> ## 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 Kubelet Configuration File Should Have Permissions Set Restrictive

### More Info:

Ensure that the certificate authorities 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 kubelet configuration file:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c permissions=%a /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        2. On every worker node, set the kubelet configuration file permissions to 644:
           ```bash theme={null}
           chmod 644 /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        3. (Optional, if you want to restrict ownership as well) On every worker node, ensure the file is owned by root:
           ```bash theme={null}
           chown root:root /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        4. On every worker node, verify the permissions are now 644 or more restrictive:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c permissions=%a /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Using kubectl">
        kubectl cannot change file permissions on worker node files such as `/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml`; this must be fixed directly on each worker node’s host filesystem. Use the guidance in the **Manual Steps** section to update the permissions and verify the fix.
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Automation">
        ```bash theme={null}
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
        #
        # Purpose: Ensure kubelet config file permissions are set to 644 or more restrictive.
        # Scope  : Run on every worker node (and any control-plane nodes that also run kubelet).
        # Usage  : sudo /path/to/script.sh

        set -euo pipefail

        KUBELET_CONFIG="/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml"
        DESIRED_MODE="644"
        CHANGED=0

        echo "==> Checking kubelet config permissions on this node"

        if [ ! -e "${KUBELET_CONFIG}" ]; then
          echo "Kubelet config file not found at ${KUBELET_CONFIG}; nothing to change on this node."
        else
          current_mode="$(stat -c '%a' "${KUBELET_CONFIG}")"
          echo "Current mode for ${KUBELET_CONFIG}: ${current_mode}"

          # Only relax permissions if needed; chmod is idempotent even if already 644
          if [ "${current_mode}" != "${DESIRED_MODE}" ]; then
            echo "Updating permissions to ${DESIRED_MODE} on ${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
            chmod "${DESIRED_MODE}" "${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
            CHANGED=1
          else
            echo "Permissions already set to ${DESIRED_MODE}; no change needed."
          fi
        fi

        echo
        echo "==> Verifying result"

        if [ -e "${KUBELET_CONFIG}" ]; then
          stat -c 'permissions=%a path=%n' "${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
        else
          echo "Kubelet config file still not present at ${KUBELET_CONFIG}; verify kubelet configuration on this node."
        fi

        if [ "${CHANGED}" -eq 1 ]; then
          echo "Permissions were updated on this node."
        else
          echo "No permission changes were required on this node."
        fi
        ```
      </Accordion>
    </AccordionGroup>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Additional Reading:

* [https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/authentication/#x509-client-certs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/admin/authentication/#x509-client-certs)