---
title: RBAC roles with read secrets permissions
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  Security > IaC Security Rules > RBAC roles with read secrets permissions
---

# RBAC roles with read secrets 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-rbac-roles-with-read-secrets-permissions` 

**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 %}

Roles and ClusterRoles that grant 'get', 'watch', or 'list' RBAC permissions on Kubernetes 'secrets' are dangerous and should not include such permissions. If compromised, these roles can be used to access sensitive data such as passwords, tokens, and keys. This rule flags Role and ClusterRole resources that include rules with 'secrets' in their resources field together with any of the read verbs ('get', 'watch', 'list').

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

  rule {
    api_groups     = [""]
    resources      = ["secrets", "namespaces"]
    resource_names = ["foo"]
    verbs          = ["get", "list", "watch"]
  }

}

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

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

}
```