For AI agents: A markdown version of this page is available at https://docs.datadoghq.com/security/code_security/iac_security/iac_rules/ansible-gcp-gke-using-default-service-account.md. A documentation index is available at /llms.txt.

GKE using default service account

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Metadata

Id: ansible-gcp-gke-using-default-service-account

Provider: GCP

Platform: Ansible

Severity: Medium

Category: Insecure Defaults

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Description

Kubernetes Engine clusters should not use the default node service account. The default account typically has broad permissions, increasing the blast radius if a node is compromised.

For Ansible resources using google.cloud.gcp_container_cluster or gcp_container_cluster, the node_config.service_account property must be defined and set to a dedicated, least-privilege IAM service account (full email address). Resources missing node_config.service_account or with a value containing "default" are flagged. Use a distinct service account with narrowly scoped IAM roles, for example, my-sa@PROJECT_ID.iam.gserviceaccount.com.

Secure configuration example:

- name: Create GKE cluster with custom node service account
  google.cloud.gcp_container_cluster:
    name: my-cluster
    location: us-central1
    node_config:
      service_account: my-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Compliant Code Examples

- name: create a cluster
  google.cloud.gcp_container_cluster:
    name: my-cluster
    initial_node_count: 2
    master_auth:
      username: cluster_admin
      password: my-secret-password
    node_config:
      machine_type: n1-standard-4
      disk_size_gb: 500
      service_account: "{{ myaccount }}"
    location: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_file: "/tmp/auth.pem"
    state: present
- name: create a service account
  google.cloud.gcp_iam_service_account:
    name: sa-{{ resource_name.split("-")[-1] }}@graphite-playground.google.com.iam.gserviceaccount.com
    display_name: My Ansible test key
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_file: "/tmp/auth.pem"
    state: present
  register: myaccount

Non-Compliant Code Examples

- name: create a cluster
  google.cloud.gcp_container_cluster:
    name: my-cluster
    initial_node_count: 2
    master_auth:
      username: cluster_admin
      password: my-secret-password
    node_config:
      machine_type: n1-standard-4
      disk_size_gb: 500
    location: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_file: "/tmp/auth.pem"
    state: present

- name: create a cluster
  google.cloud.gcp_container_cluster:
    name: my-cluster
    initial_node_count: 2
    master_auth:
      username: cluster_admin
      password: my-secret-password
    node_config:
      machine_type: n1-standard-4
      disk_size_gb: 500
      service_account: "{{ default }}"
    location: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_file: "/tmp/auth.pem"
    state: present
- name: create a service account
  google.cloud.gcp_iam_service_account:
    name: sa-{{ resource_name.split("-")[-1] }}@graphite-playground.google.com.iam.gserviceaccount.com
    display_name: My Ansible test key
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_file: "/tmp/auth.pem"
    state: present
  register: default