Kubernetes RBAC controls who or what can perform actions against the Kubernetes API.

RBAC stands for role-based access control.

Core objects

  • Role: permissions inside one namespace
  • ClusterRole: permissions across the cluster
  • RoleBinding: grants a Role to a user, group, or service account
  • ClusterRoleBinding: grants a ClusterRole

Why it matters

RBAC limits what users, applications, controllers, and operators can do.

Good RBAC reduces the blast radius of mistakes or compromised workloads.