SECRET-SEN CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager Questions and Answers

Based on the image you sent, the correct network port to its function in Conjur are:

• 22: required for SSH access
• 443: TLS endpoint for Conjur UI and API
• 444: HTTP health endpoint: simplifies load balancer setup
• 1999: audit events are streamed from the Follower to the Leader (using syslog-ng)
• 5432: required for data replication from the Leader to Standbys and Followers (PostgreSQL)

These are the standard ports and protocols used by the Conjur components to communicate with each other and with external clients. The ports can be customized according to the network and security requirements of the organization. These ports are documented in the CyberArk Secrets Manager documentation1 and the CyberArk Secrets Manager training course2.

 = This error occurs when the Vault Conjur Synchronizer installation script tries to log in to the Vault using the admin user credentials, but the admin user is already logged in to other sessions. The Vault has a limit on the number of concurrent sessions per user, and the default value is one. Therefore, the installation script fails to authenticate the admin user and returns the error message: Forbidden Logon Token is Empty - Cannot logon Unauthorized. To remediate the issue, the admin user must log out of any other sessions before running the installation script, or increase the limit on the number of concurrent sessions per user in the Vault configuration file12. References: =

• Troubleshoot CyberArk Vault Synchronizer 1, Error: Forbidden Logon Token is Empty - Cannot logon Unauthorized
• Vault.ini File Parameters 2, ConcurrentSessionsPerUser

Line of business (LOB) is a term used by CyberArk Secrets Manager to describe the services that Conjur offers and typically refers to a group of application identities in Conjur. A LOB can be defined by a Conjur policy that grants permissions and access to secrets for a specific set of applications. For example, a LOB can represent a business unit, a project, a product, or a team within an organization. A LOB can also have sub-LOBs that inherit the permissions and secrets from the parent LOB, but can also have their own specific policies and secrets. A LOB can help organize and manage secrets for different applications in a hierarchical and scalable way. References: CyberArk Secrets Manager - Line of Business; CyberArk Secrets Manager - Policy Management; CyberArk Secrets Manager - Application Identity Management

The correct order for prioritization of the findings is as follows:

• A new vulnerability scanner project is nearing completion and is expected to go into production soon. This scanner is owned by the Security Team that owns CyberArk. This finding should be prioritized first because it has the highest urgency, feasibility, and alignment with the Security Team’s goals. The vulnerability scanner is a critical security tool that needs to protect its credentials from unauthorized access. The Security Team can leverage their own expertise and authority to implement the Secrets Manager solution for this project without much delay or dependency.
• A large, high performance application under PCI DSS regulation will require many CPs. This will require a license purchase. The procurement process can take 6-12 months. The development team is eager to work with Security on this project. This finding should be prioritized second because it has a high impact, compliance requirement, and stakeholder support. The application handles sensitive payment card data that needs to be secured by the Secrets Manager solution. The development team is willing to collaborate with the Security Team on this project and can help with the technical aspects of the implementation. However, this finding also has a high cost and a long lead time due to the license purchase and the procurement process.
• A small, internally developed application under HIPPA regulation needs updates to the application code to retrieve secrets from a Secrets Manager solution. The development team stated they cannot accommodate this work before next quarter. This finding should be prioritized third because it has a moderate impact, compliance requirement, and feasibility. The application handles protected health information that needs to be secured by the Secrets Manager solution. The development team is aware of the need to update the application code to integrate with the Secrets Manager solution, but they have other priorities and constraints that prevent them from doing so in the near term.

Here's the reasoning behind this order:

1. New vulnerability scanner project:

This project directly impacts CyberArk's Security Team, making it a high priority due to potential internal security concerns. Additionally, its near-completion state suggests a quicker implementation timeframe.

2. Large application under PCI DSS:

While this application requires significant resources and time investment due to license purchase and development, its high performance and PCI DSS regulation compliance mandate prioritization. Delaying this project could potentially lead to security vulnerabilities and compliance issues.

3. Small application under HIPAA:

Although HIPAA regulation necessitates compliance, the application's size and development team's delay request suggest a lower priority compared to the previous two projects. However, it should still be addressed within the next quarter as mandated by the development team.

 Conjur Summon is an open source utility that can fetch secrets from Conjur and export them as environment variables to a sub-process environment. This way, the secrets are not exposed or stored in the script, but are only available at run time. To use Conjur Summon, you need to install the summon-conjur provider on each workstation, define the secrets in a secrets.yml file, and wrap the PowerShell script in summon. For example, if the secret ID is win/domain/cred, the secrets.yml file would look like this:

DOMAIN_CRED: !var win/domain/cred

And the summon command would look like this:

summon --provider summon-conjur powershell script.ps1

This will inject the secret value of win/domain/cred as an environment variable named DOMAIN_CRED to the PowerShell script. The script can then access the secret using the $env:DOMAIN_CRED syntax.

