Access to your Kubernetes cluster should never be permanent.
Every standing privilege is a target. Attackers know it. Internal misconfigurations exploit it. Once a credential exists without an expiry, it becomes an open door. Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) removes that door entirely. It means no user, service account, or tool has cluster access until it is explicitly granted — and only for the precise amount of time required.
Kubernetes access control has matured with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and fine-grained permissions, but these are static by default. Static means risk. ZSP turns static into ephemeral. Credentials are created just-in-time (JIT) and destroyed automatically after use. This approach cuts the blast radius of any breach down to minutes instead of months.
The path to Zero Standing Privilege in Kubernetes involves:
- Removing all permanent kubeconfig files containing admin or edit roles
- Using short-lived tokens tied to specific roles through RBAC
- Automating credential provisioning via an access broker or API gateway
- Integrating audit logs to confirm access expiration and detect anomalies
- Enforcing identity verification before every access grant
Kubernetes ZSP shifts security from passive defense to active control. Instead of trusting that unused accounts stay unused, it eliminates them outright until authorized activity occurs. This protects clusters from compromised developer machines, stale CI/CD tokens, and third-party integrations that linger.
Compliance frameworks increasingly demand proof of least privilege. Zero Standing Privilege is the purest implementation of least privilege in Kubernetes. Paired with strong identity and logging, it gives you measurable control over who touches your cluster, when, and for how long.
Security is not just about stopping attackers — it’s about removing what they can attack. Zero Standing Privilege for Kubernetes is minimal, verifiable, and enforceable.
See how hoop.dev implements Kubernetes Zero Standing Privilege and watch it run in minutes.