
Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs
- 336 installs
- 27.3k repo stars
- Updated August 2, 2026
- mukul975/anthropic-cybersecurity-skills
Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs is an agent skill that guides review of K8s API audit events for security threats, misconfigurations, and incident timelines.
About
Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs is a security-oriented agent skill for solo builders and small teams who run workloads on Kubernetes and need to understand control-plane activity beyond metrics dashboards. Audit logs record requests to the API server—who created roles, patched secrets, exec’d into pods, or changed network policies—making them essential for ship-phase security reviews and operate-phase incident response. Use the skill when you are hardening a cluster before launch, investigating suspicious changes, or documenting access for compliance. It emphasizes structured review of audit events rather than ad-hoc kubectl grepping. Pair it with your cluster’s audit policy configuration and log shipping setup; outputs are findings and timelines you can act on in RBAC, admission controls, or monitoring.
- Kubernetes audit log investigation workflow for API server events
- Threat-hunting patterns for privileged operations and configuration drift
- Supports pre-launch security review and post-incident forensics on clusters
- Fits solo operators running K8s on managed clouds or self-hosted control planes
- Part of Anthropic cybersecurity skills corpus (Apache-2.0 licensed)
Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs by the numbers
- 336 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- +21 installs in the week ending Aug 4, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
- Ranked #598 of 2,203 Security skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 336 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 27.3k |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | August 2, 2026 |
| Repository | mukul975/anthropic-cybersecurity-skills ↗ |
What it does
Investigate Kubernetes API activity, spot risky changes, and support incident or compliance reviews from cluster audit logs.
Who is it for?
Best when you're shipping on Kubernetes and must pass a security self-review without a full SOC team.
Skip if: Skip if you have no Kubernetes footprint or those and only need application-level unit tests without cluster forensics.
When should I use this skill?
You need to investigate Kubernetes API server audit logs for security issues, compliance evidence, or incident timelines.
What you get
You produce a prioritized read of suspicious API activity, affected resources, and follow-up hardening or monitoring steps.
- Prioritized suspicious event list
- Incident or review timeline
- Recommended RBAC or policy follow-ups
Files
Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs
When to Use
- When investigating security incidents that require analyzing kubernetes audit logs
- When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
- When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
- When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
Prerequisites
- Familiarity with container security concepts and tools
- Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
- Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
- Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Instructions
Parse Kubernetes audit log files (JSON lines format) to detect security-relevant events including unauthorized access, privilege escalation, and data exfiltration.
import json
with open("/var/log/kubernetes/audit.log") as f:
for line in f:
event = json.loads(line)
verb = event.get("verb")
resource = event.get("objectRef", {}).get("resource")
user = event.get("user", {}).get("username")
if verb == "create" and resource == "pods/exec":
print(f"Pod exec by {user}")Key events to detect: 1. pods/exec and pods/attach (shell into containers) 2. secrets access (get/list/watch) 3. clusterrolebindings creation (RBAC escalation) 4. Privileged pod creation 5. Anonymous or system:unauthenticated access
Examples
# Detect secret enumeration
if verb in ("get", "list") and resource == "secrets":
print(f"Secret access: {user} -> {event['objectRef'].get('name')}")
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API Reference: Analyzing Kubernetes Audit Logs
Audit Log Format (JSON Lines)
{
"kind": "Event",
"apiVersion": "audit.k8s.io/v1",
"level": "RequestResponse",
"verb": "create",
"user": {"username": "admin", "groups": ["system:masters"]},
"sourceIPs": ["10.0.0.5"],
"objectRef": {
"resource": "pods",
"subresource": "exec",
"namespace": "default",
"name": "web-pod"
},
"responseStatus": {"code": 200},
"requestReceivedTimestamp": "2025-03-15T14:00:00Z"
}Security-Critical Audit Events
| Event | objectRef | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Pod exec | resource: pods, subresource: exec | HIGH |
| Secret access | resource: secrets, verb: get/list | HIGH |
| RBAC change | resource: clusterrolebindings | CRITICAL |
| Privileged pod | requestObject.spec.containers[].securityContext.privileged | CRITICAL |
| Anonymous access | user.username: system:anonymous | CRITICAL |
Audit Policy Levels
| Level | Captures |
|---|---|
| None | No logging |
| Metadata | Timestamp, user, verb, resource |
| Request | Metadata + request body |
| RequestResponse | Request + response body |
Python Parsing
import json
with open("audit.log") as f:
for line in f:
event = json.loads(line)
print(event["verb"], event["objectRef"]["resource"])References
- K8s Auditing: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/audit/
- Audit policy: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/config-api/apiserver-audit.v1/
- Datadog k8s audit: https://www.datadoghq.com/blog/monitor-kubernetes-audit-logs/
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Agent for analyzing Kubernetes audit logs for security threats."""
