CKS Monitoring, Logging and Runtime Security Practice Question
You have configured an audit policy with level: Request. Which request information is logged?
⚠ Common exam trap
CKS often tests the distinction between Request and RequestResponse audit levels — candidates must remember that Request includes the request body but not the response body.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Request metadata and request body
In the Kubernetes audit policy, the Request level logs the request metadata (who, what, when, where) plus the request body, but not the response body. This is useful for capturing what was sent to the API server without the overhead of logging responses. The Response level would additionally log the response body.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Only metadata for the request
Why it's wrong here
The Request audit level is defined in Kubernetes to log the request metadata (user, groups, verb, resource, namespace, source IP, and user-agent) along with the request body. Restricting the log to only metadata describes the Metadata level, which deliberately omits both request and response bodies. Because you configured Request, the output must include the request body, so logging only metadata is incorrect.
- ✗
Nothing is logged because Request is not a valid level
Why it's wrong here
Request is one of the four valid audit levels defined by Kubernetes: None, Metadata, Request, and RequestResponse. The API server accepts Request as a valid policy level and will log the corresponding audit events; it is not an invalid or unrecognized value. Therefore, the claim that nothing is logged is false—the API server will generate audit entries for every matching request according to the configured level.
- ✓
Request metadata and request body
Why this is correct
When the audit policy level is set to Request, the Kubernetes API server logs a structured audit event containing the full request metadata and the raw request body. This level sits between Metadata, which omits the body, and RequestResponse, which additionally includes the response body. It is the correct behavior for a policy configured with the Request level, matching the official audit level specification.
- ✗
Request metadata, request body, and response body
Why it's wrong here
The RequestResponse audit level is what captures the request metadata, request body, and response body. The Request level, by contrast, stops after recording the request metadata and request body and intentionally excludes the response body to reduce logging overhead and storage consumption. Since your policy specifies Request, including response bodies would correspond to a more verbose level than configured.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CNCF exam blueprint
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.