---
title: Verify Signed Kubernetes Artifacts
content_type: task
min-kubernetes-server-version: v1.26
weight: 420
---

<!-- overview -->

{{< feature-state state="beta" for_k8s_version="v1.26" >}}

## {{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

You will need to have the following tools installed:

- `cosign` ([install guide](https://docs.sigstore.dev/cosign/system_config/installation/))
- `curl` (often provided by your operating system)
- `jq` ([download jq](https://jqlang.github.io/jq/download/))

## Verifying binary signatures

The Kubernetes release process signs all binary artifacts (tarballs, SPDX files,
standalone binaries) by using cosign's keyless signing. To verify a particular
binary, retrieve it together with its signature and certificate:

```bash
URL=https://dl.k8s.io/release/v{{< skew currentPatchVersion >}}/bin/linux/amd64
BINARY=kubectl

FILES=(
    "$BINARY"
    "$BINARY.sig"
    "$BINARY.cert"
)

for FILE in "${FILES[@]}"; do
    curl -sSfL --retry 3 --retry-delay 3 "$URL/$FILE" -o "$FILE"
done
```

Then verify the blob by using `cosign verify-blob`:

```shell
cosign verify-blob "$BINARY" \
  --signature "$BINARY".sig \
  --certificate "$BINARY".cert \
  --certificate-identity krel-staging@k8s-releng-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer https://accounts.google.com
```

{{< note >}}
Cosign 2.0 requires the `--certificate-identity` and `--certificate-oidc-issuer` options.

To learn more about keyless signing, please refer to [Keyless Signatures](https://docs.sigstore.dev/cosign/signing/overview/).

Previous versions of Cosign required that you set `COSIGN_EXPERIMENTAL=1`.

For additional information, please refer to the [sigstore Blog](https://blog.sigstore.dev/cosign-2-0-released/)
{{< /note >}}

## Verifying image signatures

For a complete list of images that are signed please refer
to [Releases](/releases/download/).

Pick one image from this list and verify its signature using
the `cosign verify` command:

```shell
cosign verify registry.k8s.io/kube-apiserver-amd64:v{{< skew currentPatchVersion >}} \
  --certificate-identity krel-trust@k8s-releng-prod.iam.gserviceaccount.com \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer https://accounts.google.com \
  | jq .
```

### Verifying images for all control plane components

To verify all signed control plane images for the latest stable version
(v{{< skew currentPatchVersion >}}), please run the following commands:

```shell
curl -Ls "https://sbom.k8s.io/$(curl -Ls https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/release" \