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---
title: Teleport Kubernetes Access Controls
sidebar_label: Access Controls Reference
description: How the Teleport Kubernetes Service applies RBAC to manage access to Kubernetes
tags:
- conceptual
- zero-trust
- privileged-access
page_type: reference
---
This guide lists the fields that Teleport roles provide for managing access to
Teleport-protected Kubernetes clusters. The Kubernetes Service intercepts
requests to a Kubernetes API server and modifies each request depending on the
user's Teleport roles.
For an example of how to use Teleport roles to manage access to Kubernetes with
a local `minikube` cluster, see our [RBAC how-to guide](./manage-access.mdx).
## Role fields for managing Kubernetes access
In this section, we will explain the fields within a Teleport role that
configure access to Kubernetes clusters.
To manage access to Kubernetes clusters, a Teleport role must include the
following fields in the `spec.allow` section:
- [`kubernetes_labels`](#kubernetes_labels)
- [`kubernetes_resources`](#kubernetes_resources)
- [`kubernetes_groups`](#kubernetes_groups-and-kubernetes_users)
- [`kubernetes_users`](#kubernetes_groups-and-kubernetes_users)
Here is an example of a Teleport role that restricts access to Kubernetes
clusters:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
region: '*'
platform: minikube
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pods
namespace: production
name: '^webapp-[a-z0-9-]+$'
api_group: ''
- kind: pods
namespace: development
name: '*'
api_group: ''
- kind: deployments
namespace: development
name: '*'
api_group: apps
kubernetes_groups:
- developers
kubernetes_users:
- minikube
deny: {}
```
### `kubernetes_labels`
You can add labels to a Kubernetes cluster when you register it with Teleport.
You can restrict a user's access to Kubernetes clusters with different labels
using a role's `kubernetes_labels` field.
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
region: '*'
environment: development
# ...
deny: {}
```
The value of the `kubernetes_labels` field is a mapping from label *keys* to one
or more label *values* (i.e., either a string or a list).
#### How the Kubernetes Service evaluates `kubernetes_labels`
If both the key and the value of a label are wildcards, `*`, the Teleport
Kubernetes Service allows the user to access Kubernetes clusters with all
labels:
```yaml
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
'*': '*'
# ...
```
Otherwise, the Kubernetes Service checks whether all of the keys in
`kubernetes_labels` match the keys corresponding to a registered Kubernetes
cluster. If they do not, there is no matching Kubernetes cluster, and the
Kubernetes Service denies the request.
For example, a cluster with labels that include the `environment` key but not
the `region` key would not match the `kubernetes_labels` field in the
`kube-access` role above.
The Kubernetes Service then retrieves the values of the Kubernetes cluster
labels with the keys in `kubernetes_labels`. The value of each key in
`kubernetes_labels` *must* match the value of a Kubernetes cluster's label
before the Kubernetes Service lets a user access the cluster.
For example, the `kube-access` role above allows a user to access Kubernetes
clusters with the `region` key and any value. It restricts the user to
Kubernetes clusters with the `environment` key and the `development` value. We
will explain valid values of keys within `kubernetes_labels` in the next
section.
#### Label values
For the key of a label in `kubernetes_labels` to match the key of a Kubernetes
cluster, the match must be exact. For values, however, you can configure regular
expressions, wildcards, and multiple values to provide flexibility.
##### Regular expressions and wildcards
You can use regular expressions or wildcard characters to match subsets or
variations of a string. If a value begins with `^` and ends in `$`, the
Kubernetes Service will treat it as a regular expression using Go's `re2` syntax
(see the `re2` [README](https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax)).
Otherwise, the Kubernetes Service evaluates wildcards within the value, matching
them to any sequence of characters in a label.
Here is an example:
```yaml
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
region: 'us-east-*'
team: '^data-eng-[a-z-]+$'
# ...
```
This `allow` rule matches clusters with the labels `region:us-east-1` and
`region:us-east-2b`. It also matches clusters with the labels
`team:data-eng-analytics` and `team:data-eng-ml-training`.
