---
title: Permissive access to create pods
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > Permissive access to create pods
---

# Permissive access to create pods

{% 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-permissive-access-to-create-pods` 

**Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** Medium

**Category:** Access Control

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

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

### Description{% #description %}

The permission to create `pods` in a cluster should be restricted because it allows privilege escalation. This rule inspects `kubernetes_role` and `kubernetes_cluster_role` resources and reports when a rule's `verbs` contains `create` while its `resources` contains `pods` or a wildcard value. It also flags cases where `verbs` or `resources` contain a wildcard (for example, `*`) in combination with `pods`, since those broaden access and can enable pod creation. Restricting these permissions reduces the risk of workloads obtaining elevated privileges.

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_role" "example" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
    labels = {
      test = "MyRole"
    }
  }

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["pods"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["get", "list", "watch"]
  }
  rule {
    api_groups = ["apps"]
    resources  = ["deployments"]
    verbs      = ["get", "list"]
  }
}
```

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_cluster_role" "example" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = [""]
    resources  = ["namespaces", "pods"]
    verbs      = ["get", "list", "watch"]
  }
}
```

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_role" "example1" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example1"
    labels = {
      test = "MyRole"
    }
  }

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["pods"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["create", "list", "watch"]
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = ["apps"]
    resources  = ["deployments"]
    verbs      = ["get", "list"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_role" "example2" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example2"
    labels = {
      test = "MyRole"
    }
  }

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["*"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["create", "list", "watch"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_role" "example3" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example3"
    labels = {
      test = "MyRole"
    }
  }

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["pods"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["*", "list", "watch"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_role" "example4" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example4"
    labels = {
      test = "MyRole"
    }
  }

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["*"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["*", "list", "watch"]
  }
}
```

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_cluster_role" "example1" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example1"
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = [""]
    resources  = ["namespaces", "pods"]
    verbs      = ["create", "list", "watch"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_cluster_role" "example2" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example2"
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = [""]
    resources  = ["namespaces", "*"]
    verbs      = ["create", "list", "watch"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_cluster_role" "example3" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example3"
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = [""]
    resources  = ["namespaces", "*"]
    verbs      = ["*", "list", "watch"]
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_cluster_role" "example4" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example4"
  }

  rule {
    api_groups = [""]
    resources  = ["namespaces", "pods"]
    verbs      = ["*", "list", "watch"]
  }
}
```