> ## 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 Ownership Is Set Root

### More Info:

Ensure that the certificate authorities file ownership is set to root:root.

### Risk Level

Low

### 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 ownership of the kubelet configuration file:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c %U:%G /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        2. On every worker node, set the ownership of the kubelet configuration file to root:root:
           ```bash theme={null}
           sudo chown root:root /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        3. On every worker node, re-verify the ownership matches root:root:
           ```bash theme={null}
           /bin/sh -c 'if test -e /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml; then stat -c %U:%G /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml; fi'
           ```
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Using kubectl">
        kubectl cannot modify ownership or permissions of host-level files such as `/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml`; this must be fixed directly on every worker node via the operating system. Refer to the Manual Steps section for the exact commands to run over SSH on each node.
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Automation">
        ```bash theme={null}
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
        #
        # Remediation: Ensure kubelet configuration file ownership is set to root:root
        # Scope: Run on every worker node (and any control plane node that also runs kubelet)
        # Safe to re-run (idempotent)

        set -euo pipefail

        KUBELET_CONFIG="/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml"

        echo "[-] Checking for kubelet config file at ${KUBELET_CONFIG}"

        if ! [ -e "${KUBELET_CONFIG}" ]; then
          echo "[!] File not found: ${KUBELET_CONFIG}  (nothing to do on this node)"
          exit 0
        fi

        current_owner_group="$(stat -c '%U:%G' "${KUBELET_CONFIG}")"

        echo "[-] Current ownership: ${KUBELET_CONFIG} -> ${current_owner_group}"

        # Apply remediation only if needed
        if [ "${current_owner_group}" != "root:root" ]; then
          echo "[-] Setting ownership to root:root on ${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
          chown root:root "${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
        else
          echo "[-] Ownership already correct, no change required"
        fi

        # Verification step (mirrors the audit command)
        verify_owner_group="$(stat -c '%U:%G' "${KUBELET_CONFIG}")"
        echo "[-] Post-change ownership: ${KUBELET_CONFIG} -> ${verify_owner_group}"

        if [ "${verify_owner_group}" != "root:root" ]; then
          echo "[ERROR] Failed to set ownership to root:root on ${KUBELET_CONFIG}"
          exit 1
        fi

        echo "[OK] Kubelet configuration file ownership is correctly set to root:root"
        ```
      </Accordion>
    </AccordionGroup>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Additional Reading:

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