Quiz Report Card: RBAC Verbs
Date: 2026-03-09 | Qwen 3.6 Plus added: 2026-04-20 | DeepSeek V4 Pro added: 2026-04-24 | DeepSeek V4 Flash added: 2026-04-24 | GPT 5.5 added: 2026-04-25 | Kimi K2.6 added: 2026-04-26 | Qwen3.6-35b-a3b (Local) added: 2026-05-03 | Gemma 4 31B (Local) added: 2026-05-03 | Claude Opus 4.8 added: 2026-05-31 | Qwen 3.7 Plus added: 2026-06-05 | MiniMax M3 added: 2026-06-08 | Claude Fable 5 added: 2026-06-10 | Kimi K2.7 Code added: 2026-06-16 | GLM-5.2 added: 2026-06-17 | Mistral Medium 3.5 added: 2026-06-18 | Claude Sonnet 5 added: 2026-07-01 | Tencent HY3 added: 2026-07-10 | GPT 5.6 Terra added: 2026-07-10 | GPT 5.6 Sol added: 2026-07-14 | Kimi K3 added: 2026-07-16 | Xiaomi MiMo v2.5 added: 2026-07-21 | Poolside Laguna-S 2.1 added: 2026-07-22 | Gemini 3.6 Flash added: 2026-07-24 | Qwen 3.8 Max added: 2026-08-04 | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 added: 2026-08-12 | Gemini 3.7 Flash added: 2026-08-14 | GLM-5.3 added: 2026-08-19 | Qwen 3.8 27B added: 2026-08-19 | Ox Alpha added: 2026-08-21 Question: What are all of the verbs supported by Kubernetes RBAC system?
Reference Answer
This is essentially a trick question — Kubernetes RBAC allows any verb string to exist. The verb field in RBAC rules is a free-form string, and the authorization system simply checks whether the verb on the incoming request matches what’s in the role. There is no fixed, closed set of “all verbs.”
However, there are well-known sets of verbs defined by Kubernetes by default:
Standard resource verbs:
get,list,watch,create,update,patch,delete,deletecollection
Special verbs (valid for certain objects):
escalate— allows creating/updating roles with permissions the caller doesn’t have (Roles/ClusterRoles)bind— allows creating bindings to roles (Roles/ClusterRoles)impersonate— allows acting as another user/group/service account
Additional known verbs:
use— PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)approve,sign— CertificateSigningRequests
A good answer should ideally recognise that the verb set is open-ended, then cover the standard and special verbs.
Scoring Criteria
- Trick question recognition: RBAC allows any verb — there is no fixed “all verbs” list. This is the key insight.
- Standard verbs: The 8 standard resource verbs (get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection)
- Special verbs: escalate, bind, impersonate — important for security
- Additional verbs: use, approve, sign, and others
- Accuracy: No incorrect claims about how verbs work
Results Summary
| Model | Score | Trick Recognised | Standard Verbs | Special Verbs | Additional | Errors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| anthropic/claude-opus-4.7 | 8/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Misleading on custom verbs |
| openai/gpt-5.4 | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | None |
| anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6 | 7/10 | Hinted | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | None |
| google/gemini-3-flash-preview | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | use, proxy, approve | execute/attach confusion |
| minimax/minimax-m2.5 | 6/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 + use | None | Missing approve/sign |
| deepseek/deepseek-v3.2 | 6/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 + use, approve, sign | proxy | update/patch claim wrong |
| minimax/minimax-m2.7 | 6/10 | No | Yes (8) | Yes (3) | use, wildcard | Treats as finite list |
| qwen/qwen3.6-plus | 7/10 | Partial | All 8 | All 3 + use | proxy, approve | Incorrect “no custom verbs” claim |
| deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro | 8/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | use, approve, sign | None |
| deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | use | Fabricates exec/attach as verbs |
| moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick |
| openai/gpt-5.5 | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use, proxy | None |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b (LOCAL) | 6/10 | Yes | Yes | No | Treats verb list as fixed/exhaustive | |
| anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 | 8/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Misses trick |
