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

# Privilege escalation allowed

{% 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:** `c878abb4-cca5-4724-92b9-289be68bd47c`

**Cloud Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** High

**Category:** Insecure Configurations

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

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

### Description{% #description %}

Containers should not include `security_context.allow_privilege_escalation` set to `true`.Preventing `allow_privilege_escalation` from being enabled ensures containers cannot gain more privileges than their parent process.Set `security_context.allow_privilege_escalation` to `false` or omit the field to avoid privilege escalation.

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

```terraform

resource "kubernetes_pod" "negative4" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }

  spec {
    container = [
     {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example22"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = false
      }

      env = {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port = {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe = {
        http_get = {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header = {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
     }
     ,
     {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example22222"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = false
      }

      env = {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port = {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe = {
        http_get = {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header = {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
     }
   ]


    dns_config {
      nameservers = ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8", "9.9.9.9"]
      searches    = ["example.com"]

      option {
        name  = "ndots"
        value = 1
      }

      option {
        name = "use-vc"
      }
    }

    dns_policy = "None"
  }
}



resource "kubernetes_pod" "negative5" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }

  spec {
    container {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = false
      }

      env {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe {
        http_get {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
    }


    dns_config {
      nameservers = ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8", "9.9.9.9"]
      searches    = ["example.com"]

      option {
        name  = "ndots"
        value = 1
      }

      option {
        name = "use-vc"
      }
    }

    dns_policy = "None"
  }
}
```

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

```terraform

resource "kubernetes_pod" "positive1" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }

  spec {
    container = [
     {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example22"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = true
      }

      env = {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port = {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe = {
        http_get = {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header = {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
     }
     ,
     {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example22222"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = true
      }

      env = {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port = {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe = {
        http_get = {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header = {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
     }
   ]


    dns_config {
      nameservers = ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8", "9.9.9.9"]
      searches    = ["example.com"]

      option {
        name  = "ndots"
        value = 1
      }

      option {
        name = "use-vc"
      }
    }

    dns_policy = "None"
  }
}



resource "kubernetes_pod" "positive2" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }

  spec {
    container {
      image = "nginx:1.7.9"
      name  = "example"

      security_context = {
        allow_privilege_escalation = true
      }

      env {
        name  = "environment"
        value = "test"
      }

      port {
        container_port = 8080
      }

      liveness_probe {
        http_get {
          path = "/nginx_status"
          port = 80

          http_header {
            name  = "X-Custom-Header"
            value = "Awesome"
          }
        }

        initial_delay_seconds = 3
        period_seconds        = 3
      }
    }


    dns_config {
      nameservers = ["1.1.1.1", "8.8.8.8", "9.9.9.9"]
      searches    = ["example.com"]

      option {
        name  = "ndots"
        value = 1
      }

      option {
        name = "use-vc"
      }
    }

    dns_policy = "None"
  }
}
```