---
vid: KHV044
title: Privileged Container
categories: [Access Risk]
---

# {{ page.vid }} - {{ page.title }}

## Issue description

A privileged container is given access to all devices on the host and can work at the kernel level. It is declared using the `Pod.spec.containers[].securityContext.privileged` attribute. This may be useful for infrastructure containers that perform setup work on the host, but is a dangerous attack vector.

## Remediation

Minimize the use of privileged containers.

Use Pod Security Policies to enforce using `privileged: false` policy. 

## References

- [Privileged mode for pod containers](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod/#privileged-mode-for-pod-containers)
- [Pod Security Policies - Privileged](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/policy/pod-security-policy/#privileged)