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Concepts

Least privilege in OpenShift: securing your cluster with RBAC and SCCs

Andrios Robert

• 1 min read

Least privilege in OpenShift is not optional. It is the foundation of a secure, stable cluster. It forces every process, service account, and human user to run only with the permissions they truly need—no more.

OpenShift gives you Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Security Context Constraints (SCCs) to enforce least privilege. RBAC defines what actions a subject can take on which resources. SCCs define the security settings under which pods run, such as whether they can run as root or mount host paths. Used together, they shrink the attack surface and slow the blast radius of any compromise.

To apply least privilege in OpenShift, start with a deny-by-default policy. Grant roles only for specific resources and verbs. Bind them to service accounts or users who require those permissions for a defined workload. Audit role bindings monthly. Remove stale or unused accounts.

Lock down SCCs. Avoid anyuid unless absolutely necessary. Use restricted as the default. Require explicit approval for elevated constraints. Review pod specs for unnecessary capabilities or volume mounts.

For automation, apply permissions through GitOps or CI/CD pipelines. This ensures changes are version-controlled and peer-reviewed. Avoid manual grants in production clusters.

Track and verify compliance. Use oc policy who-can to see who has specific permissions. Query your cluster for pods running outside of restricted SCC. Integrate with audit logging and monitoring to detect privilege escalation attempts in real time.

Least privilege in OpenShift is not a one-time setup. It is a living guardrail. Every deployment, every upgrade, every new service is another point to check.

Your cluster is only as strong as its weakest role binding. Test it. Cut permissions that aren’t needed. Enforce SCCs. Keep the blast radius as close to zero as possible.

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