An example Kubernetes audit policy

audit-policy-example.yml

---
apiVersion: audit.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Policy
rules:
  # The following requests were manually identified as high-volume and low-risk,
  # so drop them.
  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - endpoints
          - services
          - services/status
    users:
      - 'system:kube-proxy'
    verbs:
      - watch

  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - nodes
          - nodes/status
    userGroups:
      - 'system:nodes'
    verbs:
      - get

  - level: None
    namespaces:
      - kube-system
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - endpoints
    users:
      - 'system:kube-controller-manager'
      - 'system:kube-scheduler'
      - 'system:serviceaccount:kube-system:endpoint-controller'
    verbs:
      - get
      - update

  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - namespaces
          - namespaces/status
          - namespaces/finalize
    users:
      - 'system:apiserver'
    verbs:
      - get

  # Don't log HPA fetching metrics.
  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: metrics.k8s.io
    users:
      - 'system:kube-controller-manager'
    verbs:
      - get
      - list

  # Don't log these read-only URLs.
  - level: None
    nonResourceURLs:
      - '/healthz*'
      - /version
      - '/swagger*'

  # Don't log events requests.
  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - events

  # node and pod status calls from nodes are high-volume and can be large, don't log responses for expected updates from nodes
  - level: Request
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - nodes/status
          - pods/status
    users:
      - kubelet
      - 'system:node-problem-detector'
      - 'system:serviceaccount:kube-system:node-problem-detector'
    verbs:
      - update
      - patch

  - level: Request
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - nodes/status
          - pods/status
    userGroups:
      - 'system:nodes'
    verbs:
      - update
      - patch

  # deletecollection calls can be large, don't log responses for expected namespace deletions
  - level: Request
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    users:
      - 'system:serviceaccount:kube-system:namespace-controller'
    verbs:
      - deletecollection

  # Secrets, ConfigMaps, and TokenReviews can contain sensitive & binary data,
  # so only log at the Metadata level.
  - level: Metadata
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    resources:
      - group: ""
        resources:
          - secrets
          - configmaps
      - group: authentication.k8s.io
        resources:
          - tokenreviews
  # Get repsonses can be large; skip them.
  - level: Request
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    resources:
      - group: ""
      - group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
      - group: apiextensions.k8s.io
      - group: apiregistration.k8s.io
      - group: apps
      - group: authentication.k8s.io
      - group: authorization.k8s.io
      - group: autoscaling
      - group: batch
      - group: certificates.k8s.io
      - group: extensions
      - group: metrics.k8s.io
      - group: networking.k8s.io
      - group: policy
      - group: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
      - group: scheduling.k8s.io
      - group: settings.k8s.io
      - group: storage.k8s.io
    verbs:
      - get
      - list
      - watch

  # Default level for known APIs
  - level: RequestResponse
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived
    resources:
      - group: ""
      - group: admissionregistration.k8s.io
      - group: apiextensions.k8s.io
      - group: apiregistration.k8s.io
      - group: apps
      - group: authentication.k8s.io
      - group: authorization.k8s.io
      - group: autoscaling
      - group: batch
      - group: certificates.k8s.io
      - group: extensions
      - group: metrics.k8s.io
      - group: networking.k8s.io
      - group: policy
      - group: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
      - group: scheduling.k8s.io
      - group: settings.k8s.io
      - group: storage.k8s.io
      
  # Default level for all other requests.
  - level: Metadata
    omitStages:
      - RequestReceived