KCSA Kubernetes Threat Model Practice Question
A DevOps team uses mutable image tags like `:latest` in their deployment manifests. Under supply chain threat modeling, what vulnerability does this practice introduce?
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
✓
Image Tag Hijacking / Malicious substitution without manifest updates
Mutable image tags allow an attacker who compromises the image registry to overwrite the tag with a malicious binary, causing pods restarting or pulling new instances to execute compromised code without changing the deployment manifest.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Automatic revocation of TLS certificates issued by cert-manager
Why it's wrong here
Image tags are unrelated to TLS certificate management or cert-manager operations.
- ✗
Exposition of etcd database credentials on public DNS servers
Why it's wrong here
Image tags do not expose internal storage credentials or DNS records.
- ✗
Escalation of RBAC permissions from Role to ClusterRole
Why it's wrong here
RBAC scope is controlled via Kubernetes role bindings, not container image tags.
- ✓
Image Tag Hijacking / Malicious substitution without manifest updates
Why this is correct
Because `:latest` can point to different digests over time, a compromised registry allows attackers to replace legitimate images with malicious ones silently.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official CNCF / Linux Foundation exam blueprint
This KCSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF / Linux Foundation 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 KCSA exam.