This CKS practice question tests your understanding of cluster setup and hardening. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
To enforce Pod Security Standards at the namespace level, which admission plugin must be enabled on the API server?
SecurityContextDeny
Why wrong: This is an older plugin that denies pods with certain security contexts, not the standard enforcement.
NodeRestriction
Why wrong: This restricts kubelet permissions, not pod security.
PodSecurityPolicy
Why wrong: PodSecurityPolicy is deprecated and removed in Kubernetes 1.25+. The replacement is PodSecurity.
PodSecurity
This plugin enforces Pod Security Standards.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
PodSecurity
Pod Security Standards (PSS) are enforced at the namespace level using the PodSecurity admission plugin, which was introduced in Kubernetes v1.23 and graduated to stable in v1.25. This plugin evaluates pods against the predefined security levels (privileged, baseline, restricted) based on labels on the namespace, replacing the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
SecurityContextDeny
Why it's wrong here
This is an older plugin that denies pods with certain security contexts, not the standard enforcement.
NodeRestriction
Why it's wrong here
This restricts kubelet permissions, not pod security.
PodSecurityPolicy
Why it's wrong here
PodSecurityPolicy is deprecated and removed in Kubernetes 1.25+. The replacement is PodSecurity.
PodSecurity
Why this is correct
This plugin enforces Pod Security Standards.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
CNCF often tests the distinction between the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) and the current PodSecurity admission plugin, leading candidates to mistakenly select PSP because they recall 'Pod Security' in the name, but PSP is no longer available in recent Kubernetes versions.
Detailed technical explanation
The PodSecurity admission plugin works by evaluating pods against the security profile defined by the `pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce` label on the namespace. It uses a three-tier mode (privileged, baseline, restricted) and can be configured with warn, audit, or enforce modes. Under the hood, it performs static analysis of the pod spec against a set of predefined checks (e.g., seccomp profile, runAsNonRoot, capabilities) without requiring a separate API resource like PSP did.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A security administrator must allow nursing staff to reach a patient records server while blocking access from the guest Wi-Fi VLAN. After applying an extended ACL, traffic is still blocked from nursing workstations. The ACL was applied outbound instead of inbound on the wrong interface. Questions like this test ACL direction and placement rules.
What to study next
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FAQ
Cluster Setup and Hardening — This question tests Cluster Setup and Hardening — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: PodSecurity — Pod Security Standards (PSS) are enforced at the namespace level using the PodSecurity admission plugin, which was introduced in Kubernetes v1.23 and graduated to stable in v1.25. This plugin evaluates pods against the predefined security levels (privileged, baseline, restricted) based on labels on the namespace, replacing the deprecated PodSecurityPolicy.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This CKS practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CKS exam.
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