10 Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools 2025

In this guide, we will dig into the 10 open source Kubernetes security tools, their features, and capabilities to consider when choosing your best-fit tool.

Kubernetes security tools, especially those featuring cybersecurity incident response capabilities, have become a must-have. Here’s why: for every 10 organizations deploying cloud-hosted apps, 6 are using Kubernetes, and others are considering doing so. Given its versatile, scalable and self-healing nature, the Kubernetes adoption rate is not surprising.

But despite, or perhaps because of, its widespread usage, more than half of organizations find securing Kubernetes challenging. To help solve the issue, this guide highlights the 10 open source Kubernetes security tools, their features, and considerations for choosing your ideal open source Kubernetes security solution.

What Is Open Source Kubernetes Security?

Open source Kubernetes (K8s) security refers to the practice of protecting Kubernetes clusters, workloads, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and apps from vulnerabilities and cyberattacks by using open source Kubernetes security tools. These tools are great at scanning Kubernetes’ open source components for supply chain vulnerabilities and malicious container images.

In addition, open source Kubernetes security tools are also equally effective at keeping up with the unique security risks that the rapid pace of scaling Kubernetes introduces. These unique security risks, including unauthorized access and misconfigurations, can result in extremely damaging data breaches and cyberattacks if exploited by attackers.

Need for Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools

With Kubernetes vulnerabilities rising by a staggering 440% in just five years, the need for open source Kubernetes security tools has never been greater. And the chief culprit is arguably the same dynamic, distributed nature of Kubernetes, which makes it a great fit for building modern apps.

For example, Kubernetes lets backend developers scale pods in and out on demand while self-healing failed containers. (Containers are a package of software that contains everything needed to run an application.) Great as this is, cyberattackers can easily exploit these functionalities to spread compromised container images or execute distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. Doing so lets them use up resources and halt business function.

To help businesses avoid the multifaceted losses associated with such scenarios, cyber incident response companies and developers have released a wide range of open source Kubernetes security tools. These tools enable enterprises to secure their Kubernetes workloads by continuously uncovering critical risks before and after workloads are deployed.

Once risks are detected by open source Kubernetes security tools, cybersecurity incident response tools take over. This helps in halting attacks in real time, providing remediation insights on misconfigurations and other vulnerabilities, and strengthening the Kubernetes security posture. Put simply, open source Kubernetes security tools are invaluable for detecting security risks in Kubernetes workloads.

But to ensure their effectiveness, enterprises must also partner with cybersecurity incident response companies to resolve identified risks swiftly and avert attacks.

That said, let us take a look at the open source Kubernetes security tools to use in 2025.

Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools for 2025

Open source Kubernetes security tools allow enterprises with small budgets to spend less, modify source codes as required, and extend their use to suit various use cases. But not all enterprises and their needs are the same, so here are our 10 picks to help you choose what’s right for you.

1. Checkov

Prisma Cloud maintains Checkov, a static code analysis tool that BridgeCrew designs.  It can scan infrastructure configurations and identify security misconfigurations before they are deployed.

Features:

• It supports various IaC languages and templates, including CloudFormation, Terraform, and Kubernetes YAML files.
• Checkov has built-in policies and helps you implement the best Kubernetes security practices.
• You can also write custom policies with it.
• Checkov can scan Kubernetes manifests and streamline compliance.
• It also applies encryption and logging for your storage buckets.

2. Kube-Bench

Kube-bench is a Kubernetes security compliance scanner by Aqua Security. It performs CIS assessments to identify pod configuration issues, leaked secrets, weak network policies, and access control failures. The tool does not actively search for threats.

Features:

• Offers in-depth compliance assessments and detailed cluster security reports
• With its support for multiple Kubernetes platforms, including Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Kube-bench lets you run modular compliance checks
• Detects potential security risks and suggests actionable improvements on security configurations
• Determines the Kubernetes version you are running and runs the requisite CIS tests automatically
• Runs compliance checks using easy-to-update YAML files

3. Kubewatch

Kubewatch runs in Kubernetes clusters, continuously monitoring for unusual activities. It lets administrators define baselines and triggers alerts whenever deviations are detected.