References: Summon-inject secrets, cyberark/summon-conjur

 Conjur uses TLS certificates for authentication between nodes and clients. These certificates are either self-signed by Conjur or imported from a third-party CA. All the certificates are stored in the /opt/conjur/etc/ssl directory from the Conjur containers. This directory contains the following files:

• ca.crt: The CA certificate used to verify all Conjur node certificates. This is either the self-signed Conjur CA certificate or the imported third-party CA certificate.
• server.crt: The server certificate used by the Conjur node for HTTPS and mTLS connections. This certificate contains the DNS names of the node and the load balancer in the CN and SAN fields.
• server.key: The private key corresponding to the server certificate.
• cert.pem: A symbolic link to the server certificate file.
• key.pem: A symbolic link to the server key file.

References: Certificate architecture, Certificate requirements, Rotate certificates

Learn more:

Conjur is a secrets management solution that securely stores and manages secrets and credentials used by applications, DevOps tools, and other systems. Conjur provides a REST API that enables users to perform various operations on Conjur objects, such as secrets, policies, roles, and resources. The API endpoint for each Conjur object is composed of the base URL of the Conjur server, followed by the object type and identifier. For example, the API endpoint for a secret named db-password in the dev/my-app policy is:

https:// /secrets/dev/my-app/db-password

To discover secrets inside of Conjur, the API endpoint that can be used is Resources. Resources are Conjur objects that have permissions and annotations associated with them, such as secrets, hosts, groups, and layers. The Resources API endpoint allows users to list, search, and filter resources based on various criteria, such as kind, owner, policy, and annotation. For example, the following API request will return a list of all secrets owned by the user alice:

https:// /resources?kind=variable&owner=user:alice

The Resources API endpoint can help users to discover secrets inside of Conjur by providing information such as the name, ID, policy, owner, and annotations of each secret. Users can also use the Resources API endpoint to check the permissions and audit records of each secret, and to retrieve the secret value if they have the read permission.

References = Conjur API; Resources API; Secrets API

According to the CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation, auto-failover is a feature that enables the automatic promotion of a standby node to a leader node in case of a leader failure. Auto-failover requires a quorum, which is a majority of nodes in the cluster that are available and synchronized. A quorum ensures that only one node can be promoted to a leader at a time and prevents split-brain scenarios. In the exhibit, each option shows a network diagram of a load balancer and four nodes, one of which is crossed out with a red X, indicating a leader failure. The text below each diagram indicates whether there is a quorum or not. Option C is the only example where auto-failover will occur, because there is a quorum of three out of four nodes, and one of the standby nodes can be promoted to a leader. Option A will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as only two out of four nodes are available. Option B will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as only one out of four nodes is available. Option D will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as none of the nodes are available. References: 1: Auto-failover 2: Configure auto-failover

This is the correct answer because the Conjur CLI is a tool that allows users to interact with the Conjur REST API from the command line. The Conjur CLI can be run on Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and macOS operating systems, as well as in Docker containers. The Conjur CLI can be installed using various methods, such as downloading the executable file, using a package manager, or pulling the Docker image. The Conjur CLI supports Conjur Enterprise 12.9 or later versions. This answer is based on the CyberArk Secrets Manager documentation1 and the CyberArk Secrets Manager training course2.

The other options are not true statements for the Conjur CLI. The Conjur CLI can be run from any machine that has network access to the Conjur server, not only from the Conjur Leader node. The Conjur Leader node is the node that performs read/write operations on the Conjur database and policy engine, and hosts the Conjur UI and API endpoints. The Conjur CLI is not required for working with the Conjur REST API, as users can also use other tools, such as curl, Postman, or web browsers, to send HTTP requests to the Conjur REST API. The Conjur CLI does implement the Conjur REST API for managing Conjur resources, such as roles, policies, secrets, and audit records. The Conjur CLI provides a set of commands that correspond to the Conjur REST API endpoints and allow users to perform various operations on the Conjur resources.

ServiceAccount and StatefulSet are two of the Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities, in addition to Namespace and Deployment. Conjur identities are the entities that can authenticate with Conjur and retrieve secrets from it. Conjur supports authenticating Kubernetes resources/objects using the Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator, which is a sidecar or init container that runs alongside the application container and injects the Conjur access token into a shared volume. The application container can then use the access token to fetch secrets from Conjur.

A ServiceAccount is a Kubernetes resource that represents an identity for processes that run in a pod. ServiceAccounts can be used to grant specific privileges and permissions to the pod, and to enable communication with the Kubernetes API server. A ServiceAccount can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the ServiceAccount name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the ServiceAccount token to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

A StatefulSet is a Kubernetes resource that manages the deployment and scaling of a set of pods, and provides guarantees about the ordering and uniqueness of these pods. StatefulSets are useful for applications that require stable and persistent identities, such as databases, message brokers, or distributed systems. A StatefulSet can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the StatefulSet name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the pod name and namespace to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

The other options are not valid Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities. Replica sets are a lower-level resource that are usually managed by higher-level resources such as Deployments or StatefulSets, and do not have their own identity or annotations. Secrets are a Kubernetes resource that store sensitive information such as passwords, tokens, or keys, and are not meant to be used as identities. Tokenreviews are a Kubernetes resource that are used to verify the validity of a ServiceAccount token, and are not meant to be used as identities either. References:

