---
title: Cluster admin rolebinding with superuser permissions
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > Cluster admin rolebinding with superuser
  permissions
---

# Cluster admin rolebinding with superuser permissions

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

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

{% /callout %}

## Metadata{% #metadata %}

**Id:** `terraform-kubernetes-cluster-admin-role-binding-with-super-user-permissions` 

**Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** Low

**Category:** Access Control

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

- [Provider Reference](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/kubernetes/latest/docs/resources/cluster_role_binding#name)

### Description{% #description %}

Ensure the `cluster-admin` role is only used where required for RBAC. The `cluster-admin` role grants superuser permissions across the entire cluster and should be limited to essential administrative accounts. This rule flags `kubernetes_cluster_role_binding` resources that bind to `cluster-admin`. Prefer using least-privilege roles or scoped `RoleBinding` assignments instead.

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_cluster_role_binding" "example1" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example1"
  }
  role_ref {
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
    kind      = "ClusterRole"
    name      = "cluster"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "User"
    name      = "admin"
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "ServiceAccount"
    name      = "default"
    namespace = "kube-system"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "Group"
    name      = "system:masters"
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
  }
}
```

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_cluster_role_binding" "example2" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example2"
  }
  role_ref {
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
    kind      = "ClusterRole"
    name      = "cluster-admin"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "User"
    name      = "admin"
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "ServiceAccount"
    name      = "default"
    namespace = "kube-system"
  }
  subject {
    kind      = "Group"
    name      = "system:masters"
    api_group = "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
  }
}
```