7 Ways to Secure Kubernetes Endpoints Using Teleport in 2025

Cybersecurity attacks are rising in their complexity and effectiveness against critical digital resources across industries.  For instance, Cryptojacking - an attack aimed at hijacking computer resources for crypto-mining - seems to be the latest addition to the list of container-based attacks. 

Such attacks raise concerns for Kubernetes endpoint security. DevOps and security teams have been looking for tools to help them protect their containerized environments without disrupting critical processes. One such tool that promises unified and scalable security support for Kubernetes is Teleport. In this blog, we will discuss about the ways in which Teleport can help protect Kubernetes from emerging threats.

Rising Threats for Kubernetes

Cryptojacking isn’t the only attack targeting Kubernetes endpoint vulnerabilities. With exposure to cloud-native environments, IaC-based infrastructure, and integration with third-party tools, the attack surface around Kubernetes has unfolded much more. Here are some threats to Kubernetes endpoints that have been worrying security and DevOps teams so far:

• API Security: Integration with third-party applications leaves Kubernetes APIs vulnerable to unauthorized access and data breach attacks

• Runtime Risks: Runtime environments are more vulnerable to malicious attacks and misconfigured workloads

• Unauthorized Access: Access controls are often easily misconfigured primarily when handled manually. This leaves the K8s environment open for attack by unauthenticated users
• Mismanaged Secrets: A lot of IaC scripts have hard-coded secrets that can be accessed and maliciously utilized by the attackers

Owing to these risks, a tool like Teleport becomes critical in protecting the K8s endpoints to ensure secure DevOps processes.

Teleport Security for Kubernetes Endpoints

Protecting Kubernetes endpoints is a function of multiple factors, including access control, encryption, regulatory compliance, and more. Here are different ways Teleport makes it possible

Zero-Trust Access

Teleport enforces zero-trust security where access is presumptuously taken away from any user unless they are strictly authenticated. This ensures that every user uses a mindful authorization process to access any Kubernetes endpoint. Teleport implements features like Single-sign (SSO) or multi-factor authentication (MFA). The most significant advantage of zero trust is that it eliminates static credentials like API keys, making it hard for unauthorized users to access the endpoints. Additionally, Teleport also offers Just-inTime (JIT) access where the access credentials are temporary and, therefore, cannot be used after a certain time even if leaked.

Role-based Access

Apart from Zero trust, teleport has other access control features that can further protect the K8s endpoints. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is one such measure where the access policies ensure that users can’t access resources that are not directly related to them. For Teleport, RBAC is so simplified that it works well on multi-cloud environments where multiple resources and workloads are shared among multiple users. Teleport offers a centralized control that enables the administrator to define role-based permissions for all the clusters in their scope. Even better, Teleport makes the role-mapping dynamic to ensure that users aren’t deprived of resources necessary for their assigned tasks, even with least-privilege access. 

mTLS

More secure than the encryption offerings by Transport Layer Security (TLS) Mutual TLS (mTLS) offers a two-way authentication to the Kubernetes endpoints. Teleport offers these features to help the different Kubernetes components stay encrypted to avoid unwanted access.  The tool locks the APIs down to ensure only trusted users can communicate with them when required. Demanding valid certificates at both the client and the server end, Teleport makes Kubernetes endpoints secure and more accountable. Teleport also handles issuing, renewing, rotation, and removal, among other tasks in certification management. With automated mTLS, the attack surface for K8 endpoints is significantly reduced.

Secret Management

Kubernetes endpoints are traditionally protected by secrets, including API news, passwords, account tokens, and more. If left unchecked, these secrets can easily lead to access from malicious actors. Teleport eliminates the need for static credentials by implementing identity-based authentication. This helps ensure dynamic access points that can be consistently updated to avoid any leaks. Instead of storing secrets in plaintext, Teleport offers cloud-native secret management to provide secure access tokens at runtime. Secret management can minimize the chances of credential leakage and unauthorized access. Teleport also provides a centralized audit mechanism to keep tabs dedicated to secret usage.

Kubelet Access Protection

Kubelet API in Kubernetes is dedicated to managing node and prod operations for the platform. This makes it a lucrative attack point for threat actors, as access to Kublet can let them easily exploit the Kubernetes workloads. Teleport avoids this possibility by implementing strict authentication and authorization policies for the API. It ensures that only trusted users and services can interact with Kubelet and enforces the necessary network policies like x509 certificates for authentication. Additionally, Teleport offers session auditing, which lets the security admins track all Kubelet API interactions and makes it more transparent about any suspicious activity.

Kubernetes Admission Control

Admission controllers are a unique line of defense for Kubernetes endpoints as they intercept any required coming to the APIs. Teleport further enhances their capabilities by empowering them to enforce real-time security policy. Integrated with Teleport, these controllers can ensure a predefined security standard for all API requests. Teleport leverages controllers like ValidatingAdmissionWebhooks and MutatingAdmissionWebhooks that can help evaluate and modify the API requests before executions. This prevents unauthorized deployments and restricts undesirable privileged access to any user. 

Security Monitoring

Apart from security measures, Teleport also offers effective monitoring features to ensure any potential threats and vulnerabilities are identified as early as possible. It offers real-time auditing, session recording, and access logging to ensure any unwanted behavior regarding the K8s endpoints is duly noted and flagged for security concerns.

Conclusion

To handle all the different types of services it offers, Kubernetes needs to manage many network connections. These endpoints are highly sought-after targets for malicious attackers as they are much easier to exploit than the other parts of the digital ecosystem. Moreover, attacking these endpoints allows attackers to exploit a larger business-critical surface for their purposes. Teleport is an effective tool against endpoint vulnerabilities with all its security offerings discussed above. With the right security strategies and mindful tool implementation, security admins can stay assured about Kubernetes security.