---
title: PSP allows privilege escalation
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > PSP allows privilege escalation
---

# PSP allows privilege escalation

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site). ().
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**Id:** `87554eef-154d-411d-bdce-9dbd91e56851`

**Cloud Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Kubernetes

**Severity:** High

**Category:** Insecure Configurations

#### Learn More{% #learn-more %}

- [Provider Reference](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/policy/pod-security-policy/)

### Description{% #description %}

PodSecurityPolicy should not allow privilege escalation. The PodSecurityPolicy must include the 'allowPrivilegeEscalation' attribute and it must be set to false. If the attribute is missing or set to true, the PodSecurityPolicy is considered non-compliant.

## Compliant Code Examples{% #compliant-code-examples %}

```yaml
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: privileged
  annotations:
    seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/allowedProfileNames: '*'
spec:
  privileged: true
  allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
  volumes:
  - '*'
  hostNetwork: true
  hostPorts:
  - min: 0
    max: 65535
  hostIPC: true
  hostPID: true
  runAsUser:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  seLinux:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  supplementalGroups:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  fsGroup:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
```

## Non-Compliant Code Examples{% #non-compliant-code-examples %}

```yaml
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: privileged
  annotations:
    seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/allowedProfileNames: '*'
spec:
  privileged: true
  allowPrivilegeEscalation: true
  hostNetwork: true
  hostPorts:
  - min: 0
    max: 65535
  hostIPC: true
  hostPID: true
  runAsUser:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  seLinux:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  supplementalGroups:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  fsGroup:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'

---
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: privileged2
  annotations:
    seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/allowedProfileNames: '*'
spec:
  privileged: true
  hostNetwork: true
  hostPorts:
  - min: 0
    max: 65535
  hostIPC: true
  hostPID: true
  runAsUser:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  seLinux:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  supplementalGroups:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  fsGroup:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
```