##### Multiple values
If a key in `kubernetes_labels` has multiple values, the Kubernetes Service will
consider the label values a match if **any** of these values match a Kubernetes
cluster's labels. For example, this `kubernetes_labels` configuration matches
clusters with the `region:us-east-2` label and either the `development` or
`staging` environments:
```yaml
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
region: 'us-east-*'
environment: ['development', 'staging']
# ...
```
#### Applying labels
You can apply labels to an instance of the Teleport Kubernetes Service. The way
to do this depends on how you have launched the service:
<Tabs>
<TabItem label="Helm">
Set labels when installing or upgrading the `teleport-kube-agent` Helm chart,
e.g.:
```code
$ helm upgrade teleport-agent teleport/teleport-kube-agent --set kubeClusterName=${CLUSTER?}\
--set proxyAddr=${PROXY?} --set authToken=${TOKEN?} --create-namespace --namespace=teleport-agent\
--set labels.env=prod --set labels.region=us-west-1
```
</TabItem>
<TabItem label="Config">
Set labels when enabling the Teleport Kubernetes Service in a `teleport`
instance's configuration file:
```yaml
kubernetes_service:
enabled: true
kube_cluster_name: cookie
labels:
env: prod
region: us-west-1
```
</TabItem>
</Tabs>
### `kubernetes_groups` and `kubernetes_users`
The Teleport Kubernetes Service receives requests from end users, e.g., via
`kubectl`, and forwards them to a Kubernetes API server. The Kubernetes Service
uses [impersonation
headers](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/authentication/#user-impersonation)
to send requests to the API server with one Kubernetes user and zero or more
Kubernetes groups.
![Impersonation](../../../img/k8s/auth.png)
The `kubernetes_users` and `kubernetes_groups` fields indicate which users and
groups to allow a user to assume when they send requests to a Kubernetes API
server:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups:
- developers
- viewers
kubernetes_users:
- myuser
- system:serviceaccount:someNamespace:saName # Service account name
# ...
deny: {}
```
The value of `kubernetes_groups` and `kubernetes_users` is a list of names of
groups, users, or service accounts to enable impersonation for.
#### Kubernetes Users and Groups
Kubernetes Users and Groups are entities that exist in
the Kubernetes Cluster and for which permissions are controlled through
`ClusterRoleBinding` or `RoleBinding` resources. If they do not
exist in the cluster, Kubernetes RBAC will ignore them.
Here's an example of a `ClusterRoleBinding` resource that assigns the built-in `view`
`ClusterRole` to a Group `cluster-viewer-group` and to a User `cluster-viewer-user`:
```yaml
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
name: cluster-viewer
roleRef:
apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
kind: ClusterRole
name: view
subjects:
- apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
kind: Group
name: cluster-viewer-group
- apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
kind: User
name: cluster-viewer-user
```
At this point, the User and the Group have the same permissions to view resources
in Kubernetes Namespaces. It's not mandatory to assign the same permissions to
Kubernetes Users and Groups as Kubernetes merges the permissions associated with
the impersonation principals used in the request.
#### Kubernetes Service Accounts
Teleport supports Service Account impersonation by using the fully-qualified
name of the Service Account in the `kubernetes_users` field.
The Service Account's fully-qualified name consists of the following pattern:
```
system:serviceaccount:<namespace>:<service_account_name>
```
The FQN must be prefixed with `system:serviceaccount:`, otherwise Kubernetes will
evaluate it as a normal User.
An example of a role that impersonates a Service Account can be found below.
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access-impersonate-sa
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_users:
- system:serviceaccount:someNamespace:saName
# ...
deny: {}
```
#### How Teleport users impersonate Kubernetes Users, Groups and Service Accounts
There are two ways for an end user to specify which user or service account and groups
to impersonate:
##### Manually
When a user runs `tsh kube login` to authenticate to a Kubernetes cluster, they
can use the `--as` and `--as-groups` flags to manually specify the user and
groups to authenticate as. The Teleport Kubernetes Service determines whether
the user and groups belong to a user's `kubernetes_users` and
`kubernetes_groups` configuration and, if not, denies the user access.
##### Automatically
If the user has not explicitly determined a Kubernetes user and Kubernetes
groups when authenticating to a cluster, the Teleport Kubernetes Service
determines this from the `kubernetes_users` and `kubernetes_groups` fields in a
user's roles.
If a user has exactly one value in `kubernetes_users`, the Teleport Kubernetes
Service impersonates that user. If there are no values or a wildcard (`*`) in
`kubernetes_users`, the Kubernetes Service uses the user's Teleport username.
