 포렌식 데이터 수집:
   - 컨테이너 프로세스 목록, 네트워크 연결
   - 감사 로그, 런타임 이벤트 로그
   - 이미지 레이어 분석
4. [4시간] 침입 경로 파악 → 취약점 조치
5. [24시간] 클린 이미지로 재배포
6. [1주] 사후 분석 보고서 + 재발 방지 대책
```---

## 6. Security scan automation architecture```
┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│  코드 푸시   │ → │  CI 파이프라인 │ → │  이미지 빌드  │
└─────────────┘    └──────┬──────┘    └──────┬──────┘
                          │                   │
                   ┌──────▼──────┐    ┌──────▼──────┐
                   │  SAST 스캔   │    │  이미지 스캔  │
                   │  (Semgrep)   │    │  (Trivy)     │
                   └──────┬──────┘    └──────┬──────┘
                          │                   │
                   ┌──────▼───────────────────▼──────┐
                   │         결과 집계 + 판정          │
                   │   (Critical → 빌드 실패)         │
                   │   (High → 경고 + Jira 생성)      │
                   └──────────────┬──────────────────┘
                   ┌──────────────▼──────────────────┐
                   │  레지스트리 푸시 (통과 시에만)      │
                   └──────────────┬──────────────────┘
                   ┌──────────────▼──────────────────┐
                   │  정기 스캔 (주간, 레지스트리 전체)   │
                   └─────────────────────────────────┘
```---

## 7. Compliance mapping

| framework | Related Requirements | Response from this playbook |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| **CIS Benchmark** | OS·Docker·K8s benchmark | Section 2, 4 |
| **NIST 800-53** | SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) | Section 2 (Patch Management) |
| **PCI DSS 4.0** | 6.3 (Vulnerability identification/action) | Full process |
| **SOC 2** | CC7.1 (Monitoring), CC8.1 (Change Management) | Section 5, 6 |
| **ISMS-P** | 2.10 (System/Service Security Management) | All |

---

## 8. Toolchain Recommendation

### Essential tools

| Use | OSS | commercial |
| --------------- | ----------------------- | -------------------- |
| image scan | Trivy, Grype | Snyk, Prisma Cloud |
| OS Compliance | OpenSCAP, Lynis | Qualys, Tenable |
| runtime security | Falco | Sysdig Secure |
| Create SBOM | Syft, Trivy | Anchore |
| Secret Scan | Gitleaks, TruffleHog | GitGuardian |
| SAST | Semgrep, CodeQL | SonarQube, Checkmarx |
| image signature | Cosign (Sigstore) | Docker Content Trust |
| Policy Engine | OPA/Gatekeeper, Kyverno | Styra DAS |

### Recommended minimum configuration```
코드 단계: Gitleaks (시크릿) + Semgrep (SAST)
빌드 단계: Trivy (이미지 스캔) + Syft (SBOM)
배포 단계: Cosign (이미지 서명) + Kyverno (정책)
런타임:   Falco (이상 탐지) + 감사 로그
```---

## 9. Report template

### Vulnerability Action Report```markdown
# 보안 취약점 조치 보고서

## 개요

- 보고일: YYYY-MM-DD
- 작성자: 보안 운영팀
- 대상 기간: YYYY-MM-DD ~ YYYY-MM-DD

## 요약

| 심각도   | 발견 | 조치 완료 | 예외 처리 | 미조치 |
| -------- | ---- | --------- | --------- | ------ |
| Critical | 3    | 3         | 0         | 0      |
| High     | 12   | 10        | 2         | 0      |
| Medium   | 45   | 30        | 5         | 10     |

## Critical 취약점 상세

### CVE-YYYY-XXXXX

- 영향: [설명]
- 영향 자산: [서버/이미지 목록]
- 조치: [패치 버전/설정 변경]
- 조치일: YYYY-MM-DD
- 검증: [스캔 결과 첨부]

## 예외 처리 목록

| CVE            | 사유                  | 보완 조치   | 만료일     |
| -------------- | --------------------- | ----------- | ---------- |
| CVE-YYYY-XXXXX | 해당 코드 경로 미사용 | WAF 룰 추가 | YYYY-MM-DD |

## 개선 권고사항

1. [구체적 개선 사항]
2. [구체적 개선 사항]
```---

## 10. Actual inspection checklist

### OS Security

- [ ] Disable unnecessary services (`systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled`)
- [ ] Allow only SSH key-based authentication, block root login
- [ ] Automatic security update settings
- [ ] Firewall default deny policy
- [ ] Activate audit log (auditd)
- [ ] AIDE/OSSEC file integrity monitoring

### Container Security

- [ ] Use minimal base image (distroless/chainguard)
- [ ] Remove build tools with multistage build
- [ ] Run as non-root user
- [ ] Read-only file system
- [ ] Resource limits (CPU, memory, PID)
- [ ] Image signature + verification

### Kubernetes Security

- [ ] PSA (Pod Security Admission) restricted mode
- [ ] NetworkPolicy default deny-all
- [ ] RBAC principle of least privilege
- [ ] Etcd encryption
- [ ] Enable audit logging
- [ ] Secret external management (Vault, etc.)

---

## Finish

Security is not a one-time action, but a **continuous process**. Summarize the core of this playbook in three lines.

1. **Automation**: Prevent manual omission by embedding scan, patch, and verification into CI/CD.
2. **Layered defense**: Establish an in-depth defense strategy that covers OS, image, runtime, and network.
3. **Response system**: Repeat the cycle of discovery → classification → action → verification → reporting, and maintain SLA.

Perfect security is impossible, but through systematic operation **risk can be reduced to a manageable level**.