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

# Shared service account

{% 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:** `f74b9c43-161a-4799-bc95-0b0ec81801b9`

**Cloud Provider:** Kubernetes

**Platform:** Terraform

**Severity:** Medium

**Category:** Secret Management

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

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

### Description{% #description %}

The `service_account_name` specified in the workload is set to an existing `kubernetes_service_account`, causing the Service Account token to be shared across workloads. Sharing a `ServiceAccount` token grants identical permissions to multiple workloads and increases the blast radius if a workload is compromised. Distinct `ServiceAccount` resources or scoped credentials limit permission exposure.

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_pod" "with_pod_affinity_1" {
  metadata {
    name = "with-pod-affinity-1"
  }

  spec {
    affinity {
      pod_affinity {
        required_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          label_selector {
            match_expressions {
              key      = "security"
              operator = "In"
              values   = ["S1"]
            }
          }

          topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
        }
      }

      pod_anti_affinity {
        preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          weight = 100

          pod_affinity_term {
            label_selector {
              match_expressions {
                key      = "security"
                operator = "In"
                values   = ["S2"]
              }
            }

            topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    container {
      name  = "with-pod-affinity"
      image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:2.0"
    }
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_pod" "with_pod_affinity_2" {
  metadata {
    name = "with-pod-affinity-2"
  }

  spec {
    affinity {
      pod_affinity {
        required_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          label_selector {
            match_expressions {
              key      = "security"
              operator = "In"
              values   = ["S1"]
            }
          }

          topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
        }
      }

      pod_anti_affinity {
        preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          weight = 100

          pod_affinity_term {
            label_selector {
              match_expressions {
                key      = "security"
                operator = "In"
                values   = ["S2"]
              }
            }

            topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    container {
      name  = "with-pod-affinity"
      image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:2.0"
    }

    service_account_name = "service-name"
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_service_account" "example" {
  metadata {
    name = "example"
  }
  secret {
    name = kubernetes_secret.example.metadata.0.name
  }
}

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

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

```terraform
resource "kubernetes_pod" "with_pod_affinity" {
  metadata {
    name = "with-pod-affinity"
  }

  spec {
    affinity {
      pod_affinity {
        required_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          label_selector {
            match_expressions {
              key      = "security"
              operator = "In"
              values   = ["S1"]
            }
          }

          topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
        }
      }

      pod_anti_affinity {
        preferred_during_scheduling_ignored_during_execution {
          weight = 100

          pod_affinity_term {
            label_selector {
              match_expressions {
                key      = "security"
                operator = "In"
                values   = ["S2"]
              }
            }

            topology_key = "failure-domain.beta.kubernetes.io/zone"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    container {
      name  = "with-pod-affinity"
      image = "k8s.gcr.io/pause:2.0"
    }

    service_account_name = "terraform-example"
  }
}

resource "kubernetes_service_account" "terraform-example" {
  metadata {
    name = "terraform-example"
  }
  secret {
    name = kubernetes_secret.example.metadata.0.name
  }
}

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