The Kubernetes Service will deny a request if a user has multiple
`kubernetes_users` and has not specified one when authenticating to a cluster
(i.e., using the `--as` flag described in the previous section).
If the user has not specified a Kubernetes group to impersonate, the Kubernetes
Service uses all values within `kubernetes_groups`.
<Admonition type="warning">
When impersonating a less privileged user, remember that unless you're
also manually impersonating specific groups (e.g. using `--as-groups` flag),
the Kubernetes Service will automatically impersonate any groups within
`kubernetes_groups`.
This can be confusing because you will have the combined permissions of both
the user and any automatically-impersonated groups.
</Admonition>
With the `kube-access` role above, after you authenticate to Teleport, the
Kubernetes Service uses impersonation headers to forward requests to the API
server with the `developers` group and the `myuser` Kubernetes user.
#### Enabling impersonation
To enable the Kubernetes Service to forward user requests with impersonation
headers, you must ensure that its service account has permissions to impersonate
Kubernetes RBAC principals within your cluster. The Kubernetes Service denies
requests to impersonate any user or group that a user does not have access to.
Below is a Kubernetes `ClusterRole` that grants the minimum set of permissions
to enable impersonation, and a `ClusterRoleBinding` that grants these
permissions to a service account.
<Admonition type="tip">
There is usually no need to define these resources manually. The [manual
methods](register-clusters/register-clusters.mdx) and [automatic methods](../auto-discovery/kubernetes/kubernetes.mdx) for
registering Kubernetes clusters with Teleport include steps for setting up the
Kubernetes RBAC resources that Teleport needs to allow access to clusters.
</Admonition>
```yaml
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
name: teleport-impersonation
rules:
- apiGroups:
- ""
resources:
- users
- groups
- serviceaccounts
verbs:
- impersonate
- apiGroups:
- ""
resources:
- pods
verbs:
- get
- apiGroups:
- "authorization.k8s.io"
resources:
- selfsubjectaccessreviews
verbs:
- create
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
name: teleport
roleRef:
apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
kind: ClusterRole
name: teleport-impersonation
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
name: teleport-serviceaccount
namespace: default
```
#### Specifying groups and users based on user traits
You can specify Kubernetes groups and users for each Teleport user individually,
rather than hardcoding this information into your Teleport roles. To do so, you
can add template variables to your Teleport roles, and the Teleport Auth Service
will populate them with information from each authenticating user.
For more information on how template variable expansion works in Teleport roles,
see the [Access Controls
Reference](../../reference/access-controls/roles.mdx).
##### Single Sign-On provider traits
Teleport's roles map OIDC claims or SAML attributes using template variables.
The Teleport Auth Service will substitute any template variable in the format
`{{external.*}}` with the corresponding SAML attribute or OIDC claim:
```yaml
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
name: group-member
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups: ["{{external.groups}}"]
kubernetes_users: ["{{external.kube_username}}"]
# ...
```
If a user authenticates to Teleport via a SAML connector, for example, and the
user has a `kube_username` attribute with the value `myuser` and a `groups` attribute
with values `developers` and `viewers`, the `group-member` role above will
evaluate to the following:
```yaml
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
name: group-member
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups: ["developers", "viewers"]
kubernetes_users: ["myuser"]
# ...
```
##### Local user traits
For local users, you can specify arbitrary key-value data in the `spec.traits`
field of a `user` resource, then use the `{{external.*}}` template variable in a
role to refer to those traits.
For example, this role fills in `kubernetes_users` and `kubernetes_groups` with
internal traits:
```yaml
kind: role
version: v7
metadata:
name: group-member
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups: ["{{external.groups}}"]
kubernetes_users: ["{{external.kube_username}}"]
# ...
```
You can then supply the values for these template variables when creating or
modifying a local user. For example, this user definition includes traits
that the Auth Service will use to populate the role definition above:
```yaml
kind: user
version: v2
metadata:
name: alice
spec:
roles:
- group-member
traits:
groups:
- developers
- viewers
kube_username:
- myuser
```
#### Configuring just-in-time access
If you are setting up a Teleport role to enable just-in-time access to a
specific Kubernetes resources, you should set the role's `kubernetes_groups` and
`kubernetes_users` to a principal with a role that has no access to Kubernetes
resource beside the Kubernetes resources that Teleport is able to restrict
access for.
