This CKS practice question tests your understanding of cluster setup and hardening. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 admission plugin should be used to enforce Pod Security Standards at the namespace level?
PodSecurity
This plugin enforces Pod Security Standards.
PodSecurityPolicy
Why wrong: PodSecurityPolicy is deprecated and removed in v1.25+.
NodeRestriction
Why wrong: NodeRestriction is for kubelet restrictions, not pod security.
SecurityContextDeny
Why wrong: This plugin is deprecated and not the standard way.
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
Option A is correct because the PodSecurity admission plugin is the successor to PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) and is designed specifically to enforce Pod Security Standards (PSS) at the namespace level. It evaluates pods against the three predefined PSS levels (privileged, baseline, restricted) based on labels set on the namespace, and can be configured in warn, audit, or enforce mode. This plugin is built into the kube-apiserver and is the recommended approach for pod security in Kubernetes v1.25 and later.
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.
PodSecurity
Why this is correct
This plugin enforces Pod Security Standards.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
PodSecurityPolicy
Why it's wrong here
PodSecurityPolicy is deprecated and removed in v1.25+.
NodeRestriction
Why it's wrong here
NodeRestriction is for kubelet restrictions, not pod security.
SecurityContextDeny
Why it's wrong here
This plugin is deprecated and not the standard way.
Common exam traps
CNCF often tests the fact that PodSecurityPolicy is deprecated and removed, so candidates who studied older material may mistakenly choose PodSecurityPolicy, not realizing it has been replaced by the PodSecurity admission plugin.
Detailed technical explanation
The PodSecurity plugin works by inspecting the namespace's 'pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce' label to determine which PSS level to apply, and it evaluates each pod's security context against the allowed profiles. Under the hood, it uses the same policy logic as the Pod Security Standards, which are defined in the Kubernetes API as a set of restrictions on fields like 'securityContext.capabilities', 'securityContext.privileged', and 'securityContext.seLinuxOptions'. A real-world scenario where this matters is in multi-tenant clusters where different namespaces require different security levels, such as allowing privileged pods in a system namespace but restricting them in user-facing namespaces.
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 — Option A is correct because the PodSecurity admission plugin is the successor to PodSecurityPolicy (PSP) and is designed specifically to enforce Pod Security Standards (PSS) at the namespace level. It evaluates pods against the three predefined PSS levels (privileged, baseline, restricted) based on labels set on the namespace, and can be configured in warn, audit, or enforce mode. This plugin is built into the kube-apiserver and is the recommended approach for pod security in Kubernetes v1.25 and later.
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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