| google/gemma-4-31b (LOCAL) | 6/10 | No | All 8 | Partial | Treats verb list as fixed/exhaustive | |
| qwen/qwen3.7-plus | 7/10 | No | All 8 | Partial | Missing escalate and bind | |
| minimax/minimax-m3 | 5/10 | No | All 8 | Partial | Lists non-verbs (exec, proxy) as RBAC verbs | |
| anthropic/claude-fable-5 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | Partial | Missing escalate and bind | |
| moonshotai/kimi-k2.7-code | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick |
| z-ai/glm-5.2 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
| z-ai/glm-5.3 | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick |
| mistralai/mistral-medium-3-5 | 5/10 | No | All 8 | Partial | None | Misses trick, missing special verbs |
| anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 | 8/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Misses trick |
| tencent/hy3 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign | Hallucinated non-existent verbs |
| openai/gpt-5.6-terra | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick |
| openai/gpt-5.6-sol | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick |
| moonshotai/kimi-k3 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
| xiaomi/mimo-v2.5 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | None | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
| poolside/laguna-s-2.1 | 5.5/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | use (wrong) | Misses arbitrary verb trick; fabricates use-for-finalizers; duplicate verbs |
| google/gemini-3.6-flash | 8.5/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Minor (“complete list” framing) |
| qwen/qwen3.8-max | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
| deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro-0813 | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
| google/gemini-3.7-flash | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 | approve, sign, use | Notes custom verbs via aggregators |
| qwen/qwen3.8-27b | 9/10 | Yes | All 8 | All 3 (bind, escalate) | approve, sign, use | Catches custom verb trick; missing impersonate |
| stealth/ox-alpha | 7/10 | No | All 8 | All 3 | Non-resource URL verbs, use | Misses arbitrary verb insight |
Detailed Analysis
anthropic/claude-opus-4.7 — 8/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs: impersonate, bind, escalate
- Mentions approve and sign for CSRs — bonus points
- Mentions wildcard
*
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — implies a fixed set of verbs. Notes custom resources “can define additional verbs via subresources” but then says “the verb itself is usually still one of the standard ones” — misleading.
- Missing the key insight that RBAC verbs are free-form strings and custom verbs ARE supported
Comparison vs Opus 4.6 (7): Improvement. CSR verbs (approve, sign) and all 3 special verbs is better coverage.
Notable: Best verb coverage of any Anthropic model, but still misses the trick that only GPT 5.4 caught. The Anthropic family pattern of treating RBAC verbs as a closed set persists.
openai/gpt-5.4 — 9/10
Strengths:
- Opens with the key insight: “Kubernetes RBAC doesn’t have a single small fixed list of ‘all verbs’ in the strict API sense” — this is the trick answer the question is testing for
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed
- All 3 special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate) correctly listed with accurate descriptions
- Additional verbs: approve, sign, use
- Reinforces the insight at the end: “Kubernetes authorization ultimately checks the verb string on the request, so some APIs/subresources introduce additional specialized verbs”
- Non-resource URL verbs covered
- Good structure separating standard from special verbs
Weaknesses:
- Could have been more explicit about the fact that literally any string can be used as a verb in an RBAC rule
- Non-resource URL verbs section includes HTTP verbs (put, head, options) that aren’t commonly relevant
Notable: The only model to recognise this as a trick question. Opening with “doesn’t have a single small fixed list” and closing with “checks the verb string on the request” demonstrates genuine understanding of how RBAC authorization works internally.
