EXPLORE DETECTIONS
Kubernetes Anonymous Request Authorized by Unusual User Agent
This rule detects when an unauthenticated user request is authorized within the cluster via an unusual user agent. Attackers may attempt to use anonymous accounts to gain initial access to the cluster or to avoid attribution of their activities within the cluster. This rule excludes the /healthz, /livez, /version and /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server endpoints which are commonly accessed anonymously.
Kubernetes Anonymous User Create/Update/Patch Pods Request
This rule detects attempts to create, update, or patch pods by an anonymous user. An anonymous user is a user that is not authenticated or authorized to access the Kubernetes API server. Creating, updating, or patching pods is a common activity for attackers to gain access to the cluster and execute commands.
Kubernetes API Request Impersonating Privileged Identity
Detects Kubernetes API requests where a user is impersonating a privileged cluster identity such as system:kube-controller-manager, system:admin, system:anonymous, or a member of the system:masters group. These identities have broad cluster-wide permissions including unrestricted access to all secrets, the ability to create tokens for any service account, schedule pods on any node, and modify RBAC policies. An attacker impersonating system:masters gains full cluster-admin equivalent access, while impersonating system:kube-controller-manager grants access to every secret in every namespace and the ability to mint service account tokens for lateral movement.
Kubernetes API Server Proxying Request to Kubelet
Detects non-system identities using the Kubernetes nodes/proxy API to proxy requests through the API server directly to a node's Kubelet. The nodes/proxy subresource allows any principal with this RBAC permission to reach the Kubelet API on any worker node without needing direct network access or Kubelet TLS certificates. Through this proxy path, an attacker can list all pod specifications including environment variable secrets, read Kubelet configuration and PKI material, retrieve container logs, and access running pod metadata across all workloads on the target node. Monitoring and health check endpoints such as /metrics, /healthz, and /stats are excluded to reduce noise from legitimate observability tooling.
Kubernetes Client Certificate Signing Request Created or Approved
Detects creation or approval of a Kubernetes CertificateSigningRequest (CSR) by a non-system identity. Attackers who have gained cluster access can submit a CSR with a privileged Common Name such as system:kube-controller-manager or system:masters, then approve it themselves to obtain a long-lived client certificate. Unlike service account tokens which expire in hours, client certificates persist until they expire or the cluster CA is rotated, providing durable access that survives pod termination, token revocation, and RBAC changes. On non-EKS clusters, the signed certificate allows the attacker to authenticate as the privileged identity from anywhere without needing cluster network access, making it one of the most persistent backdoor mechanisms available in Kubernetes.
Kubernetes Cluster-Admin Role Binding Created
This rule detects the creation of a RoleBinding or ClusterRoleBinding that grants the cluster-admin ClusterRole, which provides unrestricted access to all Kubernetes resources and represents a high-risk privilege escalation or misconfiguration.
Kubernetes Container Created with Excessive Linux Capabilities
This rule detects a container deployed with one or more dangerously permissive Linux capabilities. An attacker with the ability to deploy a container with added capabilities could use this for further execution, lateral movement, or privilege escalation within a cluster. The capabilities detected in this rule have been used in container escapes to the host machine.
Kubernetes CoreDNS or Kube-DNS Configuration Modified
Detects modifications to the CoreDNS or kube-dns ConfigMap in the kube-system namespace. These ConfigMaps control cluster DNS resolution for all pods. An attacker who modifies the CoreDNS Corefile can redirect internal service DNS names to attacker-controlled IP addresses, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks against the Kubernetes API server, database services, and other internal endpoints. Pods that resolve service names via cluster DNS will transparently connect to the attacker instead of the legitimate service, allowing interception of service account tokens, database credentials, and API traffic. DNS poisoning at the cluster level is particularly dangerous because it affects every pod in every namespace simultaneously and does not require any modification to the victim workloads. CoreDNS configuration changes are rare in normal operations and any unexpected modification should be investigated immediately.
Kubernetes Creation of a RoleBinding Referencing a ServiceAccount
This rule detects the creation of RoleBindings or ClusterRoleBindings that reference a ServiceAccount, which may indicate privilege delegation or potential RBAC misconfiguration leading to elevated access.
Kubernetes Creation or Modification of Sensitive Role
Detects the creation or modification of Kubernetes Roles or ClusterRoles that grant high-risk permissions, such as wildcard access or RBAC escalation verbs (e.g., bind, escalate, impersonate), which may enable privilege escalation or unauthorized access within the cluster.
Kubernetes Denied Service Account Request via Unusual User Agent
This rule detects when a service account makes an unauthorized request for resources from the API server via an unusual user agent. Service accounts follow a very predictable pattern of behavior. A service account should never send an unauthorized request to the API server. This behavior is likely an indicator of compromise or of a problem within the cluster. An adversary may have gained access to credentials/tokens and this could be an attempt to access or create resources to facilitate further movement or execution within the cluster.
Kubernetes Direct API Request via Curl or Wget
This rule monitors for the execution of curl or wget commands that directly access Kubernetes API endpoints, which may indicate an attempt to interact with Kubernetes resources in a potentially unauthorized manner. This technique is often used by adversaries to gather information about the Kubernetes environment, such as secrets, config maps, and other sensitive data, without using the official Kubernetes client tools such as "kubectl".
