GKE RBAC Wildcard Elevation on Existing Role

[metadata]
creation_date = "2026/07/07"
integration = ["gcp"]
maturity = "production"
updated_date = "2026/07/07"

[rule]
author = ["Elastic"]
description = """
Flags an existing GKE Role or ClusterRole being changed (patch or update) so the effective rules become
cluster-admin-like: wildcard on every API resource and wildcard on every verb. That is usually a deliberate privilege
expansion, not a typo. GKE audit logs with response body capture are required so the detection reads the merged role
after apply; loopback source IPs are ignored.
"""
false_positives = [
    """
    Platform installers, GitOps controllers, and emergency break-glass roles sometimes ship or widen wildcard
    ClusterRoles; correlate with change records and narrow by user or service account when baselined.
    """,
]
from = "now-6m"
index = ["logs-gcp.audit-*"]
language = "kuery"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "GKE RBAC Wildcard Elevation on Existing Role"
note = """## Triage and analysis

### Investigating GKE RBAC Wildcard Elevation on Existing Role

Someone patched or updated a Role or ClusterRole so the stored rules grant star verbs and star resources—near
cluster-admin breadth on that scope. Confirm the actor (user.email, groups), client, and non-loopback source IP;
then see who can bind that role.

### Possible investigation steps

- Diff the role YAML before and after; list RoleBindings and ClusterRoleBindings that reference it and which subjects
  gained the widened access.
- Review `gcp.audit.resource_name`, `gcp.audit.response.rules.verbs`, and `gcp.audit.response.rules.resources`.
- In the same window, check secret reads, exec, and further RBAC changes from the same identity.

### False positive analysis

- Approved GitOps or vendor upgrades sometimes widen a known ClusterRole; allowlist stable automation when documented.

### Response and remediation

- Revert the role, drop unexpected bindings, rotate credentials for the actor, and block future wildcard RBAC outside
  governed pipelines (policy-as-code, PR-only RBAC).

## Setup

The GCP Fleet integration with GKE audit logs enabled is required to be compatible with this rule."""
references = [
    "https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/",
]
risk_score = 73
rule_id = "563a38e9-9790-4a6a-8889-24d26055b832"
severity = "high"
tags = [
    "Domain: Cloud",
    "Domain: Kubernetes",
    "Data Source: GCP",
    "Data Source: Google Cloud Platform",
    "Use Case: Threat Detection",
    "Tactic: Privilege Escalation",
    "Resources: Investigation Guide",
]
timestamp_override = "event.ingested"
type = "query"

query = '''
data_stream.dataset:"gcp.audit" and service.name:"k8s.io" and event.outcome:"success" and
event.action:(
  "io.k8s.authorization.rbac.v1.roles.update" or
  "io.k8s.authorization.rbac.v1.roles.patch" or
  "io.k8s.authorization.rbac.v1.clusterroles.update" or
  "io.k8s.authorization.rbac.v1.clusterroles.patch"
) and
source.ip:(* and not ("127.0.0.1" or "::1")) and
gcp.audit.response.rules.verbs:"*" and gcp.audit.response.rules.resources:"*" and
not client.user.email:"system:addon-manager"
'''

[[rule.threat]]
framework = "MITRE ATT&CK"

[[rule.threat.technique]]
id = "T1098"
name = "Account Manipulation"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/"

[[rule.threat.technique.subtechnique]]
id = "T1098.006"
name = "Additional Container Cluster Roles"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/006/"

[rule.threat.tactic]
id = "TA0004"
name = "Privilege Escalation"
reference = "https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/"