This is because, if a user requests access to a Kubernetes pod, and the request
is approved, the Teleport Kubernetes Service will use the `kubernetes_groups`
and `kubernetes_users` fields in the role to add impersonation headers to the user's
requests to a Kubernetes API server. Under these conditions, Teleport will be able
to restrict access to all supported Kubernetes resources kinds except for
the desired `pod`.
Teleport is also able to restrict access to namespaced-scoped custom resources
but not cluster-scoped custom resources. CRDs resources that are cluster scoped
will be accessible to the user if the principals in the `kubernetes_users` and
`kubernetes_groups` fields have access to them.
Requesting access to a Kubernetes Namespace allows you to access all resources
in that namespace but you won't be able to access any other supported resources
in the cluster.
### `kubernetes_resources`
The `kubernetes_resources` field enables a Teleport role to configure access to
specific resources in a Kubernetes cluster.
The value of this field is a list of mappings, where each mapping is described as follows:
#### Role V8
<Admonition type="warning">
Role V8 added support for managing access to any kubernetes resource kind, including custom resource definitions (CRDs).
To do so it has multiple changes to the way the `kubernetes_resources` section is handled compared to prior role versions:
- the `kind` field must always specify the plural form of the resource kind
- the `api_group` field must be set for resources not found in the core API group
- `kind: namespaces` now matches namespace resources, it no longer matches resources within the namespace
- the `namespace` field when set and with a value of anything but `*` will not match cluster-wide resources.
As this behavior differs from earlier role versions, if you migrate a role to V8 from a previous version you will
likely need to adjust the `kubernetes_resources` section.
</Admonition>
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pods
api_group: ""
namespace: production
name: webapp
verbs: ["*"]
- kind: deployments
api_group: apps
namespace: development
name: "*"
# ...
```
- `kind`: The kind of resource to enable access to. It can be `*` or
the plural form of the kind (e.g. `pods`, `deployments`, `cronjobs`, `mycustomresources`).
If the resource has a group, it must be specified in the `api_group` field, for example,
while `pods` doesn't need a group, `deployments` require the `api_group` field be set to `apps`.
<Admonition type="tip">
The full list of available resources, along with their api group can be found by running the following command:
```code
$ kubectl api-resources --namespaced=true -o=name
$ kubectl api-resources --namespaced=false -o=name
```
- If the line has a `.`, then the kind is the first element before the `.` and the api group is everything after the first `.`.
- If the line doesn't have a `.`, then the kind is the full element and there is no api group.
</Admonition>
<Admonition type="warning">
- The `namespaces` kind doesn't include all the namespaced resources, it only covers the namespace itself.
This behavior is different from earlier role versions where it covered the resource itself and everything in the namespace,
which means that if you migrate an existing role to V8 from a prior version you will likely need to adjust the `kubernetes_resources` section.
- The kind, including `*` now enforces the `namespace` field. To match a cluster-wide resource, the `namespace` field must be empty or `*`.
This behavior is different from earlier role versions where it included cluster-wide resources regardless of the `namespace` field.
</Admonition>
- `api_group`: The API group of the resource. In `kube-access`, in the example above, the `pods` resource being in a core resource
has `""` for api_group, the value is set to `apps` for the `deployments` resource kind. A wildcard can be used to match any API groups.
- `namespace`: The Kubernetes namespace in which to allow access to a resource. Must be empty or `*` for cluster-wide resources. Any other value,
including other wildcards, will only match namespaced resources.
In the `kube-access` role, we are allowing access to a pod in the `production` namespace.
<Admonition type="tip">
Note that when using the wildcard `*`, it will match any resources, including cluster-wide ones (based on kind/api_group).
Using empty string `""` will match only cluster-wide resources.
Any other value, like `^.+$` will only match namespaced resources and exclude cluster-wide resources.
</Admonition>
- `name`: The name of the pod to allow access to. In `kube-access`, this is
the `webapp` pod.
