# What is Kubernetes Security?

> Kubernetes security is the practice of protecting the container orchestration platform — its API, control plane, workloads, and supply chain — and the applications it runs.

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## Content

Kubernetes automates the deployment and scaling of containers, which concentrates both management and risk in the control plane: the API server, etcd datastore, scheduler, and node agents. Security spans cluster hardening, RBAC, network policies, secrets, admission control, image provenance, pod isolation, and the nodes underneath.

### Key points

- **Control-plane protection:** Restrict API access, enforce RBAC and admission policies, encrypt etcd, and keep the dashboard and management endpoints off public networks.
- **Pod constraints:** Use least-privilege service accounts, network policies, restricted pod security standards, and read-only or minimal container permissions.
- **Important limitation:** Kubernetes defaults prioritize operability, not isolation — a default cluster is broadly permissive. Security also extends beyond the platform: vulnerable images, supply-chain compromise, and exposed node services bypass cluster controls entirely.

### Related terms

[Container security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/container-security/>) · [DevSecOps](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/devsecops/>) · [Software supply-chain security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/software-supply-chain-security/>) · [Shared responsibility model](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/shared-responsibility-model/>) · [Service account](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/service-account/>)

### Sources

[NIST SP 800-190, Application Container Security Guide](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/190/final) · [Kubernetes, Security Checklist](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/security/security-checklist/)

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