Kubernetes Ephemeral Container Added to Pod
Detects allowed updates to the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource by a non-system identity. Ephemeral containers are commonly used for debugging (kubectl debug) but can also be abused to inject tooling into a running pod, access mounted secrets, and execute commands in the target pod context. Attackers with sufficient RBAC may use ephemeral containers to escalate privileges, move laterally, or establish persistence without deploying a new workload.
Kubernetes Events Deleted
This rule detects the deletion of Kubernetes events, which can indicate an attempt to cover up malicious activity or misconfigurations. Adversaries may delete events to remove traces of their actions, making it harder for defenders to investigate and respond to incidents.
Kubernetes Exposed Service Created With Type NodePort
This rule detects an attempt to create or modify a service as type NodePort. The NodePort service allows a user to externally expose a set of labeled pods to the internet. This creates an open port on every worker node in the cluster that has a pod for that service. When external traffic is received on that open port, it directs it to the specific pod through the service representing it. A malicious user can configure a service as type Nodeport in order to intercept traffic from other pods or nodes, bypassing firewalls and other network security measures configured for load balancers within a cluster. This creates a direct method of communication between the cluster and the outside world, which could be used for more malicious behavior and certainly widens the attack surface of your cluster.
Kubernetes Forbidden Creation Request
This rule detects attempts to create resources in Kubernetes clusters that are forbidden by the authorization policy. It specifically looks for creation requests that are denied with a "forbid" decision, indicating that the user or service account does not have the necessary permissions to perform the action. This activity is commonly associated with adversaries attempting to create resources in a Kubernetes environment without proper authorization, which can lead to unauthorized access, manipulation of cluster resources, lateral movement and/or privilege escalation.
Kubernetes Forbidden Request from Unusual User Agent
This rule detects when a forbidden request is made from an unusual user agent in a Kubernetes environment. Adversary tooling may use non-standard or unexpected user agents to interact with the Kubernetes API, which can indicate an attempt to evade detection or blend in with legitimate traffic. In combination with a forbidden request, this behavior can suggest an adversary is attempting to exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in the Kubernetes cluster.
Kubernetes Multi-Resource Discovery
Adversaries who land credentials in a cluster—or abuse an over-privileged token—often map the environment before exfiltration or privilege escalation. A practical first pass is to learn where workloads run, how the cluster is partitioned, and what RBAC exists at namespace vs cluster scope. Rapid `get`/`list` traffic across distinct API resource kinds that answer those questions (namespaces, workloads, roles, cluster-wide roles) is a common setup and orientation pattern for both interactive attackers and automated recon scripts. It is less typical for steady-state controllers, which usually touch a narrow set of resources repeatedly. This rule highlights that cross-resource burst from a single client fingerprint within a one-minute bucket so analysts can separate routine automation from potential discovery and permission reconnaissance ahead of follow-on actions.
Kubernetes Pod Created with a Sensitive hostPath Volume
This rule detects when a pod is created with a sensitive volume of type hostPath. A hostPath volume type mounts a sensitive file or folder from the node to the container. If the container gets compromised, the attacker can use this mount for gaining access to the node. There are many ways a container with unrestricted access to the host filesystem can escalate privileges, including reading data from other containers, and accessing tokens of more privileged pods.
Kubernetes Pod Created With HostIPC
This rule detects an attempt to create or modify a pod using the host IPC namespace. This gives access to data used by any pod that also use the hosts IPC namespace. If any process on the host or any processes in a pod uses the hosts inter-process communication mechanisms (shared memory, semaphore arrays, message queues, etc.), an attacker can read/write to those same mechanisms. They may look for files in /dev/shm or use ipcs to check for any IPC facilities being used.
Kubernetes Pod Created With HostNetwork
This rules detects an attempt to create or modify a pod attached to the host network. HostNetwork allows a pod to use the node network namespace. Doing so gives the pod access to any service running on localhost of the host. An attacker could use this access to snoop on network activity of other pods on the same node or bypass restrictive network policies applied to its given namespace.
Kubernetes Pod Created With HostPID
This rule detects an attempt to create or modify a pod attached to the host PID namespace. HostPID allows a pod to access all the processes running on the host and could allow an attacker to take malicious action. When paired with ptrace this can be used to escalate privileges outside of the container. When paired with a privileged container, the pod can see all of the processes on the host. An attacker can enter the init system (PID 1) on the host. From there, they could execute a shell and continue to escalate privileges to root.
Kubernetes Pod Exec Cloud Instance Metadata Access
Detects Kubernetes pod exec sessions whose decoded command line references cloud instance metadata endpoints or equivalent hostnames and paths. Workloads that reach the link-local metadata IP, AWS IMDS paths, GCP computeMetadata, Azure IMDS token routes, or encoded variants are often attempting to harvest role credentials, tokens, or instance attributes from the underlying node or hypervisor boundary. That behavior is high risk in multi-tenant and regulated environments because it can expose short-lived cloud credentials to code running inside a container. The rule classifies a coarse cloud target label and whether the string looks like credential retrieval versus lighter reconnaissance.
Kubernetes Pod Exec Potential Reverse Shell
Flags exec into a pod when the URL-decoded command payload resembles reverse-shell or bind-shell one-liners invocation patterns. Legitimate debug sessions sometimes use similar building blocks, but together these patterns align with post-exploitation interactive access and command-and-control.