kubernetes-hardening-podsecurity-exploit
- Repo stars 0
- Author repo skills-registry
Implementing Kubernetes Pod Security Standards
Overview
Pod Security Standards (PSS) define three levels of security policies -- Privileged, Baseline, and Restricted -- enforced by the Pod Security Admission (PSA) controller built into Kubernetes 1.25+. PSA replaces the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy and provides namespace-level enforcement with three modes: enforce, audit, and warn.
When to Use
- When deploying or configuring implementing kubernetes pod security standards capabilities in your environment
- When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
- When building or improving security architecture for this domain
- When conducting security assessments that require this implementation
Prerequisites
- Kubernetes cluster 1.25+ (PSA GA)
- kubectl configured with cluster-admin access
- Understanding of Linux capabilities and security contexts
Core Concepts
Three Security Profiles
| Profile | Purpose | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|
| Privileged | Unrestricted, system workloads | None |
| Baseline | Prevents known escalations | No hostNetwork, hostPID, hostIPC, privileged containers, dangerous capabilities |
| Restricted | Hardened best practices | Non-root, drop ALL caps, seccomp required, read-only rootfs recommended |
Three Enforcement Modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| enforce | Rejects pods that violate the policy |
| audit | Logs violations in audit log but allows pod |
| warn | Returns warning to user but allows pod |
Workflow
Step 1: Label Namespaces for PSA
# Restricted namespace - production workloads
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: production
labels:
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version: latest
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit-version: latest
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn-version: latest
# Baseline namespace - general workloads
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: staging
labels:
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: baseline
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version: latest
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit: restricted
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit-version: latest
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn: restricted
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn-version: latest
# Privileged namespace - system components only
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: kube-system
labels:
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: privileged
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version: latest
Step 2: Apply Labels to Existing Namespaces
# Apply restricted enforcement to production
kubectl label namespace production \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=restricted \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted \
--overwrite
# Apply baseline to staging with restricted warnings
kubectl label namespace staging \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=restricted \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted \
--overwrite
# Check labels on all namespaces
kubectl get namespaces -L pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce
Step 3: Create Compliant Pod Specs
# Restricted-compliant deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: secure-app
namespace: production
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: secure-app
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: secure-app
spec:
automountServiceAccountToken: false
securityContext:
runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 65534
runAsGroup: 65534
fsGroup: 65534
seccompProfile:
type: RuntimeDefault
containers:
- name: app
image: myregistry.com/myapp:v1.0.0@sha256:abc123
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
protocol: TCP
securityContext:
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
capabilities:
drop:
- ALL
runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 65534
resources:
requests:
memory: "64Mi"
cpu: "100m"
limits:
memory: "256Mi"
cpu: "500m"
volumeMounts:
- name: tmp
mountPath: /tmp
- name: cache
mountPath: /var/cache
volumes:
- name: tmp
emptyDir:
sizeLimit: 100Mi
- name: cache
emptyDir:
sizeLimit: 50Mi
Step 4: Gradual Migration Strategy
# Phase 1: Audit mode - discover violations without blocking
kubectl label namespace my-namespace \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=restricted \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted
# Check audit logs for violations
kubectl logs -n kube-system -l component=kube-apiserver | grep "pod-security"
# Phase 2: Enforce baseline, warn on restricted
kubectl label namespace my-namespace \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted \
--overwrite
# Phase 3: Full restricted enforcement
kubectl label namespace my-namespace \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted \
--overwrite
Step 5: Dry-Run Enforcement Testing
# Test what would happen with restricted enforcement
kubectl label --dry-run=server --overwrite namespace my-namespace \
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted
# Example output:
# Warning: existing pods in namespace "my-namespace" violate the new
# PodSecurity enforce level "restricted:latest"
# Warning: nginx-xxx: allowPrivilegeEscalation != false,
# unrestricted capabilities, runAsNonRoot != true, seccompProfile
Baseline Profile Restrictions
| Control | Restricted | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| HostProcess | Must not set | Pods cannot use Windows HostProcess |
| Host Namespaces | Must not set | No hostNetwork, hostPID, hostIPC |
| Privileged | Must not set | No privileged: true |
| Capabilities | Baseline list only | Only NET_BIND_SERVICE, drop ALL for restricted |
| HostPath Volumes | Must not use | No hostPath volume mounts |
| Host Ports | Must not use | No hostPort in container spec |
| AppArmor | Default/runtime | Cannot set to unconfined |
| SELinux | Limited types | Only container_t, container_init_t, container_kvm_t |
| /proc Mount Type | Default only | Must use Default proc mount |
| Seccomp | RuntimeDefault or Localhost | Must specify seccomp profile (restricted) |
| Sysctls | Safe set only | Limited to safe sysctls |
Validation Commands
# Verify namespace labels
kubectl get ns --show-labels | grep pod-security
# Test pod creation against policy
kubectl run test-pod --image=nginx --namespace=production --dry-run=server
# Check for violations in audit logs
kubectl get events --field-selector reason=FailedCreate -A
# Scan with Kubescape for PSS compliance
kubescape scan framework nsa --namespace production
References
- Pod Security Standards - Kubernetes
- Pod Security Admission - Kubernetes
- Migrate from PodSecurityPolicy
- Kubescape PSS Scanner
<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-05-22 -->Source: DCx7C5/ai-marketplace — distributed by TomeVault.
