> ZERO-TRUST // zt-arch-08
Real-Time Kernel Threat Enforcement via Tetragon
Deep operating system kernel visibility and automated in-kernel attack mitigation using Cilium Tetragon eBPF, killing malicious processes (SIGKILL) before unauthorized syscalls complete.
Adversary Threat Model
Attacker leverages zero-day vulnerability in container to execute reverse shell, spawn namespace escaping binaries, or read `/etc/shadow`.
Architecture Specs
NIST SP 800-207 Tenets Enforced
- ✓The enterprise monitors and measures the integrity and security posture of all owned and associated assets.
- ✓No asset is inherently trusted.
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques Blocked
3 Maturity Tier Configurations
Evolutionary engineering configurations from baseline Initial up to CISA Optimal zero-compromise fortress.
Tetragon installed with default process execution monitoring.
Audit-only mode; alerts generated on `/bin/bash` executions.
Default Linux kernel cgroup boundaries.
JSON events streamed to node filesystem `/var/log/tetragon`.
Kernel tracing policies monitoring file access, privilege namespace escalations, and network connects.
Automated in-kernel SIGKILL enforcement for unauthorized binaries in production pods.
eBPF-enforced blocklists for outbound raw socket creation.
Real-time gRPC telemetry exported to central SIEM and automated incident responder.
Cluster-wide autonomous kernel defense integrated with runtime vulnerability scoring.
Hardware-verified eBPF bytecode signatures with zero user-space bypass possibilities.
Complete kernel-enforced lockdown of container namespaces and capabilities.
Cryptographically sealed audit trails with sub-millisecond intrusion containment.
Infrastructure as Code: Terraform & Kubernetes
Production-ready declarative manifests for immediate automated deployment.
resource "helm_release" "tetragon" {
name = "tetragon"
repository = "https://helm.cilium.io"
chart = "tetragon"
namespace = "kube-system"
set {
name = "tetragon.enforceKprobes"
value = "true"
}
}apiVersion: cilium.io/v1alpha1
kind: TracingPolicy
metadata:
name: "block-etc-shadow-reads"
spec:
kprobes:
- call: "sys_openat"
syscall: true
args:
- index: 1
type: "string"
selectors:
- matchArgs:
- index: 1
operator: "Equal"
values:
- "/etc/shadow"
- "/etc/sudoers"
matchActions:
- action: SigkillDeep operating system kernel visibility and automated in-kernel attack mitigation using Cilium Tetragon eBPF, killing malicious processes (SIGKILL) before unauthorized syscalls complete.
Architecture Blueprint FAQs
How does the Real-Time Kernel Threat Enforcement via Tetragon blueprint mitigate adversary threats and MITRE ATT&CK techniques?
Real-Time Kernel Threat Enforcement via Tetragon addresses the following adversary profile: Attacker leverages zero-day vulnerability in container to execute reverse shell, spawn namespace escaping binaries, or read `/etc/shadow`. It actively eliminates lateral movement and privilege escalation by mitigating: T1059.004, T1068, T1611, T1003.008 via hardware-rooted identity, kernel-level enforcement, or continuous attestation.
Which NIST SP 800-207 Zero-Trust tenets does this architecture enforce?
This blueprint strictly operationalizes the following NIST SP 800-207 tenets: The enterprise monitors and measures the integrity and security posture of all owned and associated assets.; No asset is inherently trusted.. Implicit trust based on network location is replaced with per-session dynamic cryptographic verification.
What are the technical differences between the Initial and Optimal maturity tiers?
The Initial tier focuses on baseline policy and identity enforcement (Tetragon installed with default process execution monitoring.), while the Optimal tier delivers CISA ZTMM 2.0 zero-compromise fortress defense (Cluster-wide autonomous kernel defense integrated with runtime vulnerability scoring.) using: tetragon-enterprise, cilium-ebpf, spire, falco-driver.
What is the primary failure mode risk and how is high availability guaranteed?
The primary failure risk is identified as: Kernel panic triggered by experimental kprobe attachments on custom kernel builds.. Resilience is maintained through active-active control planes, local cached attestations, and graceful degradation playbooks.
How can engineering teams automate this architecture using Terraform and Kubernetes?
The provided declarative Terraform HCL (main.tf) and Kubernetes policy manifests (policy.yaml) can be immediately integrated into automated GitOps CI/CD pipelines (e.g., ArgoCD, Flux) for reproducible, drift-detected infrastructure provisioning.