Back to all scenarios
Scenario #300
Security
Kubernetes v1.24, Self-Hosted
Token Reuse After Namespace Deletion and Recreation
A previously deleted namespace was recreated, and old tokens (from backups) were still valid and worked.
Find this helpful?
What Happened
Developer restored a backup including secrets from a deleted namespace. The token was still valid and allowed access to cluster resources.
Diagnosis Steps
- 1Found access via old token in logs.
- 2Verified namespace was deleted, then recreated with same name.
- 3Checked secrets in restored backup.
Root Cause
Static tokens persisted after deletion and recreation.
Fix/Workaround
• Rotated all tokens after backup restore.
• Implemented TTL-based token policies.Lessons Learned
Tokens must be invalidated after deletion or restore.
How to Avoid
- 1Don’t restore old secrets blindly.
- 2Rotate and re-issue credentials post-restore.