Risks of Misconfigured Kubernetes Policy Engines: OPA Gatekeeper

Analysis of security risks associated with misconfigured Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper in Kubernetes environments reveals potential bypass scenarios. Policy engines are critical for enforcing security policies in Kubernetes clusters, but misconfigurations can leave clusters vulnerable.

This research demonstrates how attackers can exploit misconfigured OPA Gatekeeper policies to bypass security controls and gain unauthorized access to Kubernetes resources.

Common Misconfigurations

• Overly permissive constraint templates
• Missing validation rules
• Incorrect policy scoping
• Privilege escalation through policy bypass