- `verbs`: The operations to allow on the resource. Currently, Teleport supports:
| Verb | Grants access to |
| ---- | ----------- |
| `*` | All operations |
| `get` | Read a resource |
| `list` | List resources |
| `create` | Create a resource |
| `update` | Update a resource |
| `patch` | Patch a resource |
| `delete` | Delete a resource |
| `deletecollection` | Delete a collection of resources |
| `watch` | Watch resources |
| `portforward` | Create portforward requests for Pods |
| `exec` | Execute commands in Pods |
For the `namespace`, `name` and `api_group` fields, you can add a wildcard character
(`*`) to replace any sequence of characters. For example, `name: "pod-*-*"`
matches pods named `pod-1-a` and `pod-2-c`. As with `kubernetes_labels`, if a
value begins with `^` and ends in `$`, the Kubernetes Service will treat it as a
regular expression using Go's `re2` syntax (see the `re2`
[README](https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax)).
<Admonition type="tip">
For a user to access a pod named in a role's `kubernetes_resources` field, the user
must be assigned a Teleport role that contains at least one value within
`kubernetes_groups` or `kubernetes_users`. Teleport does not alter Kubernetes
roles to allow or deny access. Read the next section for an explanation of how the
Kubernetes Service evaluates Teleport roles in order to allow or deny access to
pods in a cluster.
</Admonition>
#### Role V7
<Admonition type="tip">
Role V7 added support for more `kind` values. It uses singular names while later role
versions use the plural form.
</Admonition>
<Admonition type="warning">
The wildcard (`*`) and `namespace` kinds have special meaning, when using those, pay extra
attention to the intent and the difference of behavior with later versions.
</Admonition>
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: production
name: webapp
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
- `kind`: The kind of resource to enable access to. Currently, Teleport supports
the following kinds:
<Admonition type="warning">
The `*` kind behavior slightly differs from later versions. In V7, it allows access to all resources
including the cluster-wide ones regardless of the `namespace` field.
In later role versions, the `namespace` field is enforced, which means that when upgrading you may need to adjust
your resources, especially on the deny side.
</Admonition>
<Admonition type="warning">
The `namespace` kind covers the `namespace` resource as well as all resources within it.
This behavior is different from later role versions where it only covers the resource itself which means that
when upgrading you may need to adjust your resources, especially on the deny side.
</Admonition>
| Kind | Grants access to |
| ---- | ----------- |
| `*` | All resources, including cluster-wide ones regardless of the `namespace` field |
| `pod` | Pods |
| `secret` | Secrets |
| `configmap` | ConfigMaps |
| `namespace` | Namespaces and all resources within. |
| `service` | Services |
| `serviceaccount` | ServiceAccounts |
| `kube_node` | Nodes |
| `persistentvolume` | PersistentVolumes |
| `persistentvolumeclaim` | PersistentVolumeClaims |
| `deployment` | Deployments |
| `replicaset` | ReplicaSets |
| `statefulset` | StatefulSets |
| `daemonset` | DaemonSets |
| `clusterrole` | ClusterRoles |
| `kube_role` | Roles |
| `clusterrolebinding` | ClusterRoleBindings |
| `rolebinding` | RoleBindings |
| `cronjob` | CronJobs |
| `job` | Jobs |
| `certificatesigningrequest` | CertificateSigningRequests |
| `ingress` | Ingresses |
- `namespace`: The Kubernetes namespace in which to allow access to a resource.
In the `kube-access` role, we are allowing access to a pod in the
`production` namespace.
Note that when the `kind` field is set to `*`, the `namespace` field is ignored,
which is a different behavior from later role versions where the `namespace` field is
enforced.
- `name`: The name of the pod to allow access to. In `kube-access`, this is
the `webapp` pod.
- `verbs`: The operations to allow on the resource. Currently, Teleport supports:
| Verb | Grants access to |
| ---- | ----------- |
| `*` | All operations |
| `get` | Read a resource |
| `list` | List resources |
| `create` | Create a resource |
| `update` | Update a resource |
| `patch` | Patch a resource |
| `delete` | Delete a resource |
| `deletecollection` | Delete a collection of resources |
| `watch` | Watch resources |
| `portforward` | Create portforward requests for Pods |
| `exec` | Execute commands in Pods |
For both the `namespace` and `name` fields, you can add a wildcard character
(`*`) to replace any sequence of characters. For example, `name: "pod-*-*"`
matches pods named `pod-1-a` and `pod-2-c`. As with `kubernetes_labels`, if a
value begins with `^` and ends in `$`, the Kubernetes Service will treat it as a
regular expression using Go's `re2` syntax (see the `re2`
[README](https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax)).
