Rootless Docker Containers: Seccomp Profiles & Linux Capabilities Lockdown
Hardening container runtime daemons and eliminating root privileges to prevent host kernel exploits.
The Danger of the Default Docker Root Daemon
By default, the Docker daemon runs with root privileges on the Linux host. Any container compromise that achieves root execution inside a privileged container effectively owns the host operating system.
Running Docker in Rootless Mode
Rootless Docker executes the daemon and containers inside a user namespace without root privileges. Even if an attacker breaks out of a rootless container, they arrive on the host system as an unprivileged user.
Applying Custom Seccomp and AppArmor Profiles
Seccomp (Secure Computing Mode) restricts the system calls (syscalls) a container can make to the Linux kernel. Dropping dangerous system calls (`ptrace`, `sys_admin`) prevents kernel privilege escalation exploits.
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