Skills mtls-configuration
๐Ÿ“ฆ

mtls-configuration

Content revision r2 High Risk โš™๏ธ External commands๐ŸŒ Network access

Configure Mutual TLS for Service Meshes

Service-to-service encryption is difficult to configure consistently across mesh platforms. This skill provides mTLS templates, certificate guidance, verification commands, and troubleshooting steps.

Supports: Claude Codex Code(CC)
โš ๏ธ 38 Poor

Install with my Agent

Copy this request to your Agent. It includes the canonical Skill page and manifest.

Agent request
Review the Skillstore skill "mtls-configuration" from https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration.md and its manifest at https://skillstore.io/api/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/manifest. Verify the artifact. Stop and obtain explicit user consent before installing or changing files.

Your Agent should still show its plan and request any confirmation required by the security policy.

Agent-readable resources

Use these links when an AI agent, crawler, or script needs clean context instead of reading the full page.

Test it

Using "mtls-configuration". Enable strict Istio mTLS for the payments namespace.

Expected outcome:

  • A namespace policy that requires mutual TLS.
  • A staged migration plan from permissive mode.
  • Verification commands for authentication policy and proxy state.

Using "mtls-configuration". Investigate failed calls between two Linkerd workloads.

Expected outcome:

  • Identity and edge checks for both workloads.
  • Proxy log checks for certificate and handshake errors.
  • A concise list of likely causes and corrective actions.

Using "mtls-configuration". Plan short-lived certificates for an Istio workload.

Expected outcome:

A certificate lifecycle plan covering issuance, renewal, expiry alerts, CA trust, rotation testing, and recovery procedures.

Security Audit

High Risk
v6 โ€ข 8/4/2026 Open versioned report

Most static alerts are false positives caused by Markdown fences, example paths, placeholders, and reference links. The review confirms an all-interface bind and identifies unsafe mTLS bypass examples and insufficient CA key protection guidance.

1
Files scanned
368
Lines analyzed
1
Review items
0
False positives ignored

Confirmed security concerns (2)

High
mTLS Bypass Examples Lack Compensating Controls
Examples permit plaintext mesh traffic and bypass Linkerd TLS without requiring authorization, network isolation, monitoring, or a removal deadline.
The examples explicitly use PERMISSIVE, DISABLE, and skip-outbound-ports settings. These settings can allow traffic outside mutual authentication.
High
CA Signing Key Protection Is Underspecified
The template places CA signing material in a standard Kubernetes Secret without guidance for encryption, strict access control, auditing, or external key storage.
The example creates a CA issuer backed by a Secret containing tls.key. Compromise of that key can undermine the mesh trust domain.
Capability review items (1)

These are real local capabilities that may be expected for this skill, so they require review but are not counted as confirmed malicious behavior.

Medium
Hardcoded IP address
bind_address = "0.0.0.0"
The SPIRE server example binds to 0.0.0.0, exposing the service on every interface unless external controls restrict access.
Audited by: codex View Audit History โ†’
Share & cite this report

Share the versioned assessment report, neutral badge, embed card, and citations. Skillstore reports evidence without deciding whether this Skill is safe.

Open versioned report
Security Assessment

Copy report link

https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/audits/6?utm_source=security_passport&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=versioned_report

Markdown badge

[![Skillstore security assessment](https://skillstore.io/badges/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/security.svg)](https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration?utm_source=security_passport_badge)

HTML badge

<a href="https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration?utm_source=security_passport_badge"><img src="https://skillstore.io/badges/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/security.svg" alt="Skillstore security assessment" loading="lazy"></a>

Embed card

<iframe src="https://skillstore.io/embed/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration.html" title="Skillstore Security Assessment" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" width="420" height="180"></iframe>
Academic citations (APA ยท BibTeX ยท CFF)

APA citation

sickn33. (2026). mtls-configuration security audit report (audit version 6) [Author version unspecified]. Skillstore. https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/audits/6

