API Authentication - Kubernetes Dashboard

Overview

The Kubernetes Dashboard API uses Bearer token authentication to authenticate requests. The API acts as a proxy to the Kubernetes API server, forwarding authentication credentials to ensure proper authorization.

Authentication Methods

Bearer Token Authentication

The primary authentication method is Bearer token authentication using Kubernetes service account tokens or OIDC tokens.

Request Header

Authorization: Bearer <token>

Example

curl -X GET \
  'https://dashboard.example.com/api/v1/pod' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6IiJ9...'

Token Extraction

The API extracts Bearer tokens from the Authorization header:

func extractBearerToken(header string) string {
    return strings.TrimPrefix(header, "Bearer ")
}

Token Validation

The Dashboard does not validate tokens directly. Instead, it forwards them to the Kubernetes API server, which performs validation and authorization.

Client Initialization

The API supports two client modes:

In-Cluster Client

Used for cluster-wide operations with the Dashboard’s service account:

config := rest.InClusterConfig()
client := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)

Per-Request Client

Created for each user request with their Bearer token:

config := rest.Config{
    Host: apiServerHost,
    BearerToken: extractedToken,
}
client := kubernetes.NewForConfig(config)

Authorization

RBAC Integration

The Dashboard respects Kubernetes RBAC policies. User permissions are determined by:

The service account associated with their token
Roles and ClusterRoles bound to that service account
RoleBindings and ClusterRoleBindings

Permission Checking

The API provides a permission checking endpoint:

POST /api/v1/can-i

endpoint

Check if the authenticated user has permission to perform an action

Request Body

{
  "verb": "get",
  "resource": "pods",
  "namespace": "default"
}

Response

{
  "allowed": true
}

Self-Subject Access Review

The API uses Kubernetes SelfSubjectAccessReview to check permissions:

func CanI(request *http.Request, ssar *v1.SelfSubjectAccessReview) bool {
    k8sClient, err := Client(request)
    response, err := k8sClient.AuthorizationV1().
        SelfSubjectAccessReviews().
        Create(context.TODO(), ssar, metaV1.CreateOptions{})
    return response.Status.Allowed
}

Service Accounts

Dashboard Service Account

The Dashboard typically runs with its own service account:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: kubernetes-dashboard
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Creating User Service Accounts

Create a service account for API access:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: dashboard-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: dashboard-user
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: cluster-admin
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: dashboard-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Extracting Service Account Token

Kubernetes 1.24+

Create a token manually:

kubectl create token dashboard-user -n kubernetes-dashboard

Kubernetes < 1.24

Extract from the secret:

kubectl get secret $(kubectl get serviceaccount dashboard-user -n kubernetes-dashboard -o jsonpath='{.secrets[0].name}') -n kubernetes-dashboard -o jsonpath='{.data.token}' | base64 -d

TLS/SSL Configuration

Certificate Management

The Dashboard API supports TLS with automatic certificate generation:

--tls-cert-file

string

Path to the TLS certificate file

--tls-key-file

string

Path to the TLS private key file

--auto-generate-certificates

boolean

default:"false"

Enable automatic certificate generation using ECDSA P-256

--default-cert-dir

string

default:"/certs"

Directory for auto-generated certificates

TLS Configuration

Minimum TLS version is set to TLS 1.2:

tlsConfig := &tls.Config{
    Certificates: certificates,
    MinVersion:   tls.VersionTLS12,
}

API Server Connection

Configuration Options

--apiserver-host

string

The address of the Kubernetes API server (overrides in-cluster config)

--kubeconfig

string

Path to kubeconfig file (for out-of-cluster development)

--apiserver-skip-tls-verify

boolean

default:"false"

Skip TLS verification for the API server connection

--apiserver-ca-bundle

string

Path to custom CA bundle for API server verification

Connection Verification

On startup, the API verifies connectivity to the Kubernetes API server:

versionInfo, err := client.InClusterClient().Discovery().ServerVersion()
if err != nil {
    klog.Fatalf("Error while initializing connection to Kubernetes apiserver")
}
klog.InfoS("Successful initial request to the apiserver", "version", versionInfo.String())

Proxy Mode

For development, the Dashboard can run in proxy mode:

--proxy

boolean

default:"false"

Enable proxy mode (disables in-cluster client connections)

In proxy mode:

In-cluster client is disabled
All requests use per-request authentication
Metrics integration is disabled

Security Headers

Authorization Header Handling

The API checks for the Authorization header:

func HasAuthorizationHeader(req *http.Request) bool {
    header := req.Header.Get("Authorization")
    if len(header) == 0 {
        return false
    }
    token := extractBearerToken(header)
    return strings.HasPrefix(header, "Bearer ") && len(token) > 0
}

Setting Authorization Headers

For internal requests, the API sets authorization headers:

func SetAuthorizationHeader(req *http.Request, token string) {
    req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer " + token)
}

Client Caching

The API supports client caching for improved performance:

--cache-enabled

boolean

default:"false"

Enable client-side caching

When enabled, the API caches Kubernetes client instances per token.