• Securing Secrets in Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “Conjur Kubernetes Authentication: A Hands-On Demonstration”
• GitHub - cyberark/secrets-provider-for-k8s: Cyberark secrets provider …, Section “Consuming Secrets from CyberArk Secrets Provider”
• Secure your Kubernetes-deployed applications with CyberArk Conjur, Section “How it works”
• Simplify and Improve Container Security Using New CyberArk Conjur …, Section “CyberArk Conjur Enterprise”
• Keeping Secrets Secure on Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “The Solution”

The correct process to upgrade the CCP Web Service is D. Uninstall and reinstall the CCP Web Service. The CCP Web Service is a component of the CyberArk Central Credential Provider (CCP) that enables applications to retrieve secrets from the CyberArk Vault using REST API calls. To upgrade the CCP Web Service, you need to first uninstall the existing CCP Web Service from the Windows Server Manager or the Control Panel, and then reinstall the CCP Web Service using the latest installation package from the CyberArk website. The installation package contains both the Credential Provider and the CCP Web Service components, and you need to run the AimWebService.msi file to install the CCP Web Service. You also need to make sure that the CCP Web Service has the correct configuration and permissions, and that the CyberArk CRL (Certificate Revocation List) is open from the CCP server.

The other options are not correct processes to upgrade the CCP Web Service. Running “sudo yum update aimprv” from the CLI is a command to update the Credential Provider on Linux, not the CCP Web Service on Windows. Double-clicking the Credential Provider installer executable and selecting upgrade is a process to upgrade the Credential Provider on Windows, not the CCP Web Service. Double-clicking the AimWebService.msi and selecting upgrade is not a valid option, as the CCP Web Service does not support an upgrade option, and you need to uninstall it first before reinstalling it. References =

• Upgrade the Central Credential Provider (CCP) - CyberArk, Section “Upgrade the Central Credential Provider (CCP)”
• Central Credential Provider web service configuration - CyberArk, Section “Central Credential Provider web service configuration”

The error message indicates that the authenticator webservice is not enabled on the Conjur server. To enable the authenticator, you need to modify the conjur.conf file in the /opt/conjur/etc directory and add the authenticator webservice ID to the CONJUR_AUTHENTICATORS environment variable. For example, if the authenticator webservice ID is authn-k8s/prd-cluster-01, you need to add it to the existing value of CONJUR_AUTHENTICATORS, separated by a comma. Then, you need to restart the Conjur service for the changes to take effect. This will enable the authenticator on the Conjur server and allow the Kubernetes application to authenticate to the Follower load balancer. References: Enable the Authenticator Webservice, Configure the Authenticator Webservice

The cause of the issue is A. The certificate based on the Follower DNS name is not present on the Leader. This means that the Leader does not have a certificate file that matches the Follower DNS name used in the seed request, and therefore cannot generate a valid seed file for the Follower. This results in a 500 error in the Seed Fetcher container log. To resolve the issue, you need to import a certificate with the Follower DNS name as the subject alt name on the Leader, and create a copy of the certificate file with a name that matches the Follower DNS name used in the seed request1.

• Create an authenticator policy for each authenticator and then load the policy to Conjur.
• Add each authenticator to conjur.yml using this format: .
• Execute evoke configuration apply.

Comprehensive Explanation: Authenticators are plugins that enable Conjur to authenticate requests from different types of clients, such as Kubernetes, Azure, or LDAP. To configure authenticators, you need to follow these steps:

• Create an authenticator policy for each authenticator and then load the policy to Conjur. This step defines the authenticator as a resource in Conjur and grants permissions to the users or hosts that can use it. You can use the policy templates provided by Conjur for each authenticator type, or create your own custom policy. For more information, see Define Authenticator Policy.
• Add each authenticator to conjur.yml using this format: . This step enables the authenticator service on the Conjur server and specifies the service ID that identifies the authenticator instance. The service ID must match the one used in the policy. For more information, see Enable Authenticators.
• Execute evoke configuration apply. This step applies the changes made to the conjur.yml file and restarts the Conjur service. This is necessary for the authenticator configuration to take effect. For more information, see Apply Configuration Changes.

References: The steps to configure authenticators are explained in detail in the Configure Authenticators section of the CyberArk Conjur Enterprise documentation. The image in the question is taken from the same source.

In the event of a Leader failure, you can perform a manual failover to promote one of the Standbys to be the new Leader. The manual failover process consists of the following steps:

• Suspend replication for all Standbys and Followers and identify the best failover candidate. This step ensures that no data is lost or corrupted during the failover process. The best failover candidate is the Standby with the most advanced replication timeline, which means it has the most up-to-date data from the Leader.
• Promote the failover candidate to be the new Leader. This step changes the role of the failover candidate from a Standby to a Leader, and updates its configuration accordingly. The new Leader can now accept write requests from clients and replicate data to other nodes.
• Restore replication. This step re-establishes the replication connections between the new Leader and the other nodes, and rebases the replication of the other Standbys and Followers to the new Leader. This ensures that all nodes have the same data and are in sync with the new Leader.

References: The manual failover configuration steps are explained in detail in the Configure Manual Failover section of the CyberArk Conjur Enterprise documentation. The image in the question is taken from the same source.