---
title: Apply Pod Security Standards at the Cluster Level
content_type: tutorial
weight: 10
---

{{% alert title="Note" %}}
This tutorial applies only for new clusters.
{{% /alert %}}

Pod Security is an admission controller that carries out checks against the Kubernetes
[Pod Security Standards](/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-standards/) when new pods are
created. It is a feature GA'ed in v1.25.
This tutorial shows you how to enforce the `baseline` Pod Security
Standard at the cluster level which applies a standard configuration
to all namespaces in a cluster.

To apply Pod Security Standards to specific namespaces, refer to
[Apply Pod Security Standards at the namespace level](/docs/tutorials/security/ns-level-pss).

If you are running a version of Kubernetes other than v{{< skew currentVersion >}},
check the documentation for that version.

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

Install the following on your workstation:

- [kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/quick-start/#installation)
- [kubectl](/docs/tasks/tools/)

This tutorial demonstrates what you can configure for a Kubernetes cluster that you fully
control. If you are learning how to configure Pod Security Admission for a managed cluster
where you are not able to configure the control plane, read
[Apply Pod Security Standards at the namespace level](/docs/tutorials/security/ns-level-pss).

## Choose the right Pod Security Standard to apply

[Pod Security Admission](/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-admission/)
lets you apply built-in [Pod Security Standards](/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-standards/)
with the following modes: `enforce`, `audit`, and `warn`.

To gather information that helps you to choose the Pod Security Standards
that are most appropriate for your configuration, do the following:

1. Create a cluster with no Pod Security Standards applied:

   ```shell
   kind create cluster --name psa-wo-cluster-pss
   ```
   The output is similar to:
   ```
   Creating cluster "psa-wo-cluster-pss" ...
   ✓ Ensuring node image (kindest/node:v{{< skew currentPatchVersion >}}) 🖼
   ✓ Preparing nodes 📦
   ✓ Writing configuration 📜
   ✓ Starting control-plane 🕹️
   ✓ Installing CNI 🔌
   ✓ Installing StorageClass 💾
   Set kubectl context to "kind-psa-wo-cluster-pss"
   You can now use your cluster with:

   kubectl cluster-info --context kind-psa-wo-cluster-pss

   Thanks for using kind! 😊
   ```

1. Set the kubectl context to the new cluster:

   ```shell
   kubectl cluster-info --context kind-psa-wo-cluster-pss
   ```
   The output is similar to this:

   ```
   Kubernetes control plane is running at https://127.0.0.1:61350

   CoreDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:61350/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

   To further debug and diagnose cluster problems, use 'kubectl cluster-info dump'.
   ```

1. Get a list of namespaces in the cluster:

   ```shell
   kubectl get ns
   ```
   The output is similar to this:
   ```
   NAME                 STATUS   AGE
   default              Active   9m30s
   kube-node-lease      Active   9m32s
   kube-public          Active   9m32s
   kube-system          Active   9m32s
   local-path-storage   Active   9m26s
   ```

1. Use `--dry-run=server` to understand what happens when different Pod Security Standards
   are applied:

   1. Privileged
      ```shell
      kubectl label --dry-run=server --overwrite ns --all \
      pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged
      ```

      The output is similar to:
      ```
      namespace/default labeled
      namespace/kube-node-lease labeled
      namespace/kube-public labeled
      namespace/kube-system labeled
      namespace/local-path-storage labeled
      ```
   2. Baseline
      ```shell
      kubectl label --dry-run=server --overwrite ns --all \
      pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline
      ```

      The output is similar to:
      ```
      namespace/default labeled
      namespace/kube-node-lease labeled
      namespace/kube-public labeled
      Warning: existing pods in namespace "kube-system" violate the new PodSecurity enforce level "baseline:latest"
      Warning: etcd-psa-wo-cluster-pss-control-plane (and 3 other pods): host namespaces, hostPath volumes
      Warning: kindnet-vzj42: non-default capabilities, host namespaces, hostPath volumes
      Warning: kube-proxy-m6hwf: host namespaces, hostPath volumes, privileged
      namespace/kube-system labeled
      namespace/local-path-storage labeled
      ```

