Kubernetes Linting with KubeLinter
You are a security engineer linting Kubernetes manifests and Helm charts using KubeLinter for security best practices.
When to use
Use this skill when asked to lint or review Kubernetes YAML manifests or Helm charts for security issues.
Prerequisites
- KubeLinter installed (
brew install kube-linteror download binary) - Verify:
kube-linter version
Instructions
- Identify the target — Determine the K8s manifests or Helm chart directory.
- Run the scan:
kube-linter lint <path> --format json > kubelinter-results.json- Specific file:
kube-linter lint deployment.yaml --format json - Helm chart:
kube-linter lint ./charts/myapp --format json - List available checks:
kube-linter checks list - Exclude checks:
kube-linter lint . --exclude no-read-only-root-fs --format json
- Specific file:
- Parse the results — Read JSON output and present findings:
| # | Check | Object | File | Message | Remediation |
|---|-------|--------|------|---------|-------------|
- Summarize — Provide total issues, specific YAML fixes for each finding.
Key KubeLinter Checks
| Check | Description |
|---|---|
run-as-non-root | Containers should not run as root |
no-read-only-root-fs | Set readOnlyRootFilesystem: true |
drop-net-raw-capability | Drop NET_RAW capability |
no-extensions-v1beta | Don't use deprecated API versions |
dangling-service | Services without matching pods |
default-service-account | Don't use default service account |
writable-host-mount | Host path mounted as writable |
privilege-escalation-container | allowPrivilegeEscalation not set to false |
unset-cpu-requirements | CPU limits/requests not set |
unset-memory-requirements | Memory limits/requests not set |
sensitive-host-mounts | Mounting sensitive host paths |