KubernetesOverview
Self-hosted AI workloads often run model servers, agents, MCP servers, notebook servers, and GPU runtimes. Privileged containers, privilege escalation, writable root filesystems, or powerful Linux capabilities can turn prompt injection or dependency compromise into node-level impact.
Remediation guidance
Remediation
Run AI workloads with restricted pod security settings. Disable privileged mode and privilege escalation, drop unnecessary capabilities, and use read-only root filesystems where supported.
- Identify AI workloads using privileged runtime settings.
- Remove unnecessary host and kernel-level access.
- Apply namespace policy, workload admission controls, and runtime monitoring for exceptions.
Query logic
These are the stored checks tied to this control.
AI Kubernetes workloads should not run with privileged runtime settings
Connectors
Kubernetes
Covered asset types
AI ServicesCronJobDaemonSetDeploymentJobPodStatefulSet
Expected check: eq []
{
pods(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, containers_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
deployments(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, podTemplate: { containersTemplates_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
statefulSets(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, podTemplate: { containersTemplates_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
daemonSets(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, podTemplate: { containersTemplates_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
jobs(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, cronJobName: { eq: "" }, podTemplate: { containersTemplates_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
cronJobs(where: { assetCategory: { eq: "AI Services" }, podTemplate: { containersTemplates_SOME: { securityContext: { OR: [ { allowPrivilegeEscalation: { eq: true } } { readOnlyRootFilesystem: { eq: false } } { capabilitiesAdd_INCLUDES: "SYS_ADMIN" } { privileged: { eq: true } } ] } } } }) { ...AssetFragment }
}