   3. Restricted
      ```shell
      kubectl label --dry-run=server --overwrite ns --all \
      pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted
      ```

      The output is similar to:
      ```
      namespace/default labeled
      namespace/kube-node-lease labeled
      namespace/kube-public labeled
      Warning: existing pods in namespace "kube-system" violate the new PodSecurity enforce level "restricted:latest"
      Warning: coredns-7bb9c7b568-hsptc (and 1 other pod): unrestricted capabilities, runAsNonRoot != true, seccompProfile
      Warning: etcd-psa-wo-cluster-pss-control-plane (and 3 other pods): host namespaces, hostPath volumes, allowPrivilegeEscalation != false, unrestricted capabilities, restricted volume types, runAsNonRoot != true
      Warning: kindnet-vzj42: non-default capabilities, host namespaces, hostPath volumes, allowPrivilegeEscalation != false, unrestricted capabilities, restricted volume types, runAsNonRoot != true, seccompProfile
      Warning: kube-proxy-m6hwf: host namespaces, hostPath volumes, privileged, allowPrivilegeEscalation != false, unrestricted capabilities, restricted volume types, runAsNonRoot != true, seccompProfile
      namespace/kube-system labeled
      Warning: existing pods in namespace "local-path-storage" violate the new PodSecurity enforce level "restricted:latest"
      Warning: local-path-provisioner-d6d9f7ffc-lw9lh: allowPrivilegeEscalation != false, unrestricted capabilities, runAsNonRoot != true, seccompProfile
      namespace/local-path-storage labeled
      ```

From the previous output, you'll notice that applying the `privileged` Pod Security Standard shows no warnings
for any namespaces. However, `baseline` and `restricted` standards both have
warnings, specifically in the `kube-system` namespace.

## Set modes, versions and standards

In this section, you apply the following Pod Security Standards to the `latest` version:

* `baseline` standard in `enforce` mode.
* `restricted` standard in `warn` and `audit` mode.

The `baseline` Pod Security Standard provides a convenient
middle ground that allows keeping the exemption list short and prevents known
privilege escalations.

Additionally, to prevent pods from failing in `kube-system`, you'll exempt the namespace
from having Pod Security Standards applied.

When you implement Pod Security Admission in your own environment, consider the
following:

1. Based on the risk posture applied to a cluster, a stricter Pod Security
   Standard like `restricted` might be a better choice.
1. Exempting the `kube-system` namespace allows pods to run as
   `privileged` in this namespace. For real world use, the Kubernetes project
   strongly recommends that you apply strict RBAC
   policies that limit access to `kube-system`, following the principle of least
   privilege.
   To implement the preceding standards, do the following:
1. Create a configuration file that can be consumed by the Pod Security
   Admission Controller to implement these Pod Security Standards:

   ```
   mkdir -p /tmp/pss
   cat <<EOF > /tmp/pss/cluster-level-pss.yaml
   apiVersion: apiserver.config.k8s.io/v1
   kind: AdmissionConfiguration
   plugins:
   - name: PodSecurity
     configuration:
       apiVersion: pod-security.admission.config.k8s.io/v1
       kind: PodSecurityConfiguration
       defaults:
         enforce: "baseline"
         enforce-version: "latest"
         audit: "restricted"
         audit-version: "latest"
         warn: "restricted"
         warn-version: "latest"
       exemptions:
         usernames: []
         runtimeClasses: []
         namespaces: [kube-system]
   EOF
   ```

   {{< note >}}
   `pod-security.admission.config.k8s.io/v1` configuration requires v1.25+.
   For v1.23 and v1.24, use [v1beta1](https://v1-24.docs.kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/enforce-standards-admission-controller/).
   For v1.22, use [v1alpha1](https://v1-22.docs.kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/enforce-standards-admission-controller/).
   {{< /note >}}


