The Kubernetes Controller Manager must create unique service accounts for each work payload.

Severity	Group ID	Group Title	Version	Rule ID	Date	STIG Version
high	V-242381	SRG-APP-000023-CTR-000055	CNTR-K8-000220	SV-242381r1043176_rule	2025-05-16	2

Description
The Kubernetes Controller Manager is a background process that embeds core control loops regulating cluster system state through the API Server. Every process executed in a pod has an associated service account. By default, service accounts use the same credentials for authentication. Implementing the default settings poses a High risk to the Kubernetes Controller Manager. Setting the "--use-service-account-credential" value lowers the attack surface by generating unique service accounts settings for each controller instance.

Description

The Kubernetes Controller Manager is a background process that embeds core control loops regulating cluster system state through the API Server. Every process executed in a pod has an associated service account. By default, service accounts use the same credentials for authentication. Implementing the default settings poses a High risk to the Kubernetes Controller Manager. Setting the "--use-service-account-credential" value lowers the attack surface by generating unique service accounts settings for each controller instance.

ℹ️ Check
Change to the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Run the command: grep -i use-service-account-credentials * If the setting "--use-service-account-credentials" is not configured in the Kubernetes Controller Manager manifest file or it is set to "false", this is a finding.

✔️ Fix
Edit the Kubernetes Controller Manager manifest file in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests directory on the Kubernetes Control Plane. Set the value of "--use-service-account-credentials" to "true".