---
title: "HOST-CTR-014 containerd Remote API or Podman Unconfined Defaults"
canonical: https://openvapt.com/checks/HOST-CTR-014.html
html: https://openvapt.com/checks/HOST-CTR-014.html
site: OpenVAPT, https://openvapt.com/
license: OpenVAPT Source-Available Licence 1.3, https://openvapt.com/legal/licence-text.html
modified: 2026-10-14
version: 0.1.0-alpha.6
---

# HOST-CTR-014 containerd Remote API or Podman Unconfined Defaults

Checks the containerd and Podman configuration files for a TCP API without TLS and for unconfined seccomp or disabled labelling defaults.

- Domain: Server
- Severity: High
- Control category: Secure Configuration
- Fix effort: medium
- CVSS v3.1 vector: `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
- CIS Controls v8: 4.1
- NIST CSF 2.0: PR.PS-01
- CWE: CWE-306, CWE-1188
- NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: AC-3, SC-8, CM-6

## Why It Matters

containerd's gRPC API is root on the host, like the Docker API; a tcp_address without TLS exposes it to the network. Podman's containers.conf sets the defaults every container inherits: an unconfined seccomp profile or disabled SELinux labelling removes the isolation for all of them.

## How It Detects

Reads /etc/containerd/config.toml ([grpc] tcp_address set without tcp_tls_cert) and /etc/containers/containers.conf plus /usr/share/containers/containers.conf (seccomp_profile unconfined, label false, or apparmor_profile unconfined in [containers]).

## How to Fix

containerd: remove tcp_address or set tcp_tls_cert and tcp_tls_key, then restart containerd. Podman: delete seccomp_profile = "unconfined", set label = true and apparmor_profile = "container-default" in containers.conf.

## How to Verify

```
grep -E 'tcp_address|tcp_tls' /etc/containerd/config.toml ; grep -E 'seccomp_profile|^label|apparmor_profile' /etc/containers/containers.conf
```

## Learn the Theory

- [P9 Containers and Kubernetes](https://openvapt.com/academy/p9.md)
- [A5 Container Runtime Hardening Depth](https://openvapt.com/academy/a5.md)

## References

- [containerd documentation, Operations (configuration)](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/main/docs/ops.md)
- [containers.conf(5), Podman configuration](https://github.com/containers/common/blob/main/docs/containers.conf.5.md)
- [NIST SP 800-190, Application Container Security Guide](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/190/final)

## Source Code

https://github.com/OpenVAPT/openvapt/blob/574f7f3333c44b75a3c649e2d93a76d507f75adf/internal/checks/host/containers_depth.go

Run it: `openvapt scan --only HOST-CTR-014`. Read it offline: `openvapt explain HOST-CTR-014`.

---

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