Kubernetes Security Technical Implementation Guide

The Kubernetes Security Technical Implementation Guide (V2 R6) has 92 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

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Severity

Version

V2 · R6

CurrentPublished Wed Apr 01 2026

The Kubernetes admin kubeconfig must have file permissions set to 644 or more restrictive.

Kubernetes Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The Kubernetes admin kubeconfig must have file permissions set to 644 or more restrictive.

Description

Discussion Text

The Kubernetes admin kubeconfig files contain the arguments and settings for the Control Plane services. These services are controller and scheduler. If these files can be changed, the scheduler will be implementing the changes immediately.

New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist? and CKL vs CKLB.

Objective

V-242460

Rule

SV-242460r961863_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

CNTR-K8-003270

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

Review the permissions of the Kubernetes config files by using the command:

stat -c %a /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf
stat -c %a /etc/kubernetes/scheduler.conf
stat -c %a /etc/kubernetes/controller-manager.conf

If any of the files are have permissions more permissive than "644", this is a finding.

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

Change the permissions of the conf files to "644" by executing the command:

chmod 644 /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf 
chmod 644 /etc/kubernetes/scheduler.conf
chmod 644 /etc/kubernetes/controller-manager.conf

STIG check 76 of 92 in the Kubernetes STIG checklist

← Previous · V-242459The Kubernetes etcd must have file permissions set to 644 or more restrictive.Next · V-242461 →Kubernetes API Server audit logs must be enabled.