The answer is that the restricted profile requires capabilities to drop ALL, runAsNonRoot to be true, and seccompProfile to be set to RuntimeDefault or Localhost. This profile enforces the most stringent Pod Security Admission standards by preventing privilege escalation at multiple layers: dropping all Linux capabilities removes granular kernel permissions, forcing non-root execution eliminates the most common attack vector, and mandatory seccomp profiles restrict system calls to a safe subset. On the CKAD exam, this appears as a multi-select question testing your ability to distinguish the restricted profile from the baseline or privileged profiles—a common trap is confusing the baseline requirement to drop only NET_RAW with the restricted requirement to drop ALL capabilities. The key memory tip is to think of the restricted profile as a triple lock: no root, no caps, no extra syscalls.
CKAD Practice Question: Application Environment, Configuration and Security
This CKAD practice question tests your understanding of application environment, configuration and security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which THREE configurations are part of Pod Security Admission's 'restricted' profile? (Select THREE.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
runAsNonRoot: true
The 'restricted' profile in Pod Security Admission enforces the most stringent security standards. Option A is correct because `runAsNonRoot: true` is a required field in the restricted profile, ensuring containers cannot run as the root user, which mitigates privilege escalation risks.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
runAsNonRoot: true
Why this is correct
Correct. Containers must run as non-root.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
seccompProfile.type: RuntimeDefault
Why this is correct
Correct. The restricted profile requires seccomp to be set to RuntimeDefault or Localhost.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
capabilities must drop ALL
Why this is correct
Correct. The restricted profile requires all capabilities to be dropped, except NET_BIND_SERVICE can be added.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
allowPrivilegeEscalation: true
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. allowPrivilegeEscalation must be false in restricted profile.
✗
Privileged containers allowed
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The restricted profile does not allow privileged containers.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the 'restricted' profile with the 'baseline' profile, mistakenly thinking that options like `allowPrivilegeEscalation: true` or privileged containers are acceptable, when in fact the restricted profile explicitly prohibits them.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Pod Security Admission (PSA) replaces the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy and applies security standards at the admission controller level. The restricted profile requires `seccompProfile.type: RuntimeDefault` to limit system calls, `capabilities.drop: ['ALL']` to remove all Linux capabilities, and `runAsNonRoot: true` to enforce non-root execution. These settings align with the Kubernetes Pod Security Standards (PSS) and are validated against the `restricted` policy level defined in the API.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A junior network technician can log in to a core router but cannot reach the enable prompt or configuration mode. The AAA server is authenticating the login — but the authorisation policy only grants privilege level 1, not 15. Authentication (who you are) is working; authorisation (what you can do) is not.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CKAD question in full detail.
Application Environment, Configuration and Security — This question tests Application Environment, Configuration and Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: runAsNonRoot: true — The 'restricted' profile in Pod Security Admission enforces the most stringent security standards. Option A is correct because `runAsNonRoot: true` is a required field in the restricted profile, ensuring containers cannot run as the root user, which mitigates privilege escalation risks.
What should I do if I get this CKAD question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A cluster administrator wants to prevent all pods in a namespace from running with privileged escalation. Which Pod Security Admission standard enforces this?
medium
A.baseline
✓ B.restricted
C.privileged
D.high
Why B: The 'restricted' Pod Security Admission (PSA) standard enforces the most stringent security controls, including preventing privileged escalation by setting `securityContext.AllowPrivilegeEscalation` to `false` and requiring containers to run as non-root. This directly addresses the cluster administrator's goal of blocking privilege escalation in all pods within a namespace.
Variation 2. An administrator wants to enforce that all pods in namespace 'secured' must run with a seccomp profile set to 'RuntimeDefault' at the container level. Which Pod Security Admission policy standard achieves this?
hard
A.Set the namespace label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged'
B.Set the namespace label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline'
✓ C.Set the namespace label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted'
D.Set the namespace label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=seccomp'
Why C: The 'restricted' Pod Security Admission (PSA) policy standard enforces the most stringent security controls, including requiring that pods use a seccomp profile set to 'RuntimeDefault' at the container level. This is defined in the Kubernetes Pod Security Standards documentation, where the restricted profile mandates 'seccomp: RuntimeDefault' as a baseline requirement. Therefore, option C is correct because it directly matches the policy that enforces this specific seccomp constraint.
