ECS task definition invalid CPU or memory

Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Security > IaC Security Rules > ECS task definition invalid CPU or memory

Metadata

Id: cloudformation-aws-ecs-task-definition-invalid-cpu-or-memory

Provider: AWS

Platform: CloudFormation

Severity: Low

Category: Resource Management

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Provider Reference

Description

Incorrect CPU or memory settings for AWS Fargate tasks can prevent containers from starting or cause insufficient or imbalanced resource allocation. This can lead to service downtime and degraded availability.

This rule checks AWS::ECS::Service resources with LaunchType set to FARGATE and their associated AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition container definitions:

ContainerDefinitions[].Cpu must be one of 256, 512, 1024, 2048, or 4096.
Memory must match allowed values per CPU:
- For Cpu=256, memory must be 512, 1024, or 2048.
- For Cpu=512, memory must be in the range 1024–4095.
- For Cpu=1024, memory must be in the range 2048–8191.
- For Cpu=2048, memory must be in the range 4096–16383.
- For Cpu=4096, memory must be in the range 8192–30719.

Resources missing these properties, with Cpu outside the allowed set, with Memory outside the mapped values, or (for non-256 CPU) with Memory not a multiple of 1024 will be flagged.

Secure example (valid Fargate task definition):

MyTaskDef:
  Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
  Properties:
    Family: my-task
    ContainerDefinitions:
      - Name: my-container
        Cpu: 512
        Memory: 2048

Compliant Code Examples

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09"
Description: A sample template
Resources:
  ECSService:
    Type: AWS::ECS::Service
    DependsOn:
      - Listener
    Properties:
      Role:
        Ref: ECSServiceRole
      TaskDefinition:
        Ref: ECSTaskDefinition
      DesiredCount: 1
      LoadBalancers:
        - TargetGroupArn:
            Ref: TargetGroup
          ContainerPort: 80
          ContainerName: sample-app
      Cluster:
        Ref: ECSCluster
      LaunchType: FARGATE
  taskdefinition:
    Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
    Properties:
      ContainerDefinitions:
        - Name:
            Ref: "AppName"
          MountPoints:
            - SourceVolume: "my-vol"
              ContainerPath: "/var/www/my-vol"
          Image: "amazon/amazon-ecs-sample"
          Cpu: 256
          PortMappings:
            - ContainerPort:
                Ref: "AppContainerPort"
              HostPort:
                Ref: "AppHostPort"
          EntryPoint:
            - "/usr/sbin/apache2"
            - "-D"
            - "FOREGROUND"
          Memory: 512
          Essential: true
      Volumes:
        - Host:
            SourcePath: "/var/lib/docker/vfs/dir/"
          Name: "my-vol"

Non-Compliant Code Examples

AWSTemplateFormatVersion: "2010-09-09"
Description: A sample template
Resources:
  ECSService:
    Type: AWS::ECS::Service
    DependsOn:
      - Listener
    Properties:
      Role:
        Ref: ECSServiceRole
      TaskDefinition:
        Ref: ECSTaskDefinition
      DesiredCount: 1
      LoadBalancers:
        - TargetGroupArn:
            Ref: TargetGroup
          ContainerPort: 80
          ContainerName: sample-app
      Cluster:
        Ref: ECSCluster
      LaunchType: FARGATE
  taskdefinition:
    Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
    Properties:
      ContainerDefinitions:
        - Name:
            Ref: "AppName"
          MountPoints:
            - SourceVolume: "my-vol"
              ContainerPath: "/var/www/my-vol"
          Image: "amazon/amazon-ecs-sample"
          Cpu: 256
          PortMappings:
            - ContainerPort:
                Ref: "AppContainerPort"
              HostPort:
                Ref: "AppHostPort"
          EntryPoint:
            - "/usr/sbin/apache2"
            - "-D"
            - "FOREGROUND"
          Memory: 4096
          Essential: true
      Volumes:
        - Host:
            SourcePath: "/var/lib/docker/vfs/dir/"
          Name: "my-vol"
  taskdefinition2:
    Type: AWS::ECS::TaskDefinition
    Properties:
      ContainerDefinitions:
        - Name:
            Ref: "AppName2"
          MountPoints:
            - SourceVolume: "my-vol"
              ContainerPath: "/var/www/my-vol"
          Image: "amazon/amazon-ecs-sample"
          Cpu: 100
          PortMappings:
            - ContainerPort:
                Ref: "AppContainerPort"
              HostPort:
                Ref: "AppHostPort"
          EntryPoint:
            - "/usr/sbin/apache2"
            - "-D"
            - "FOREGROUND"
          Memory: 4096
          Essential: true
      Volumes:
        - Host:
            SourcePath: "/var/lib/docker/vfs/dir/"
          Name: "my-vol"