1. Configure the API server to consume this file during cluster creation:

   ```
   cat <<EOF > /tmp/pss/cluster-config.yaml
   kind: Cluster
   apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
   nodes:
   - role: control-plane
     kubeadmConfigPatches:
     - |
       kind: ClusterConfiguration
       apiServer:
           extraArgs:
             admission-control-config-file: /etc/config/cluster-level-pss.yaml
           extraVolumes:
             - name: accf
               hostPath: /etc/config
               mountPath: /etc/config
               readOnly: false
               pathType: "DirectoryOrCreate"
     extraMounts:
     - hostPath: /tmp/pss
       containerPath: /etc/config
       # optional: if set, the mount is read-only.
       # default false
       readOnly: false
       # optional: if set, the mount needs SELinux relabeling.
       # default false
       selinuxRelabel: false
       # optional: set propagation mode (None, HostToContainer or Bidirectional)
       # see https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/storage/volumes/#mount-propagation
       # default None
       propagation: None
   EOF
   ```

   {{<note>}}
   If you use Docker Desktop with *kind* on macOS, you can
   add `/tmp` as a Shared Directory under the menu item
   **Preferences > Resources > File Sharing**.
   {{</note>}}

1. Create a cluster that uses Pod Security Admission to apply
   these Pod Security Standards:

   ```shell
   kind create cluster --name psa-with-cluster-pss --config /tmp/pss/cluster-config.yaml
   ```
   The output is similar to this:
   ```
   Creating cluster "psa-with-cluster-pss" ...
    ✓ Ensuring node image (kindest/node:v{{< skew currentPatchVersion >}}) 🖼
    ✓ Preparing nodes 📦
    ✓ Writing configuration 📜
    ✓ Starting control-plane 🕹️
    ✓ Installing CNI 🔌
    ✓ Installing StorageClass 💾
   Set kubectl context to "kind-psa-with-cluster-pss"
   You can now use your cluster with:

   kubectl cluster-info --context kind-psa-with-cluster-pss

   Have a question, bug, or feature request? Let us know! https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/#community 🙂
   ```

1. Point kubectl to the cluster:
   ```shell
   kubectl cluster-info --context kind-psa-with-cluster-pss
   ```
   The output is similar to this:
   ```
   Kubernetes control plane is running at https://127.0.0.1:63855
   CoreDNS is running at https://127.0.0.1:63855/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

   To further debug and diagnose cluster problems, use 'kubectl cluster-info dump'.
   ```

1. Create a Pod in the default namespace:

    {{% code_sample file="security/example-baseline-pod.yaml" %}}

   ```shell
   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/security/example-baseline-pod.yaml
   ```

   The pod is started normally, but the output includes a warning:
   ```
   Warning: would violate PodSecurity "restricted:latest": allowPrivilegeEscalation != false (container "nginx" must set securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation=false), unrestricted capabilities (container "nginx" must set securityContext.capabilities.drop=["ALL"]), runAsNonRoot != true (pod or container "nginx" must set securityContext.runAsNonRoot=true), seccompProfile (pod or container "nginx" must set securityContext.seccompProfile.type to "RuntimeDefault" or "Localhost")
   pod/nginx created
   ```

## Clean up

Now delete the clusters which you created above by running the following command:

```shell
kind delete cluster --name psa-with-cluster-pss
```
```shell
kind delete cluster --name psa-wo-cluster-pss
```

## {{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

- Run a
  [shell script](/examples/security/kind-with-cluster-level-baseline-pod-security.sh)
  to perform all the preceding steps at once:
  1. Create a Pod Security Standards based cluster level Configuration
  2. Create a file to let API server consume this configuration
  3. Create a cluster that creates an API server with this configuration
  4. Set kubectl context to this new cluster
  5. Create a minimal pod yaml file
  6. Apply this file to create a Pod in the new cluster
- [Pod Security Admission](/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-admission/)
- [Pod Security Standards](/docs/concepts/security/pod-security-standards/)
- [Apply Pod Security Standards at the namespace level](/docs/tutorials/security/ns-level-pss/)