Question 535 of 720
CKS System Hardening Practice Question
Which THREE of the following are recommended practices for securing the etcd datastore?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often think disabling authentication (Option A) or enabling anonymous access (Option C) improves performance or simplifies setup, but the CKS exam strictly enforces that security controls like mTLS and authentication must never be weakened for any reason.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Bind etcd to localhost only if not required to be accessible from other nodes
Binding etcd to localhost (127.0.0.1) when it does not need to be accessed from other nodes restricts network exposure, reducing the attack surface. This is a fundamental network hardening practice that prevents unauthorized remote access to the etcd datastore, which stores all cluster state and secrets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable peer client cert authentication
Why it's wrong here
Peer authentication should be enabled to secure etcd cluster communication.
- ✓
Bind etcd to localhost only if not required to be accessible from other nodes
Why this is correct
Binding to localhost reduces the attack surface.
- ✗
Allow anonymous access to etcd for performance
Why it's wrong here
Anonymous access should be disabled to require authentication.
- ✓
Enable encryption at rest for etcd data
Why this is correct
Encryption at rest protects sensitive data stored in etcd.
- ✓
Use TLS for all etcd client-to-server communication
Why this is correct
TLS ensures data in transit is encrypted.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CKS practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CKS exam.
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