CCSP Cloud Application Security Practice Question
A company is deploying a containerized application on Kubernetes. The security team requires that containers run with the least privilege, and that any attempt to escalate privileges within a container is blocked. Which Kubernetes security context setting should be applied to the pod specification?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between preventing privilege escalation and other security controls like dropping capabilities or running as non-root, leading candidates to confuse capability removal with escalation prevention.
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
✓
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
Setting `allowPrivilegeEscalation: false` in the pod's security context directly blocks any attempt by a container process to gain more privileges than its parent process, such as through setuid binaries or syscalls like `setuid()`. This satisfies the requirement to prevent privilege escalation within the container, aligning with the least privilege principle.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
runAsNonRoot: true
Why it's wrong here
Ensures container runs as non-root user but does not block privilege escalation.
- ✗
capabilities: drop: ['ALL']
Why it's wrong here
Drops all capabilities but if the container runs as root, it can still gain capabilities via setuid binaries.
- ✗
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
Why it's wrong here
Makes root filesystem read-only but does not prevent privilege escalation.
- ✓
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
Why this is correct
Prevents privilege escalation, which is the exact requirement.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.