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.6 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed with descriptions
- All 3 special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate) correctly listed
- Additional verbs: use, approve, sign
- Non-resource URL verbs covered
- Note at the end hints at extensibility: “Custom resource definitions (CRDs) and aggregated API servers may also define their own custom verbs (e.g., exec, portforward, proxy)”
Weaknesses:
- Does not explicitly recognise the trick — presents the answer as a finite, enumerable list
- The CRD note hints at extensibility but doesn’t state the key insight: that any verb string works in RBAC
- Mentions exec and portforward as “custom verbs” — these are actually subresources accessed via standard verbs (create on pods/exec), not custom verbs
Notable: Comprehensive verb coverage and the CRD note shows awareness that the list isn’t fully closed, but stops short of the key insight. The closest to GPT 5.4’s answer without actually getting there.
google/gemini-3-flash-preview — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed with good descriptions
- All 3 special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate) correctly listed
- Additional verbs: use, proxy, approve
- Useful practical tip:
kubectl api-resources -o wideto see supported verbs per resource - Good summary table categorising verbs by function
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents a fixed list as the answer
- Lists “execute” and “attach” as verbs — these are not verbs; they are subresources (
pods/exec,pods/attach) accessed via standard verbs likecreate - Missing
signverb for CSRs
Notable negative: The kubectl api-resources -o wide tip is practically useful, but listing “execute” and “attach” as verbs shows a confusion between subresources and verbs.
minimax/minimax-m2.5 — 6/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed with HTTP method mapping
- Special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate, use — correctly listed
- Clean table format with HTTP method correspondence
- Mentions wildcard
*
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents a fixed list
- Missing
approveandsignverbs for CSRs - Non-resource URL section only mentions
get— incomplete - No mention of extensibility or custom verbs
Notable: The HTTP method mapping table is useful reference material, but the answer is treated as a closed, enumerable list without any hint that RBAC verbs are open-ended.
deepseek/deepseek-v3.2 — 6/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed
- Special verbs: impersonate, bind, escalate, use, approve, sign — good coverage
- Also mentions proxy
- Mentions wildcard
*
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents a fixed list
- Claims “update implicitly include patch in many contexts” — this is incorrect.
updateandpatchare separate, independent operations in Kubernetes.updatereplaces the entire object;patchmodifies specific fields. Having one does not grant the other. - Presents the list as closed and finite
Notable negative: The update/patch conflation is a factual error. These are distinct API operations with different HTTP methods (PUT vs PATCH) and different RBAC permissions. A role granting update does not grant patch.
minimax/minimax-m2.7 — 6/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard resource verbs
- Includes bind/escalate/impersonate
- Includes “use” for PSP
- HTTP method mapping table
- Wildcard mention
Weaknesses:
- Completely misses the trick — presents as finite enumerable list without recognizing verbs are free-form strings
- Doesn’t mention custom verbs via CRDs
- Missing approve and sign for CSRs
Notable: Same score as MiniMax M2.5 (6/10). Neither MiniMax model recognized the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs. Only GPT 5.4 (9/10) got this right.
qwen/qwen3.6-plus — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed
- All 3 special verbs (bind, escalate, impersonate) correctly listed with accurate descriptions
- Additional verbs:
proxyanduse(PSP, noted as deprecated) - Non-resource URL verbs covered (HTTP methods)
- Mentions CRDs can define custom verbs
- Wildcard
*covered with note that it matches all verbs including special ones
Weaknesses:
- Contradictory claims about custom verbs: States “The Kubernetes RBAC system doesn’t define its own arbitrary verbs” in the opening, but then correctly notes CRDs can define custom verbs. The opening statement is misleading — RBAC explicitly allows any verb string.
- Claims “The API server rejects unknown verbs unless they’re explicitly registered” — this is incorrect. RBAC is a string-matching system; any verb string works in a Role definition.