import json
import argparse
from collections import defaultdict
from datetime import datetime
def parse_audit_log(log_path):
"""Parse Kubernetes audit log file (JSON lines format)."""
events = []
with open(log_path) as f:
for line in f:
line = line.strip()
if not line:
continue
try:
events.append(json.loads(line))
except json.JSONDecodeError:
continue
return events
def detect_pod_exec(events):
"""Detect kubectl exec and attach events (shell access to pods)."""
findings = []
for event in events:
obj_ref = event.get("objectRef", {})
subresource = obj_ref.get("subresource", "")
if subresource in ("exec", "attach"):
findings.append({
"timestamp": event.get("requestReceivedTimestamp", ""),
"user": event.get("user", {}).get("username", ""),
"groups": event.get("user", {}).get("groups", []),
"verb": event.get("verb", ""),
"namespace": obj_ref.get("namespace", ""),
"pod": obj_ref.get("name", ""),
"subresource": subresource,
"source_ip": event.get("sourceIPs", [""])[0],
"severity": "HIGH",
})
return findings
def detect_secret_access(events):
"""Detect access to Kubernetes secrets."""
findings = []
for event in events:
obj_ref = event.get("objectRef", {})
if obj_ref.get("resource") != "secrets":
continue
verb = event.get("verb", "")
if verb not in ("get", "list", "watch", "create", "update", "delete"):
continue
findings.append({
"timestamp": event.get("requestReceivedTimestamp", ""),
"user": event.get("user", {}).get("username", ""),
"verb": verb,
"namespace": obj_ref.get("namespace", ""),
"secret_name": obj_ref.get("name", ""),
"source_ip": event.get("sourceIPs", [""])[0],
"severity": "HIGH" if verb in ("list", "delete") else "MEDIUM",
})
return findings
def detect_rbac_changes(events):
"""Detect RBAC role and binding modifications."""
rbac_resources = {"clusterroles", "clusterrolebindings", "roles", "rolebindings"}
findings = []
for event in events:
obj_ref = event.get("objectRef", {})
resource = obj_ref.get("resource", "")
verb = event.get("verb", "")
if resource in rbac_resources and verb in ("create", "update", "patch", "delete"):
findings.append({
"timestamp": event.get("requestReceivedTimestamp", ""),
"user": event.get("user", {}).get("username", ""),
"verb": verb,
"resource": resource,
"name": obj_ref.get("name", ""),
"namespace": obj_ref.get("namespace", ""),
"source_ip": event.get("sourceIPs", [""])[0],
"severity": "CRITICAL" if "cluster" in resource else "HIGH",
})
return findings
def detect_privileged_pods(events):
"""Detect creation of privileged pods."""
findings = []
for event in events:
if event.get("verb") != "create":
continue
obj_ref = event.get("objectRef", {})
if obj_ref.get("resource") != "pods":
continue
request_obj = event.get("requestObject", {})
spec = request_obj.get("spec", {})
containers = spec.get("containers", [])
for container in containers:
sc = container.get("securityContext", {})
if sc.get("privileged"):
findings.append({
"timestamp": event.get("requestReceivedTimestamp", ""),
"user": event.get("user", {}).get("username", ""),
"namespace": obj_ref.get("namespace", ""),
"pod": obj_ref.get("name", ""),
"container": container.get("name", ""),
"severity": "CRITICAL",
})
return findings
def detect_anonymous_access(events):
"""Detect API access by anonymous or unauthenticated users."""
