This CKS practice question tests your understanding of cluster setup and hardening. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 TWO of the following are recommended CIS Kubernetes Benchmark controls for securing the kube-apiserver?
Enable insecure port 8080
Why wrong: CIS recommends disabling the insecure port.
Disable anonymous authentication
Correct. CIS recommends --anonymous-auth=false.
Set --authorization-mode to AlwaysAllow
Why wrong: CIS recommends RBAC, not AlwaysAllow.
Enable audit logging
Correct. CIS recommends enabling audit logging.
Disable TLS
Why wrong: CIS recommends enabling TLS.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Disable anonymous authentication
Option B is correct because the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark recommends disabling anonymous authentication to ensure that all requests to the kube-apiserver are authenticated. This prevents unauthenticated users from accessing the API server, which is a critical security control. Option D is correct because enabling audit logging is a recommended control to record all API requests, providing an audit trail for security monitoring and incident response.
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.
Enable insecure port 8080
Why it's wrong here
CIS recommends disabling the insecure port.
Disable anonymous authentication
Why this is correct
Correct. CIS recommends --anonymous-auth=false.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Set --authorization-mode to AlwaysAllow
Why it's wrong here
CIS recommends RBAC, not AlwaysAllow.
Enable audit logging
Why this is correct
Correct. CIS recommends enabling audit logging.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Disable TLS
Why it's wrong here
CIS recommends enabling TLS.
Common exam traps
CNCF often tests the misconception that disabling anonymous authentication is optional or that audit logging is only for compliance, but both are mandatory for a hardened control plane per the CIS Benchmark.
Detailed technical explanation
The kube-apiserver uses TLS to encrypt communication and verify client certificates via the --client-ca-file flag. Disabling anonymous authentication (--anonymous-auth=false) forces all requests to present valid credentials, while audit logging (--audit-log-path) records every request with metadata like user, verb, and resource. In a real-world scenario, a misconfigured cluster with anonymous auth enabled could allow an attacker to enumerate API resources without credentials, leading to privilege escalation.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
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: Disable anonymous authentication — Option B is correct because the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark recommends disabling anonymous authentication to ensure that all requests to the kube-apiserver are authenticated. This prevents unauthenticated users from accessing the API server, which is a critical security control. Option D is correct because enabling audit logging is a recommended control to record all API requests, providing an audit trail for security monitoring and incident response.
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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