Automation is the backbone of modern IT and DevOps operations, which is why open-source Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Ansible are gaining momentum with organizations looking to enhance their efficiency. However, the scourge of today's technological boom is that convenience is often prioritized over security.
Some enterprises neglect to leverage the full protection potential of modern solutions, only to be swamped in questionably effective and tedious manual routines. Refining your cloud management workflows means a more hands-off approach regarding the security of the configurations, systems, and applications you rely on. For that reason, it's essential to build your Ansible playbooks with security in mind. This article illustrates exactly how to do that.
Manage sensitive data securely
One of the top priorities is ensuring that your sensitive data, such as passwords, API keys and financial information, is well protected. There are many regulations now that demand companies to implement strict security and privacy measures, especially when it comes to customer-related data. Examples of that include GDPR in the EU, and similar, state-specific regulations across the U.S.
Thankfully, Ansible comes with a built-in encryption tool, called Ansible Vault, designed specifically for encrypting sensitive data within your playbooks. This instrument is executed with the ansible-vault command-line utility, which you can use to create, view, and edit encrypted files or variables.
Another thing to point out is that even if data is encrypted, it will still show up in Ansible log files in plain view, exposing your secrets. To fix this, add the no_log parameter for all tasks having to do with sensitive data or decryption passwords.
Implement the principle of least privilege
Whether it's access to encrypted files or any system resources managed within Ansible, it's best to leverage the principle of least privilege. This is a foundational security concept that ensures users and workloads have the minimum access required to do their jobs—nothing more, nothing less.
While this may sound extreme, it has proven to be highly effective for minimizing security risk and is widely adopted across industries. To implement the principle of least privilege within Ansible, you can follow a two-step approach:
- Define user roles and groups based on the access they need.
- Using commands like chmod and chown, adjust your permissions for who can read, write, or execute files based on their assigned roles.
Additionally, it's best to also control what users can execute even with sudo (root) access, or utilize the become command to grant temporary elevated privileges. This will prevent unauthorized or accidental execution of critical commands.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can be assigned through tools like Ansible Tower or Automation Controller, where administrators can define specific roles and permissions based on user responsibilities.
Use secure communication channels
Ansible isn't an isolated tool that operates independently. It's always communicating with the systems it manages, and securing this communication plays a big part in managing your risk.
Internally, Ansible communicates with services such as a PostgreSQL database and a Redis key-value store. Connections to the PostgreSQL database are made using password authentication over TCP. These connections can occur locally (via localhost) or remotely if an external database is configured. PostgreSQL has built-in support for SSL/TLS encryption, which is smart to enable for maximum security.
When it comes to external communication with the Automation Controller, it's managed through HTTP/HTTPS using standard ports and served by an Nginx web server. A self-signed certificate and key are installed by default to enable secure HTTPS connections. However, it is highly recommended to replace the default self-signed certificate with one issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) to ensure proper authentication.
Commit to regular auditing and log reviews
Logs and audits are not the most exciting aspects of security operations, but they're among the most important. Logging gives you the ability to diagnose issues, track changes, and detect suspicious activity.
To enable logging, update the main configuration file with the following command: log_path = /var/log/ansible.log.
This will log playbook runs, module outputs, and error messages in a centralized log file (ansible.log). By adding the -v, -vv, and -vvv parameters, you can select the level of detail in your logs.
To maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your log collection, it's best to integrate it with an external tool, such as a SIEM, which will centralize the logs from multiple sources (including Ansible), effectively giving you customizability regarding alerts and reporting. Popular SIEMs that support integration with Ansible include Splunk, QRadar, and Sentinel.
Maintain up-to-date systems and Ansible versions
Like other tools, Ansible is regularly updated to introduce new features and security patches. It's important to apply these patches in a timely manner to prevent unnecessary risk to your systems and data.
To do so, use the sudo apt update command (if installed via Package Manager on Debian/Ubuntu systems).
If you installed Ansible using Python's package manager (pip), use the following command: pip install --upgrade ansible. To verify that you're on the latest version, run this one: ansible --version.
After updating, it's best to execute your playbooks in a staging environment first to ensure they work as intended with the new version of Ansible.
Structure playbooks for security and maintainability
The best way to avoid many hurdles is to structure your playbooks in a way that's easy to maintain and adapt. The last thing you want in an incident response scenario is spending hours of critical time deciphering poorly organized playbooks to get to the bottom of the issue.
Instead, break your playbooks into roles, each responsible for a specific task (e.g., configuring a web server, managing users). This modular approach will make it easier to audit, debug, and secure individual components.
To avoid any confusion about what each playbook does, include comments and README files to describe the purpose and scope of each playbook and role. Large DevOps teams tend to benefit the most from this practice, as each team member is unlikely to be familiar with function-specific playbooks that lack documentation.
Another best practice for structuring the playbooks themselves is to make them idempotent, which means that running a playbook multiple times produces the same result. Most Ansible modules are idempotent by design. For example, the package module installs a package only if it's not already installed.
No room for security trade-offs
Ansible, and automation in general, is a great step up for IT management and operational efficiency. But to fully reap the benefits, security and maintainability must remain a priority.
A well-thought-out Infrastructure as Code framework provides many ways you can incorporate best security practices for your deployments, starting from encryption mechanisms and access controls, to modular design and logging. Adopting these features early will set you up for long-term resilience.