findings = []
anon_users = {"system:anonymous", "system:unauthenticated"}
for event in events:
user = event.get("user", {}).get("username", "")
groups = event.get("user", {}).get("groups", [])
if user in anon_users or "system:unauthenticated" in groups:
status_code = event.get("responseStatus", {}).get("code", 0)
if status_code < 400:
findings.append({
"timestamp": event.get("requestReceivedTimestamp", ""),
"user": user,
"verb": event.get("verb", ""),
"resource": event.get("objectRef", {}).get("resource", ""),
"source_ip": event.get("sourceIPs", [""])[0],
"status_code": status_code,
"severity": "CRITICAL",
})
return findings
def detect_forbidden_surge(events, threshold=20):
"""Detect 403 surges indicating enumeration or brute force."""
user_forbidden = defaultdict(int)
for event in events:
if event.get("responseStatus", {}).get("code") == 403:
user = event.get("user", {}).get("username", "")
user_forbidden[user] += 1
surges = []
for user, count in user_forbidden.items():
if count >= threshold:
surges.append({"user": user, "forbidden_count": count, "severity": "MEDIUM"})
return sorted(surges, key=lambda x: x["forbidden_count"], reverse=True)
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Kubernetes Audit Log Analyzer")
parser.add_argument("--audit-log", required=True, help="Path to audit log file")
parser.add_argument("--output", default="k8s_audit_report.json")
parser.add_argument("--action", choices=[
"exec", "secrets", "rbac", "privileged", "anonymous", "full_analysis"
], default="full_analysis")
args = parser.parse_args()
events = parse_audit_log(args.audit_log)
report = {"log_file": args.audit_log, "total_events": len(events),
"generated_at": datetime.utcnow().isoformat(), "findings": {}}
print(f"[+] Parsed {len(events)} audit events")
if args.action in ("exec", "full_analysis"):
findings = detect_pod_exec(events)
report["findings"]["pod_exec"] = findings
print(f"[+] Pod exec/attach events: {len(findings)}")
if args.action in ("secrets", "full_analysis"):
findings = detect_secret_access(events)
report["findings"]["secret_access"] = findings
print(f"[+] Secret access events: {len(findings)}")
if args.action in ("rbac", "full_analysis"):
findings = detect_rbac_changes(events)
report["findings"]["rbac_changes"] = findings
print(f"[+] RBAC changes: {len(findings)}")
if args.action in ("privileged", "full_analysis"):
findings = detect_privileged_pods(events)
report["findings"]["privileged_pods"] = findings
print(f"[+] Privileged pod creation: {len(findings)}")
if args.action in ("anonymous", "full_analysis"):
findings = detect_anonymous_access(events)
report["findings"]["anonymous_access"] = findings
print(f"[+] Anonymous access events: {len(findings)}")
forbidden = detect_forbidden_surge(events)
report["findings"]["forbidden_surges"] = forbidden
print(f"[+] 403 surges: {len(forbidden)}")
with open(args.output, "w") as f:
json.dump(report, f, indent=2, default=str)
print(f"[+] Report saved to {args.output}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
Related skills
How it compares
Cluster audit forensics skill—not a generic linter or non-Kubernetes cloud trail analyzer.
FAQ
Who is analyzing-kubernetes-audit-logs for?
Developers and operators on Kubernetes who need to interpret audit logs for security reviews, incidents, or compliance evidence.
When should I use analyzing-kubernetes-audit-logs?
In ship during security review before production; in operate when investigating anomalies, RBAC changes, or secret access after an alert.
Is analyzing-kubernetes-audit-logs safe to install?
Treat cluster logs as sensitive; review the Security Audits panel on this page and limit agent permissions to least-privilege kube access.