User Agent

The Dashboard identifies itself to the API server:

User-Agent: kubernetes-dashboard/{version}

Error Responses

401 Unauthorized

Returned when no valid Bearer token is provided:

{
  "status": "Failure",
  "message": "Unauthorized",
  "reason": "Unauthorized",
  "code": 401
}

403 Forbidden

Returned when the token is valid but lacks permissions:

{
  "status": "Failure",
  "message": "pods is forbidden: User \"system:serviceaccount:default:viewer\" cannot list resource \"pods\" in API group \"\" in the namespace \"kube-system\"",
  "reason": "Forbidden",
  "code": 403
}

Example: Complete Authentication Flow

Step 1: Create Service Account

kubectl create serviceaccount api-user -n kubernetes-dashboard

Step 2: Create Role Binding

kubectl create clusterrolebinding api-user-binding \
  --clusterrole=view \
  --serviceaccount=kubernetes-dashboard:api-user

Step 3: Get Token

TOKEN=$(kubectl create token api-user -n kubernetes-dashboard)

Step 4: Make Authenticated Request

curl -X GET \
  'https://dashboard.example.com/api/v1/pod/default' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'

Response

{
  "listMeta": {
    "totalItems": 5
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "objectMeta": {
        "name": "nginx-pod",
        "namespace": "default"
      },
      "status": "Running"
    }
  ]
}

Best Practices

Security Recommendations

Use RBAC: Always use role-based access control with minimal required permissions
Token Rotation: Regularly rotate service account tokens
TLS Only: Always use HTTPS in production
Token Scope: Create service accounts with specific namespace or resource access
Avoid admin: Don’t bind service accounts to cluster-admin unless absolutely necessary

Example: Read-Only Access

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: dashboard-viewer
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: view
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: dashboard-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Example: Namespace-Specific Access

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: dashboard-user-binding
  namespace: production
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: edit
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: dashboard-user
  namespace: kubernetes-dashboard

Developer Guide

API Reference

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Authentication Methods

​Bearer Token Authentication

​Request Header

​Example

​Token Extraction

​Token Validation

​Client Initialization

​In-Cluster Client

​Per-Request Client

​Authorization

​RBAC Integration

​Permission Checking

​Request Body

​Response

​Self-Subject Access Review

​Service Accounts

​Dashboard Service Account

​Creating User Service Accounts

​Extracting Service Account Token

​Kubernetes 1.24+

​Kubernetes < 1.24

​TLS/SSL Configuration

​Certificate Management

​TLS Configuration

​API Server Connection

​Configuration Options

​Connection Verification

​Proxy Mode

​Security Headers

​Authorization Header Handling

​Setting Authorization Headers

​Client Caching

​User Agent

​Error Responses

​401 Unauthorized

​403 Forbidden

​Example: Complete Authentication Flow

​Step 1: Create Service Account

​Step 2: Create Role Binding

​Step 3: Get Token

​Step 4: Make Authenticated Request

​Response

​Best Practices

​Security Recommendations

​Example: Read-Only Access

​Example: Namespace-Specific Access

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Authentication Methods

Bearer Token Authentication

Request Header

Example

Token Extraction

Token Validation

Client Initialization

In-Cluster Client

Per-Request Client

Authorization

RBAC Integration

Permission Checking

Request Body

Response

Self-Subject Access Review

Service Accounts

Dashboard Service Account

Creating User Service Accounts

Extracting Service Account Token

Kubernetes 1.24+

Kubernetes < 1.24

TLS/SSL Configuration

Certificate Management

TLS Configuration

API Server Connection

Configuration Options

Connection Verification

Proxy Mode

Security Headers

Authorization Header Handling

Setting Authorization Headers

Client Caching

User Agent

Error Responses

401 Unauthorized

403 Forbidden

Example: Complete Authentication Flow

Step 1: Create Service Account

Step 2: Create Role Binding

Step 3: Get Token

Step 4: Make Authenticated Request

Response

Best Practices

Security Recommendations

Example: Read-Only Access

Example: Namespace-Specific Access