> ## 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 Has Permissions Set Restrictive

### More Info:

Ensure that the kubelet configuration 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 OKE
* 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 permissions to 644 (owner read/write, group read, others read):
           ```bash theme={null}
           chmod 644 /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        3. (If your environment expects the legacy path as well) If `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json` exists, align its permissions too:
           ```bash theme={null}
           if [ -e /etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json ]; then
             chmod 644 /etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json
           fi
           ```

        4. On every worker node, verify the final permissions for the active kubelet config file:
           ```bash theme={null}
           stat -c permissions=%a /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
           ```

        5. (Optional) If you use `/etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json` for tooling or compatibility, verify its permissions as per the benchmark’s audit:
           ```bash theme={null}
           if test -e /etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json; then
             stat -c permissions=%a /etc/kubernetes/kubelet-config.json
           fi
           ```
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Using kubectl">
        kubectl cannot modify file permissions on node-local kubelet configuration files such as `/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml`; this must be fixed directly on every worker node via host-level access (for example, SSH). See the Manual Steps section for the exact commands to run on each node.
      </Accordion>

      <Accordion title="Automation">
        ```bash theme={null}
        #!/usr/bin/env bash
        #
        # Harden kubelet configuration file permissions on every worker node.
        # Target file: /var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml
        #
        # Usage:
        #   1) Copy this script to each worker node (e.g. /root/fix-kubelet-perms.sh)
        #   2) Run as root on every worker node:
        #        bash /root/fix-kubelet-perms.sh
        #   3) Safe to re-run; it is idempotent.

        set -euo pipefail

        KUBELET_CFG="/var/lib/kubelet/config.yaml"
        DESIRED_MODE="644"

        echo "=== Kubelet config permission hardening ==="
        echo "Target file: ${KUBELET_CFG}"
        echo

        if [ ! -e "${KUBELET_CFG}" ]; then
          echo "WARNING: ${KUBELET_CFG} does not exist on this node. Nothing to do."
          exit 0
        fi

        # Show current permissions
        current_mode="$(stat -c '%a' "${KUBELET_CFG}")" || {
          echo "ERROR: Failed to read current permissions for ${KUBELET_CFG}"
          exit 1
        }

        echo "Current permissions: ${current_mode}"

        # Apply fix only if needed
        if [ "${current_mode}" != "${DESIRED_MODE}" ]; then
          echo "Setting permissions to ${DESIRED_MODE} on ${KUBELET_CFG} ..."
          chmod "${DESIRED_MODE}" "${KUBELET_CFG}"
        else
          echo "Permissions already set to ${DESIRED_MODE}; no change needed."
        fi

        # Verification (mirrors benchmark audit intent)
        echo
        echo "=== Verifying permissions ==="
        verified_mode="$(stat -c 'permissions=%a' "${KUBELET_CFG}")" || {
          echo "ERROR: Verification failed; could not stat ${KUBELET_CFG}"
          exit 1
        }
        echo "Verification result: ${verified_mode}"

        # Parse out numeric mode for comparison
        verified_numeric="${verified_mode#permissions=}"

        if [ "${verified_numeric}" = "${DESIRED_MODE}" ]; then
          echo "SUCCESS: ${KUBELET_CFG} is now set to ${DESIRED_MODE} as required."
          exit 0
        else
          echo "ERROR: Expected permissions ${DESIRED_MODE} but found ${verified_numeric}"
          exit 2
        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)