GKE RBAC Wildcard Elevation on Existing Role
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…
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.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
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Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
Known benign triggers
- 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.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/ | 9from 2 sources |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 563a38e9-9790-4a6a-8889-24d26055b832
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: GCPData Source: Google Cloud PlatformDomain: CloudDomain: ContainersDomain: KubernetesNoise: MediumPerformance: NormalPlatform: GCPPlatform: KubernetesResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Custom Query (KQL)Tactic: Privilege EscalationUse Case: Threat Detection
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 3