MicroVM

Jan 1, 0001

Definition

A MicroVM is a lightweight virtual machine designed to provide the isolation and security benefits of traditional virtual machines while maintaining the speed and efficiency of containers. MicroVMs are optimized for running single-purpose applications and are often used in serverless computing environments or edge computing scenarios. They typically have a minimal footprint, fast boot times, and are designed to be highly secure by default.

Secure Settings Example

# Example configuration for a Firecracker MicroVM
# Ensure that the MicroVM is launched with minimal privileges and isolation
boot-source:
  kernel_image_path: "/path/to/vmlinux"
  boot_args: "console=ttyS0 reboot=k panic=1 pci=off"

drives:
  - drive_id: "rootfs"
    path_on_host: "/path/to/rootfs.ext4"
    is_root_device: true
    is_read_only: true

machine-config:
  vcpu_count: 1
  mem_size_mib: 128
  ht_enabled: false

Insecure Settings Example

# Example of insecure configuration for a Firecracker MicroVM
# Running with excessive privileges and unnecessary features enabled
boot-source:
  kernel_image_path: "/path/to/vmlinux"
  boot_args: "console=ttyS0 reboot=k panic=1"

drives:
  - drive_id: "rootfs"
    path_on_host: "/path/to/rootfs.ext4"
    is_root_device: true
    is_read_only: false  # Insecure: root filesystem should be read-only

machine-config:
  vcpu_count: 4  # Insecure: Excessive CPU allocation
  mem_size_mib: 1024  # Insecure: Excessive memory allocation
  ht_enabled: true  # Insecure: Hyperthreading can lead to side-channel attacks