- Fluxly category
- DevOps
- Author-declared agents
- No explicit declaration found; this is not inferred or tested compatibility
- Static check
- 88 / 100 · heuristic scan, not runtime safety proof
- Author / version / license
- @tomevault-io · no license declared
- Fluxly token estimate
- Lean
- Fluxly setup estimate
- Plug-and-play
- External API key
- No requirement detected
- Detected OS requirements
- Linux · Windows
- Runtime requirements
- Unspecified
- Detected file/system behavior
-
- Read-only
- Write / modify
- Detected network behavior
- Local-only
- Install commands
- None (reference only)
Profile is derived at build time from SKILL.md and install vectors. Subject to drift from author intent.
Heads up: 未限定 allowed-tools,默认拥有全部工具权限。
The current SKILL.md does not define a fixed output example. Workflow
Step 1: Label Namespaces for PSA
Step 2: Apply Labels to Existing Namespaces
Step 3: Create Compliant Pod Specs
# Implementing Kubernetes Pod Security Standards
## Overview
Pod Security Standards (PSS) define three levels of security policies -- Privileged, Baseline, and Restricted -- enforced by the Pod Security Admission (PSA) controller built into Kubernetes 1.25+. PSA replaces the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy and provides namespace-level enforcement with three modes: enforce, audit, and warn.
## When to Use
- When deploying or configuring implementing kubernetes pod security standards capabilities in your environment
- When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
- When building or improving security architecture for this domain
- When conducting security assessments that require this implementation
## Prerequisites
- Kubernetes cluster 1.25+ (PSA GA)
- kubectl configured with cluster-admin access
- Understanding of Linux capabilities and security contexts
## Core Concepts
### Three Security Profiles
| Profile | Purpose | Restrictions |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| **Privileged** | Unrestricted, system workloads | None |
| **Baseline** | Prevents known escalations | No hostNetwork, hostPID, hostIPC, privileged containers, dangerous capabilities |
| **Restricted** | Hardened best practices | Non-root, drop ALL caps, seccomp required, read-only rootfs recommended |
### Three Enforcement Modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|------|----------|
| **enforce** | Rejects pods that violate the policy |
| **audit** | Logs violations in audit log but allows pod |
| **warn** | Returns warning to user but allows pod |
## Workflow
### Step 1: Label Namespaces for PSA
```yaml
# Restricted namespace - production workloads
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: production
labels:
pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted
… Author text anchors workflow facts; Fluxly only indexes current sections, terms, files, and commands.
sections -> Overview → When to Use → Prerequisites → Core Concepts → Three Security Profiles → Three Enforcement Modes
terms -> Privileged · Baseline · Restricted · enforce · audit · warn
files/cmd -> pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce · pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version · pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit · pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit-version · pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn · pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn-version · apps/v1 · myregistry.com/myapp
body sha256 -> 6eabc94c7539
Decide Fit First
Design Intent
How To Use It
Boundaries And Review