Features:

• Detects unusual changes to critical K8s resources like Jobs, clusters, pods, secrets, and ConfigMaps
• Has a lightweight design that ensures minimal resource consumption
• Offers robust performance monitoring
• Sends notifications through webhooks to Slack, PagerDuty or Hipchat immediately when anomalous events are detected

4. Istio

Istio is a Kubernetes tool designed for securing and monitoring microservices-based applications. It uses a service-mesh layer to enable secure TLS connections between services. Through its sidecar proxy, Envoy, Istio monitors and secures traffic and deploys alongside service instances to enforce communication security measures like encryption.

Features:

• Offers advanced traffic routing to new K8s version rollouts, automatically using techniques such as canary deployments and circuit breaking to ensure system resilience. This is critical where new versions or deployments contain malware or bugs
• Enforces security and traffic behavior management policies with robust routing rules, failovers, retries, and more
• Collects telemetry, which it sends to observability platforms like Prometheus and Grafana for further processing
• Automates load balancing, which helps limit the risk of DDoS attacks
• Implements intra-cluster mutual transport layer security (TLS) authentication to guarantee secure communication
• Tracks identities and access patterns to prevent unauthorized access to clusters

5. Falco

Falco, developed by Sysdig, is a runtime threat detection tool deployed as a daemonset on Kubernetes nodes. It monitors network and application activity to identify potential anomalies. Integrated with Falcosidekick, it can send alerts to monitoring and SIEM tools for further analysis.

Features:

• Correlates contextual data, linking app activity to Kubernetes events for noise-free threat detection and alerting
• Tracks system calls at the kernel level to detect and alert on abnormal activity
• Enforces built-in and custom policies
• Notifies administrators when policies are violated

6. Open Policy Agent

Open Policy Agent (OPA) is a policy engine used to define and enforce fine-grained, context-aware access rules across APIs, containers, hosts, Kubernetes, and CI/CD environments. Policies are written in Rego, a declarative language designed for clarity and precision.

Features:

• Lets you define roles and access policies as code rather than using complex relationships that may soon become defunct
• Its policy language, Rego, allows for fine-grained definition of access policies considering contextual variables like resource configurations, CPU limits, and more
• Offers 150+ prebuilt Kubernetes security policies
• Allows you to define a single set of policies and use them consistently across multiple environments
• Enforces only prespecified rules for each pod

7. Calico

Calico is a networking toolkit for Kubernetes security and network policy enforcement. It applies a Container firewall to workloads to enforce access controls. Calico integrates with Kubernetes’ NetworkPolicy API and supports custom policies with detailed specifications to manage traffic flow.

Features:

• Routes traffic to and from pods using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
• Uses an eBPF agent for minimal resource usage and high performance
• Lets you define fine-grained access policies for pods, containers, networks, hosts, and virtual machines using RBAC and ABAC
• As it is compatible with other platforms like Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenStack, Calico enforces consistent policies across various environments
• Keeps enterprise policies compliant with key regulatory frameworks
• Maintains compatibility with legacy systems

8. Kubeaudit

Kubeaudit is a static compliance analyzer for Kubernetes environments. It captures, audits and logs Kubernetes clusters for governance and compliance failures, simultaneously detecting issues like misconfigurations, weak access controls, and inconsistent network policies.

Features:

• Scans code for secrets and vulnerabilities before it is pushed
• Tracks security incidents in Kubernetes resources, configurations, and APIs
• Its comprehensive logs are great for forensics into security incidents and non-compliance issues
• Offers audit trails which are critical for demonstrating compliance with internal policies and external frameworks
• Regular contributions and support from its rich developer community

9. KubeLinter

KubeLinter is a static analysis tool written in Go lang and developed by StackRox. KubeLinter’s specialty is discovering misconfigurations and security risks in Kubernetes YAML files and Helm charts. It also helps in assessing compliance with regulatory standards and industry best practices.

Features:

• Has 19 checks and options for adding custom rules for securing Kubernetes environments
• Integrates with CI/CD pipelines
• Is a lightweight tool that requires minimal configuration
• Its comprehensive reports on issues detected facilitates swift issue resolution
• Automates security checks and code reviews

10. Kubescape

Designed by ARMO, Kubescape is an exploit detection tool. It uses the MITRE ATT&CK, NSA, and SOC2 frameworks to analyze Kubernetes workloads for risks, misconfigurations and ongoing attacks.

