CV0-004 Operations and Support Practice Question
A cloud engineer is deploying a containerized workload to Google Kubernetes Engine. The security team requires that the container run as a non-root user, that the root filesystem be mounted read-only, and that privilege escalation be disallowed. The engineer wants to enforce these controls at the pod level so that any violating pod is rejected during admission. Which action should the engineer take?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is reaching for PodSecurityPolicy, which looks correct because it names the exact fields, but it was removed from Kubernetes and is no longer available in current GKE clusters.
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
✓
Apply a Pod Security Admission label of restricted to the namespace.
Pod Security Admission is the current Kubernetes mechanism for enforcing pod security standards and is enabled by default in modern GKE releases. Labeling the namespace with the restricted profile causes the admission controller to reject any pod that fails the non-root, read-only root filesystem, and no-privilege-escalation requirements, satisfying the security team's enforcement goal without deprecated APIs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable Binary Authorization on the GKE cluster and require attestations for the workload images.
Why it's wrong here
Binary Authorization verifies that container images were built by trusted authorities and signed with valid attestations. It governs image provenance, not the runtime security context of the pod, so it cannot enforce non-root execution, read-only root filesystems, or blocked privilege escalation, leaving the stated controls unenforced.
- ✗
Create a PodSecurityPolicy with runAsNonRoot, readOnlyRootFilesystem, and allowPrivilegeEscalation set to false, then bind it to the service account.
Why it's wrong here
PodSecurityPolicy was deprecated in Kubernetes 1.21 and removed in 1.25, so it is unavailable in current GKE versions. Even though it once enforced exactly these fields, relying on a removed API means the manifest will be rejected or silently ignored, leaving the workload unprotected and failing the security team's admission requirement.
- ✓
Apply a Pod Security Admission label of restricted to the namespace.
Why this is correct
Pod Security Admission is the built-in replacement for PodSecurityPolicy and enforces the restricted profile through a namespace label. The restricted profile requires runAsNonRoot, disallows privilege escalation, and mandates a read-only root filesystem through the securityContext, so labeling the namespace rejects noncompliant pods at admission exactly as the security team requires.
- ✗
Create a NetworkPolicy that denies ingress to the namespace and set the pod's runAsUser field to 1000.
Why it's wrong here
A NetworkPolicy controls network traffic between pods and does not affect the pod's security context. Setting runAsUser to 1000 in the pod spec is a request, not an enforcement mechanism, so a developer could still deploy a pod that omits the field or escalates privileges, and nothing would reject it at admission.
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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 CompTIA exam blueprint
This CV0-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CV0-004 exam.