Variation 3. An administrator wants to enforce that all Pods in a namespace run with a read-only root filesystem. Which admission controller should be configured?
medium
A.LimitRange
B.ResourceQuota
C.MutatingAdmissionWebhook
✓ D.Pod Security Admission (PSA)
Why D: Pod Security Admission (PSA) is the correct choice because it enforces Pod Security Standards (PSS) at the namespace level, including the `Restricted` profile which mandates a read-only root filesystem (`readOnlyRootFilesystem: true`). PSA is a built-in admission controller that evaluates pod specifications against predefined security policies and rejects pods that violate them, making it the appropriate tool for this requirement.
Variation 4. Which annotation is used to enforce Pod Security Admission at the 'restricted' level on a namespace?
Why A: Option A is correct because the `pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce` annotation enforces Pod Security Standards (PSS) at the namespace level, and setting it to `restricted` blocks any pod that violates the most stringent set of security controls (e.g., running as root, privileged containers). This is the only annotation that actively prevents non-compliant pods from being created, rather than just warning or logging violations.
Variation 5. You apply a Pod Security Admission label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted' to a namespace. A pod with the following securityContext is created:
securityContext:
runAsUser: 1000
runAsNonRoot: true
capabilities:
drop: ["ALL"]
seccompProfile:
type: RuntimeDefault
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
Will the pod be admitted?
hard
✓ A.Yes, the pod satisfies all restricted profile requirements
B.No, because runAsUser must not be set
C.No, because seccompProfile type must be 'Localhost'
D.No, because the pod must not set capabilities at all
Why A: The Pod Security Admission (PSA) restricted profile requires that pods drop all capabilities, set `runAsNonRoot: true`, set `seccompProfile.type` to `RuntimeDefault` or `Localhost`, set `allowPrivilegeEscalation: false`, and restrict `runAsUser` to a non-root user (which is satisfied by `runAsUser: 1000`). The provided pod meets all these requirements, so it will be admitted. The `runAsUser` field is allowed as long as the user ID is not 0 (root), and the `seccompProfile.type` is correctly set to `RuntimeDefault`, which is one of the permitted values.
Variation 6. You want to apply a Pod Security Admission (PSA) policy that enforces the 'restricted' profile in the 'dev' namespace, but only for Pods that are not exempt. Which TWO steps are required? (Select TWO)
hard
✓ A.Set the label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted' on the namespace
B.Add a 'securityContext' field to the Pod template with 'runAsUser: 1000'
C.Set the label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline' on the namespace
D.Set the label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=restricted' on the namespace
✓ E.Configure Pods to meet the restricted profile requirements, such as setting runAsNonRoot and seccompProfile
Why A: Option A is correct because setting the label 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=restricted' on the namespace instructs the Pod Security Admission controller to reject any Pod that does not meet the restricted profile, unless the Pod is exempt (e.g., system-critical Pods or those with specific exemptions). This label directly enforces the policy at admission time, ensuring only compliant Pods are created in the 'dev' namespace.
Variation 7. A PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) has been replaced by Pod Security Admission. Which of the following commands applies a baseline pod security standard to the namespace 'dev'?
medium
A.kubectl label ns dev pod-security.kubernetes.io/warn=baseline
B.kubectl label ns dev pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=privileged
C.kubectl label ns dev pod-security.kubernetes.io/audit=baseline
✓ D.kubectl label ns dev pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline
Why D: Option D is correct because Pod Security Admission uses labels on namespaces to enforce pod security standards. The label `pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce=baseline` applies the baseline standard, which prevents known privilege escalations while allowing the default minimal pod configuration. This replaces the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) with a built-in admission controller.
Variation 8. Which THREE of the following are characteristics of Pod Security Admission (PSA) standards? (Select three.)
hard
✓ A.PSA can be configured to warn or audit violations without blocking
✓ B.There are three predefined security levels: privileged, baseline, restricted
C.PSA requires Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper to function
✓ D.A namespace can be labeled to enforce a security level for all pods in that namespace
E.PSA is a CustomResourceDefinition (CRD) that must be installed separately
Why A: Option A is correct because Pod Security Admission (PSA) supports three modes: enforce (blocks violations), audit (logs violations in audit logs), and warn (returns a warning to the user). This allows administrators to test or monitor PSA policies without immediately blocking pod creation, which is critical for gradual adoption.
Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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