> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cloudanix.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Ensure Kubeconfig File Permissions Are Set Restrictive

### More Info:

Ensure that the kubelet.conf file has permissions of 644 or more restrictive

### Risk Level

Medium

### Address

Security

### Compliance Standards

* APRA CPS 234 (Australia)
* BSI C5 (Germany)
* Brazil LGPD
* CCPA / CPRA (California)
* CIS Critical Security Controls v8
* CIS EKS
* CMMC 2.0
* CSA Cloud Controls Matrix v4
* DPDPA
* Digital Operational Resilience Act (EU)
* Essential 8
* ISO/IEC 27017
* ISO/IEC 27018
* ISO/IEC 27701
* KSA PDPL
* MAS Technology Risk Management (Singapore)
* MITRE ATT\&CK (Cloud)
* NIS2 Directive
* NIST SP 800-171
* NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500
* SWIFT Customer Security Controls Framework
* Sarbanes-Oxley IT General Controls
* UK NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework

### Triage and Remediation

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Remediation">
    ### Remediation

    <AccordionGroup>
      <Accordion title="Manual Steps" defaultOpen="true">
        1. On every worker node, check the current permissions of the kubeconfig file:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c permissions=%a /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```

        2. If the permissions are more permissive than 644 (e.g., 664, 666, 600 is fine), set them to 644:
           ```bash theme={null}
           chmod 644 /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```

        3. Confirm the file is owned by the appropriate user and group (typically root:root). If needed, correct it:
           ```bash theme={null}
           chown root:root /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```

        4. Re-verify that the permissions are now 644 or more restrictive:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c permissions=%a /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Using kubectl">
        kubectl cannot modify file permissions on worker node hosts, including `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf`. This finding must be remediated directly on each worker node’s filesystem (host-level configuration); follow the Manual Steps section on those nodes to apply the fix.
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Automation">
        ```bash theme={null}
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
        #
        # Purpose: Ensure /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf permissions are 644 or more restrictive
        # Scope:   Run on every worker node (safe to re-run; idempotent)

        set -euo pipefail

        KUBECONFIG_PATH="/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf"
        DESIRED_MODE="644"

        echo "=== Kubelet kubeconfig permissions hardening ==="

        if [ ! -e "$KUBECONFIG_PATH" ]; then
          echo "File not found: $KUBECONFIG_PATH"
          echo "Nothing to change on this node."
          exit 0
        fi

        # Get current file mode (numeric, e.g., 600, 644)
        CURRENT_MODE="$(stat -c '%a' "$KUBECONFIG_PATH")"

        echo "Current permissions on $KUBECONFIG_PATH: $CURRENT_MODE"
        echo "Desired minimum permissions: $DESIRED_MODE"

        # Normalize to 3-digit modes for comparison
        pad_mode() {
          local m="$1"
          printf "%03d" "$m"
        }

        CMODE="$(pad_mode "$CURRENT_MODE")"
        DMODE="$(pad_mode "$DESIRED_MODE")"

        # If current mode is already equal or more restrictive than 644, no change.
        # "More restrictive" here means:
        #   - owner perms <= 6
        #   - group perms <= 4
        #   - other perms <= 4
        # We enforce that, and then set to 644 if it's more permissive than that.
        OWNER=${CMODE:0:1}
        GROUP=${CMODE:1:1}
        OTHER=${CMODE:2:1}

        CHANGE_NEEDED=false

        # If any class has permissions greater than allowed by 644, we must change.
        if [ "$OWNER" -gt "${DMODE:0:1}" ] || \
           [ "$GROUP" -gt "${DMODE:1:1}" ] || \
           [ "$OTHER" -gt "${DMODE:2:1}" ]; then
          CHANGE_NEEDED=true
        fi

        if ! $CHANGE_NEEDED; then
          echo "Permissions are already 644 or more restrictive. No change required."
        else
          echo "Updating permissions on $KUBECONFIG_PATH to $DESIRED_MODE"
          chmod "$DESIRED_MODE" "$KUBECONFIG_PATH"
        fi

        # Verification (same logic as audit, per node)
        echo "=== Verification ==="
        /bin/sh -c "if test -e '$KUBECONFIG_PATH'; then stat -c permissions=%a '$KUBECONFIG_PATH'; fi"
        ```
      </Accordion>
    </AccordionGroup>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Additional Reading:

* [https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/kubelet/](https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/kubelet/)