<Admonition type="tip">
For a user to access a pod named in a role's `kubernetes_resources` field, the user
must be assigned a Teleport role that contains at least one value within
`kubernetes_groups` or `kubernetes_users`. Teleport does not alter Kubernetes
roles to allow or deny access. Read the next section for an explanation of how the
Kubernetes Service evaluates Teleport roles in order to allow or deny access to
pods in a cluster.
</Admonition>
#### Role V6
<Admonition type="tip">
Role V6 introduced the support for the `kubernetes_resources` field, but was restricted
to only allow access to pods with kind 'pod'. Later role versions extended support to additional resources.
</Admonition>
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v6
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: production
name: webapp
# ...
```
- `kind`: The kind of resource to enable access to. The only supported value is `pod`.
- `namespace`: The Kubernetes namespace in which to allow access to a resource.
In the `kube-access` role, we are allowing access to a pod in the
`production` namespace.
- `name`: The name of the pod to allow access to. In `kube-access`, this is
the `webapp` pod.
For both the `namespace` and `name` fields, you can add a wildcard character
(`*`) to replace any sequence of characters. For example, `name: "pod-*-*"`
matches pods named `pod-1-a` and `pod-2-c`. As with `kubernetes_labels`, if a
value begins with `^` and ends in `$`, the Kubernetes Service will treat it as a
regular expression using Go's `re2` syntax (see the `re2`
[README](https://github.com/google/re2/wiki/Syntax)).
<Admonition type="tip">
For a user to access a pod named in a role's `kubernetes_resources` field, the user
must be assigned a Teleport role that contains at least one value within
`kubernetes_groups` or `kubernetes_users`. Teleport does not alter Kubernetes
roles to allow or deny access. Read the next section for an explanation of how the
Kubernetes Service evaluates Teleport roles in order to allow or deny access to
pods in a cluster.
</Admonition>
#### Examples
##### Full access to namespaced resources except to production
The following roles will grant full access to all namespaced resources in all namespaces
except the `production` one, where no resources will be accessible.
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
# In v7, namespace means everything in the namespace.
- kind: namespace # v7 uses singular.
name: "*"
verbs: ["*"]
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: namespace # v7 uses singular.
name: production
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
# Grant access to namespaced resources in all namespaces.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "^.+$" # Match any namespaced resource, will not match cluster-wide resources.
verbs: ["*"]
# Grant access to the namespace resource itself.
- kind: namespaces # In v8, namespaces mean the namespace itself. As it is considered a cluster-wide resource, it must be added separately.
name: "*"
verbs: ["*"]
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
# Deny access to namespaced resources in the production namespace.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: production
verbs: ["*"]
# Deny access to the namespace resource itself.
- kind: namespaces # v8 uses plural.
name: production
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
Alternatively, this could also be used:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
# Grant full access on everything.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "*" # In v8, '*' will match both namespaced and cluster-wide resources.
verbs: ["*"]
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
# Deny access to cluster-wide resources.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "" # Empty namespace means only cluster-wide resources will match.
verbs: ["*"]
# Deny access to namespaced resources in the production namespace.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: production
verbs: ["*"]
# Deny access to the namespace resource itself.
- kind: namespaces # v8 uses plural.
name: production
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
##### Full access to dev namespace and all cluster-wide resources except clusterroles
The following roles will grant access to all resources in the `dev` namespace and all cluster-wide resources
except `clusterroles`.
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
# In v7, "*" includes cluster-wide resources regardless of the namespace.
- kind: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: dev
verbs: ["*"]
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: clusterrole # v7 uses singular.
name: "*"
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
# Grant access to all resources in the dev namespace.
# In v8, "*" doesn't include cluster-wide resources if the namespace is set.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: dev
verbs: ["*"]
# Grant access to all cluster-wide resources.
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "" # Empty namespace means only cluster-wide resources will match.
verbs: ["*"]
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: clusterroles # v8 uses plural.
