> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com/appsec-rules/iac-security/iam/appsec-k8s-42.md).

# Default Kubernetes service accounts are actively used by bounding to a role or cluster role misconfi

## Rule Details

|                        |                                                        |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Cortex AppSec Rule ID  | APPSEC\_K8S\_42                                        |
| Category - Subcategory | Kubernetes - Access Control                            |
| Provider               | OTHER                                                  |
| Severity               | LOW                                                    |
| Framework              | Helm, Kubernetes, Kustomize, Terraform, Terraform Plan |

## Impact

Every Kubernetes installation has a service account called *default* that is associated with every running pod. Similarly, to enable pods to make calls to the internal API Server endpoint, there is a *ClusterIP* service called *Kubernetes*. This combination makes it possible for internal processes to call the API endpoint. We recommend that users create their own user-managed service accounts and grant the appropriate roles to each service account.

## How to Fix

*Option 1*

* *Resource:* ServiceAccount
* *Arguments:* If service name is set to default, *automountServiceAccountToken* should be set to false in order to opt out of automounting API credentials for a service account.

*Option 2*

* *Resource:* RoleBinding / ClusterRoleBinding
* *Arguments:* *RoleBinding* grants the permissions defined in a role to a user or set of users within a specific namespace. *ClusterRoleBinding* grants that access cluster-wide. To avoid activating the default service account, it should not be used as a subject in *RoleBinding* or *ClusterRoleBinding* resources. \[source,go]

***

apiVersion: v1 kind: ServiceAccount metadata: name: default

* automountServiceAccountToken: false

***

apiVersion: v1 kind: ServiceAccount metadata:

* name:

***

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 kind: RoleBinding metadata: name: subjects: -- kind: ServiceAccount

* name: default

***

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 kind: ClusterRoleBinding metadata: name: subjects: -- kind: ServiceAccount

* name: default

***


---

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