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The Kubernetes API server must have the ValidatingAdmissionWebhook enabled.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-242436CNTR-K8-002000SV-242436r961359_ruleCCI-002263high
Description
Enabling the admissions webhook allows for Kubernetes to apply policies against objects that are to be created, read, updated, or deleted. By applying a pod security policy, control can be given to not allow images to be instantiated that run as the root user. If pods run as the root user, the pod then has root privileges to the host system and all the resources it has. An attacker can use this to attack the Kubernetes cluster. By implementing a policy that does not allow root or privileged pods, the pod users are limited in what the pod can do and access.
STIGDate
Kubernetes Security Technical Implementation Guide2025-05-16

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 4 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (11) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

DCH-05Cybersecurity & Data Protection Attributes
1.00
HRS-02Position Categorization
1.00
HRS-11Separation of Duties (SoD)
1.00
IAC-01Identity & Access Management (IAM)
1.00
IAC-01.2Authenticate, Authorize and Audit (AAA)
1.00
IAC-02Identification & Authentication for Organizational Users
1.00
IAC-03Identification & Authentication for Non-Organizational Users
1.00
IAC-04Identification & Authentication for Devices
1.00
IAC-05Identification & Authentication for Third-Party Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS)
1.00
IAC-08Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
1.00

+1 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-16Security and Privacy Attributes
1.00
CCI1 mapping
CCI-002263
1.00
NIST CSF 2.00 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (1) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

PR.AA-05
1.00

Who does this work

8 NICE work roles and 6 EC-Council certifications.

This is an inference across published mappings, not a single claim by anyone. This check maps to a control, which maps to a Cybersecurity Framework outcome, which NIST assigns to the work roles below. EC-Council separately maps its certifications to those same roles.

A certification prepares someone for a role. It is not evidence that a holder is qualified, and neither NIST nor EC-Council has stated that any certification here addresses this check.

Work-role assignments published by NIST (NICE Framework Components 2.2.0 and the CSF 2.0 OLIR crosswalk). Certification mappings published by EC-Council.

Details

Check Text (C-242436r961359_chk)

Prior to version 1.21, to enforce security policiesPod Security Policies (psp) were used. Those are now deprecated and will be removed from version 1.25. Migrate from PSP to PSA: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/migrate-from-psp/ Pre-version 1.25 Check: Change to the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Run the command: grep -i ValidatingAdmissionWebhook * If a line is not returned that includes enable-admission-plugins and ValidatingAdmissionWebhook, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-45669r863897_fix)

Edit the Kubernetes API Server manifest file in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Set the argument "--enable-admission-plugins" to include "ValidatingAdmissionWebhook". Each enabled plugin is separated by commas. Note: It is best to implement policies first and then enable the webhook, otherwise a denial of service may occur.