How To Minimize Container Vulnerabilities

Background

In a containerized environment such as Kubernetes, the need for a robust container security strategy is paramount to any organization. Using the latest container images and reducing the size of production images are two ways to limit the attack surface and create a more secure and efficient containerized environment.

Solution

Move to the latest container images
Newer images, both third-party and internally published, come with security patches that address known vulnerabilities, minimizing the risk of exploitation. They also ensure that dependencies remain current, reducing exposure to outdated libraries. Regularly updating images supports compliance with security standards and best practices, while also potentially improving performance and resource efficiency with optimizations found in newer versions.

Use a multi-stage build
For internally published containers, a multi-stage build removes unnecessary components from the container images such as build tools and their dependencies, compilers, and even the source code itself. Separating the build and runtime stages using multi-stage builds keeps the final image as small and secure as possible.

See Also
How to Build Smaller Container Images: Docker Multi-Stage Builds
How to Significantly Reduce Your Docker Images with Multi-Stage Builds