kube-bench

New
assess
First Added:May 27, 2026

kube-bench runs CIS Kubernetes Benchmark checks against the control plane and nodes. It reports pass/fail per hardening recommendation. We assess it alongside Kubescape before picking a standard cluster compliance scanner.

Blurb

kube-bench is a Go application that checks whether Kubernetes is deployed securely by running the checks documented in the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark.

Summary

Lenskube-benchKubescape
FocusCIS benchmark sections per K8s versionBroader frameworks (NSA, MITRE, signed controls)
Run modelJob on node or master; JSON reportsCLI, operator, CI on manifests
Best fitCIS audit evidence for regulated K8sMulti-framework posture and PR checks

When to use: auditors ask for CIS-aligned evidence; you need a well-known benchmark mapping per K8s minor version.

When to skip: only application-level security matters; already standardized on Kubescape with overlapping CIS coverage.