This CKS practice question tests your understanding of system 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.
You need to apply a Pod Security Standard that prevents containers from running as root and disallows privileged escalation. Which TWO levels enforce these requirements?
baseline
Baseline restricts privilege escalation and prevents running as root.
privileged
Why wrong: The privileged profile allows all capabilities and does not enforce restrictions.
restricted
Restricted enforces even more constraints, including those mentioned.
default
Why wrong: Default is not a valid Pod Security Standard level.
unrestricted
Why wrong: Unrestricted is not a valid Pod Security Standard level.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
baseline
The Pod Security Standards (PSS) define three levels: privileged, baseline, and restricted. The baseline level disallows privileged escalation (allowPrivilegeEscalation: false) and prevents containers from running as root by requiring that runAsNonRoot be set to true. The restricted level enforces all baseline requirements plus additional constraints, such as dropping all capabilities and setting seccomp to RuntimeDefault, which also prevents root execution and privileged escalation. Therefore, both baseline and restricted enforce these two specific requirements.
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.
baseline
Why this is correct
Baseline restricts privilege escalation and prevents running as root.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
privileged
Why it's wrong here
The privileged profile allows all capabilities and does not enforce restrictions.
restricted
Why this is correct
Restricted enforces even more constraints, including those mentioned.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
default
Why it's wrong here
Default is not a valid Pod Security Standard level.
unrestricted
Why it's wrong here
Unrestricted is not a valid Pod Security Standard level.
Common exam traps
CNCF often tests the misconception that 'default' or 'unrestricted' are valid PSS levels, when in fact only privileged, baseline, and restricted exist, and candidates may confuse 'privileged' with 'unrestricted' or think that 'default' is a separate level.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Pod Security Standards are enforced via admission controllers (e.g., PodSecurity admission plugin) that evaluate pod specifications against the chosen profile. The baseline profile specifically checks that securityContext.runAsNonRoot is set to true and that securityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation is false (or omitted, defaulting to false). The restricted profile goes further by requiring that all capabilities be dropped (except NET_BIND_SERVICE) and that seccomp be set to RuntimeDefault, which adds a layer of kernel-level sandboxing. In a real-world scenario, a cluster administrator might apply baseline to most namespaces for broad compliance and restricted to high-security namespaces (e.g., those handling sensitive data) to enforce stricter controls.
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
System Hardening — This question tests System Hardening — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: baseline — The Pod Security Standards (PSS) define three levels: privileged, baseline, and restricted. The baseline level disallows privileged escalation (allowPrivilegeEscalation: false) and prevents containers from running as root by requiring that runAsNonRoot be set to true. The restricted level enforces all baseline requirements plus additional constraints, such as dropping all capabilities and setting seccomp to RuntimeDefault, which also prevents root execution and privileged escalation. Therefore, both baseline and restricted enforce these two specific requirements.
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
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