BibTeX citation

@techreport{sickn33-sickn33-mtls-configuration-2026, author = {sickn33}, title = {mtls-configuration security audit report (audit version 6)}, institution = {Skillstore}, year = {2026}, number = {6}, url = {https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/audits/6}, note = {Author version unspecified} }

CITATION.cff

cff-version: 1.2.0 message: "If you use this Skill, cite its author and this versioned security audit report." title: "mtls-configuration security audit report (audit version 6)" version: "unspecified" type: report authors: - name: "sickn33" date-released: "2026-08-04" url: "https://skillstore.io/skills/sickn33-mtls-configuration/audits/6" identifiers: - type: other value: "skillstore:sickn33-mtls-configuration:audit:6" description: "Skillstore immutable audit report identifier"

Compare variants

2 installable variants

Each author remains a separate installable skill. The recommended variant is ranked by Skillstore evidence.

Why this variant is first

Highest Skillstore Score
wshobson Recommended

wshobson-mtls-configuration

Skillstore Score 78
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 9
Updated

2026-08-21

sickn33 Current

sickn33-mtls-configuration

Skillstore Score 38
Evidence Confidence Medium
Skillstore usage 11
Updated

2026-08-21

Skillstore Score

Why this score Evidence Confidence: Medium
55
Architecture
85
Maintainability
87
Content
69
Community
91
Spec Compliance

What You Can Build

Enforce Istio mTLS

Create strict mesh and workload authentication policies with controlled migration settings.

Operate Workload Certificates

Plan certificate issuance, renewal, rotation, and trust hierarchy for Kubernetes services.

Diagnose TLS Failures

Inspect mesh policies, proxy certificates, identities, logs, and service connections.

Try These Prompts

Explain mTLS
Explain mutual TLS for two Kubernetes services. Describe identity verification, certificate trust, and encrypted communication.
Create an Istio Policy
Create an Istio strict mTLS policy for namespace [namespace] and workload [workload]. Include verification steps and rollback guidance.
Plan Certificate Rotation
Design certificate rotation for [platform] with [certificate lifetime]. Include renewal timing, monitoring, failure handling, and CA rotation.
Review a Multi-Cluster Design
Review this multi-cluster mTLS design: [design]. Identify trust boundaries, bypasses, key risks, observability gaps, and validation tests.

Best Practices

  • Start migration in permissive mode, measure plaintext traffic, then enforce strict mode with a deadline.
  • Use short-lived workload certificates and monitor renewal failures before expiration.
  • Protect CA keys with strong access controls, encryption, auditing, and regular rotation.

Avoid

  • Do not disable mutual TLS on production ports without documented compensating controls.
  • Do not store real private keys in prompts, repositories, logs, or unencrypted configuration.
  • Do not apply generic templates before validating identities, ports, namespaces, and trust boundaries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is mutual TLS?
Mutual TLS encrypts a connection and requires both peers to present trusted certificates.
Which service meshes are covered?
The skill provides examples for Istio and Linkerd, plus SPIFFE and SPIRE integration guidance.
Does the skill generate certificates?
No. It provides configuration patterns and operational guidance for certificate issuance and rotation.
Can I use the templates unchanged?
No. Replace example namespaces, identities, paths, domains, ports, and policy exceptions before deployment.
How should private keys be handled?
Use protected key storage, strict access control, encryption, auditing, and rotation. Never place real keys in prompts.
How do I verify mTLS?
Inspect mesh authentication policies, proxy identities, certificate validity, connection edges, and TLS-related logs.

Developer Details

Author

sickn33

License

MIT

Skillstore revision

r2

Version notice

The author did not declare a version.

Ref

81e05e636292629114b76cbb3922fbe57672fc02

Maintenance freshness

8/5/2026

Usage

8 downloads ยท 103 views

File structure

๐Ÿ“„ SKILL.md

More from sickn33

View all
View all