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
# ...
```
##### Full access to everything
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "*"
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access
version: v8
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: "*"
api_group: "*"
name: "*"
namespace: "*" # Wildcard '*' will match both namespaced and cluster-wide resources.
verbs: ["*"]
# ...
```
## How the Kubernetes Service evaluates Teleport roles
When a Teleport user makes a request to a Kubernetes cluster's API server, the
Teleport Kubernetes Service intercepts the request and inspects the user's
authorization. The Kubernetes Service denies the request if the user is not
authorized to view a particular resource. If the user *is* authorized to perform
their request, the Kubernetes Service modifies the request and forwards it to
the appropriate API server.
### Authorizing user requests
When the Teleport Kubernetes Service receives a request, it evaluates two fields
within the user's roles. If either of these fields does not allow the user to
perform the request, the Kubernetes Service returns an error to the user:
#### `kubernetes_labels`
The Teleport Kubernetes Service will only allow a user access to a pod if the
cluster where the pod is running has a label that matches a user's
`kubernetes_labels` configuration.
#### `kubernetes_resources`
Some resource URIs within the Kubernetes API server include the names of
specific resources.
For example, if a user runs `kubectl exec` to execute a command against the
`webapp` pod in the `development` namespace, `kubectl` sends a request to the
target cluster's API server at the following path:
```
"/api/v1/namespaces/development/pods/webapp/exec"
```
If a Kubernetes pod is available within the URL path of the request to a
Kubernetes API server, the Teleport Kubernetes Service will check whether the
user is authorized to access that pod.
In the example above, the Kubernetes Service checks if the user is authorized to
access the `webapp` pod in the `development` namespace and, if not, denies the
request.
### Forwarding user requests
Once the Teleport Kubernetes Service has authorized the user to perform a
request against a Kubernetes cluster and (if applicable) a particular resource,
it assembles a request to the upstream API server. It adds impersonation headers
to the request based on the `kubernetes_groups` and `kubernetes_users` fields in
the user's role (see the [discussion of these
fields](#kubernetes_groups-and-kubernetes_users) earlier).
Because the Teleport Kubernetes Service accesses the upstream API server via the
RBAC principals listed in the Teleport user's `kubernetes_groups` and
`kubernetes_users` fields, the principals you specify in these fields must have
access to the resources listed in the user's `kubernetes_resources` field.
Otherwise, the Kubernetes Service will forward a request to the upstream API
server with improper authorization, and the API server will deny the request.
### Multiple roles
#### How the Kubernetes Service evaluates multiple roles
Before evaluating a user's request to a Kubernetes API server, the Teleport
Kubernetes Service checks each of the user's roles. If one role's
`spec.allow.kubernetes_labels` or `spec.allow.kubernetes_resources` conditions
do not match the user's request, the Kubernetes Service checks the next role,
and so on.
If the Kubernetes Service finds a role with a `spec.allow` condition that
matches all of the cluster's labels and the request's resources, it looks up the
role's `allow.kubernetes_groups` and `allow.kubernetes_users` fields. It adds
these values to a list of RBAC principals it will use to write impersonation
headers later on.
Next, the Kubernetes Service checks each of the user's roles for `spec.deny`
conditions. If one role's `spec.deny.kubernetes_labels` or
`spec.deny.kubernetes_resources` fields match the user's request, the Kubernetes
Service looks up the role's `spec.deny.kubernetes_groups` and
`spec.deny.kubernetes_users` fields. It removes each of these values from the
list of users and groups it created earlier, denying the user access to these
RBAC principals.
#### Example
Let's say you have assigned the following three roles to a user:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: allow-dev-us-east-2
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"region": "us-east-2"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "development"
name: "redis-*"
- kind: pod
namespace: "development"
name: "nginx-*"
kubernetes_groups:
- dev-viewers # Allows the user to view pods in the development namespace
---
kind: role
metadata:
name: allow-exec
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
"*": "*"
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "*"
name: "*"
kubernetes_groups:
- executors # Allows the user to execute commands against any pod
---
kind: role
metadata:
name: deny-redis-exec
version: v7
spec:
deny:
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "*"
name: "redis-*"
kubernetes_groups:
- executors
```
The `dev-viewers` Kubernetes group allows the user to view pods in the
`development` namespace. The `executors` Kubernetes group allows the user to
execute commands against any pod in any namespace.
