> ## 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 Kubeconfig File Ownership Is Set To root:root

### More Info:

The kubelet kubeconfig file ownership should be set to root:root so that only the root user can read or modify the kubelet credentials and cluster connection settings.

### Risk Level

Medium

### Address

Security

### Compliance Standards

* CIS EKS

### Triage and Remediation

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

    <AccordionGroup>
      <Accordion title="Manual Steps" defaultOpen="true">
        1. On every worker node, confirm the kubelet kubeconfig file exists:
           ```bash theme={null}
           sudo ls -l /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```

        2. On every worker node, set the ownership of the kubelet kubeconfig file to root:root:
           ```bash theme={null}
           sudo chown root:root /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```

        3. On every worker node, verify the ownership is correctly set (passes when output is `root:root`):
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c %U:%G /etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf
           ```
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Using kubectl">
        kubectl cannot modify file ownership on the worker node filesystem where `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf` resides; this must be fixed directly on every worker node via host-level commands. Refer to the Manual Steps section for the SSH-based procedure to change ownership and verify the fix.
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Automation">
        ```bash theme={null}
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
        #
        # Automation: Ensure Kubelet kubeconfig file ownership is set to root:root
        # Scope: Run on every worker node (as root). Safe to re-run.

        set -euo pipefail

        KUBELET_KUBECONFIG="/etc/kubernetes/kubelet.conf"

        echo "==> Checking for kubelet kubeconfig at ${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}"

        if [ ! -e "${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}" ]; then
          echo "Kubelet kubeconfig not found at ${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}, nothing to change on this node."
          exit 0
        fi

        current_owner="$(stat -c '%U:%G' "${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}")"

        echo "Current ownership: ${current_owner}"

        if [ "${current_owner}" != "root:root" ]; then
          echo "Changing ownership to root:root ..."
          chown root:root "${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}"
        else
          echo "Ownership already set to root:root, no change needed."
        fi

        echo "==> Verifying ownership"

        verify_owner="$(stat -c '%U:%G' "${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}")"
        echo "Verified ownership: ${verify_owner}"

        if [ "${verify_owner}" != "root:root" ]; then
          echo "ERROR: Failed to set ownership to root:root on ${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG}" >&2
          exit 1
        fi

        echo "SUCCESS: ${KUBELET_KUBECONFIG} ownership is root:root"
        ```
      </Accordion>
    </AccordionGroup>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>