Features:

• Integrates with top IDE and CI/CD pipelines
• Detects vulnerabilities in software code before deployment
• Offers runtime threat detection and response
• Uses CIS Benchmarks to enforce standards compliance

How to Choose the Right Open Source Kubernetes Security Tool?

Though we have outlined the ten open source Kubernetes security tools, choosing your ideal tool from the list above still requires understanding your security needs. In addition, you will also need to look out for the following key capabilities.

1. Be sure the open source Kubernetes security tool detects known and unknown threats and vulnerabilities in your K8s workloads in real time. Beyond this, verify that the tool offers autonomous cybersecurity incident response, to contain attacks swiftly without human intervention.
2. Choose a solution that offers both static and runtime vulnerability detection to stay ahead of threats before and after deployment.
3. Check for prebuilt and custom policy templates. Prebuilt policies will help crash setup time and get the tool working faster. Custom policies will ensure you can tailor the tool to your specific use case.
4. An ideal tool should enforce access and configuration policies, in addition to keeping your Kubernetes environment compliant with the required regulatory frameworks.
5. Select an open source Kubernetes security solution that gets regular updates, has an active community and offers easy-to-understand documentation. Regular updates will ensure your tool remains effective as the threat landscape evolves. An active community is akin to commercial tools’ 24/7 help desks, giving you support whenever you encounter challenges deploying or using the tool.
6. Balance ease of use with efficiency: For instance, tools that come with graphical user interfaces are more user friendly while those offering command line interfaces allow advanced users to run automated, complex scripts for deeper scans.
7. Verify that the open source Kubernetes security tool offers seamless multi-cloud support across various Kubernetes distributions.
8. Look out for a tool that integrates with IDEs, CI pipelines and other DevOps workflows to help shift security left.
9. Select a tool that secures network communication between pods, clusters, APIs and services.
10. Choose an open source Kubernetes security tool that detects anomalous activities in your K8s environment by benchmarking them against your stack’s behavioral baseline and evolving threat data.

Conclusion

Open-source Kubernetes security tools offer critical functionalities for securing Kubernetes workloads and modern apps. With their static scans, they prevent DevOps teams from inadvertently deploying vulnerable container images. Their runtime protection capabilities enhance KSPM, enforce security best practices, offer insights into pod and cluster health, and ensure standards compliance.

Open source Kubernetes security tools equally integrate with cyber incident response companies to defend K8s workloads against threats and attacks in real time. You can boost your security posture by making the most out of them.

FAQs

What are Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools?

Open source Kubernetes security tools are free software kits designed to protect Kubernetes workloads against evolving threats, while ensuring standards compliance.

Why should I use Open Source Tools for Kubernetes Security?

Given their cost effectiveness and extensibility, open source tools are great for securing  Kubernetes workloads. They allow administrators to modify their source codes to cater to enterprise-specific use cases, have robust community-driven functionalities, and often integrate easily with other tools.

How do Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools Compare to Paid Solutions?

Both offer distinct benefits in addition to securing Kubernetes workloads. While open source Kubernetes tools offer transparency, flexibility, and customization benefits, paid tools have a broader range of Kubernetes security features and offer better support.

Do Open Source Kubernetes Tools Provide Runtime Security?

Yes, open source Kubernetes security tools like Falco offer runtime security.

Are Open Source Kubernetes Security Tools Suitable for Large Enterprises?

Yes, large enterprises can use open source Kubernetes security tools. But there are some potential drawbacks to consider. Firstly, open source Kubernetes security tools do not offer the full gamut of features needed to secure Kubernetes environments. Additionally, they can go out of support without prior warning, leaving enterprises scrambling to find replacements.

Are Open Source Kubernetes Tools Updated Regularly?

Most open source Kubernetes security tools get regular updates, owing to their active community of developers.

Can Open Source Kubernetes Tools Detect and Mitigate Threats in Real Time?

Open source Kubernetes security tools that offer runtime security and integrate with cybersecurity incident response resolutions can halt threats in real time.