If a user with these roles runs `kubectl get pods/redis-1` in the `development`
namespace, and the cluster has the label `region:us-east-2`, the Kubernetes
Service will accept the request. Since the `deny-redis-exec` role denies the
`executors` group for `redis-*` pods, the Kubernetes Service will forward the
request while impersonating the `dev-viewers` group but *not* the `executors`
group,
However, if the same user runs `kubectl exec -it nginx /bin/bash` in the
`development` namespace, against the same cluster, the Kubernetes Service will
forward the request with an impersonation header for both the `dev-viewers` and
the `executors` groups, since the `deny-redis-exec` role's `deny` condition does
not match the request.
#### Progressively enabling access to resources
You can design your Teleport and Kubernetes RBAC to progressively allow access
to limited subsets of Kubernetes resources. In other words, your users would
have limited access to a wide range of resources in your Kubernetes cluster.
Subsets of these users would have greater access to more limited sets of
resources. Of *these* subsets of users, you can assign an even smaller group
greater access to another set of resources, and so on.
To do this, define multiple Teleport roles where:
- Some roles enable a lower degree of access to more Kubernetes resources
- Other roles allow a higher degree of access to fewer Kubernetes resources
You can then assign combinations of roles to different users.
For example, this combination of roles allows a user to view all pods in all
registered Kubernetes clusters, but only run `kubectl exec` or `kubectl logs` on
`nginx-*` pods:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-viewer
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
'*': '*'
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "*"
name: "*"
kubernetes_groups:
- viewer # can get and list pods but not execute commands or retrieve logs
---
kind: role
metadata:
name: nginx-exec
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_labels:
'*': '*'
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "*"
name: "nginx-*"
kubernetes_groups:
- execAndLogs
```
In this case, the `kube-viewer` role maps a user to the Kubernetes `viewer`
group, which allows a user to get and list pods but not execute commands and
retrieve logs. With the `nginx-exec` role, the user can access the `execAndLogs`
group, which can execute commands and retrieve logs, but only on `nginx` pods.
In this setup, you could also combine the `kube-viewer` role with other roles
that grant elevated access to subsets of pods, depending on the requirements of
your Teleport users.
### Security consideration: Resource namespace restrictions
When a Teleport user sends a request to list pods, e.g., with `kubectl get
pods`, the Teleport Kubernetes Service does the following:
- Retrieves available pods from the upstream Kubernetes API server, adding
impersonation headers to the request based on the user's Teleport roles. These
include the Kubernetes user and groups the user sends the request as.
- Filters the list of available pods based on the pods that the user is
authorized to access via `kubernetes_resources`.
- Returns the list of pods to the user.
To avoid leaking resources unintentionally, you should ensure that namespace
restrictions in your Kubernetes RBAC line up with those you have set up in
Teleport.
For example, let's say a user has a Teleport role that grants access to any pod
in any namespace, and maps that user to the `default-pod-viewer` Kubernetes
group. This group can only view pods in the `default` namespace:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access-1
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups:
- default-pod-viewer
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "*"
name: "*"
# ...
```
The user has a second Teleport role that maps the user to the `system:masters`
Kubernetes group (which can access any pod in any namespace), and grants access
only to the `webapp` pod in the `default` namespace:
```yaml
metadata:
name: kube-access-2
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups:
- system:masters
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "default"
name: "webapp"
# ...
```
Since the `kube-access-2` role maps the user to `system:masters`, when the
Kubernetes Service forwards a request from this user, it will fetch all pods
from the Kubernetes cluster by adding the `system:masters` group to the
request's impersonation headers.
However, since the user also has a role (`kube-access-1`) that allows access to
all pods in all namespaces, the Kubernetes Service will not filter the pods it
retrieved via its first request to the API server.
In other words, the Kubernetes Service has no way to know that Teleport had
mapped the user to the `system:masters` group in order to grant access to only
the `webapp` pod in the `default` namespace.
If you have namespace restrictions in your Teleport RBAC, you should
make sure that the same namespace restrictions exist in the Kubernetes RBAC
resources you map to your Teleport users.
For example, you should rewrite the `kube-access-1` role to have the following
permissions, restricting the user to pods in the `default` namespace:
```yaml
kind: role
metadata:
name: kube-access-1
version: v7
spec:
allow:
kubernetes_groups:
- default-pod-viewer
kubernetes_resources:
- kind: pod
namespace: "default"
name: "*"
# ...
```