- Does not fully recognise the trick — while acknowledging CRD custom verbs, doesn’t identify that RBAC verbs are fundamentally open-ended free-form strings
proxylisted as a verb — this is not a standard RBAC verb; proxy access is through subresources likenodes/proxy
Notable: Better verb coverage than most models (includes proxy, use, all special verbs), and the CRD custom verbs mention hints at extensibility. But the incorrect claim about API server rejecting unknown verbs undermines the response, as it directly contradicts the key insight that RBAC verbs are free-form strings.
deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro — 8/10
Strengths:
- Comprehensive list with good organization
- All 8 standard verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: use, approve, sign
- Wildcard
*covered
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick that any verb string can exist in RBAC — presents as a finite list
- Missing the key insight that RBAC verbs are free-form strings
Notable: Strong verb coverage matching Opus 4.7 at 8/10. A significant improvement over DeepSeek V3.2 (6/10, which had the incorrect update/patch conflation). However, like most models, still misses the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs that only GPT 5.4 caught.
deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash — 7/10
Strengths:
- Covers all 8 standard resource verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly identified: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Mentions
usefor PodSecurityPolicy
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any verb string
- Fabricates exec and attach as verbs — these are subresources (
pods/exec,pods/attach) accessed via standard verbs likecreate, not verbs themselves. This is the same error Gemini 3 Flash made. - Missing
approveandsignverbs for CertificateSigningRequests - Misses arbitrary custom verbs
Notable: Scores between V4 Pro (8/10) and V3.2 (6/10). The exec/attach fabrication is a concerning error that shows confusion between subresources and verbs — the same mistake Gemini 3 Flash made. Like most models, does not recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
openai/gpt-5.5 — 9/10
Strengths:
- Explicitly recognises the trick: Opens with “Kubernetes RBAC does not have a single hard-coded enum of verbs; a PolicyRule.verbs entry is a string” — this is the key insight the question tests for
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate with accurate descriptions
- Comprehensive additional verbs: approve, sign, use (with PSP deprecation note), proxy (correctly noted as legacy)
- Non-resource URL HTTP methods covered
- Wildcard
*covered with appropriate caution note - Good structure separating standard, special, and non-resource URL verbs
Weaknesses:
- Lists
proxyas a verb — correctly notes it is legacy and modern proxy access uses standard verbs on subresources, but including it in the final summary list could be slightly misleading - Could have been more explicit that literally any arbitrary string works as a verb in RBAC rules
Notable: Previously only GPT 5.4 caught the trick question. GPT 5.5 matches GPT 5.4’s score (9/10) with an even more comprehensive verb list — adding approve, sign, use, and proxy that GPT 5.4 also covered, plus the explicit “not a single hard-coded enum” opening. The OpenAI family is the only model family where both entries recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
moonshotai/kimi-k2.6 — 9/10
Strengths:
- Recognises the trick question — identifies that RBAC verbs are not a closed set, making it the first non-OpenAI model to catch this
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign, use
- Complete and well-structured response
Weaknesses:
- None significant
Notable: The first non-OpenAI model to recognise the custom verb trick. Previously only GPT 5.4 and GPT 5.5 caught that RBAC verbs are free-form strings. Kimi K2.6 joins them at 9/10, breaking the OpenAI monopoly on this question’s top score.
qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b (LOCAL) — 6/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Includes special verbs: impersonate, escalate, bind
- No factual errors in the verbs listed
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — treats the verb list as fixed and exhaustive. Kubernetes RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string, and the verb field is a free-form string checked at authorization time.
- Missing approve and sign verbs for CertificateSigningRequests
- No mention of extensibility or custom verbs via CRDs
Notable: Matches MiniMax M2.5, MiniMax M2.7, and DeepSeek V3.2 at 6/10. The pattern of treating RBAC verbs as a closed set is shared by the majority of models — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, and Kimi K2.6 recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
google/gemma-4-31b (LOCAL) — 6/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Includes some special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate)
- No factual errors in the verbs listed
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — treats the verb list as fixed and exhaustive. Kubernetes RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string, and the question “what are ALL of the verbs” has no finite answer.
- Missing approve and sign verbs for CertificateSigningRequests
- No mention of extensibility or custom verbs via CRDs
Notable: Matches Qwen-35b, MiniMax M2.5, MiniMax M2.7, and DeepSeek V3.2 at 6/10 with the same pattern: correct standard verbs, correct special verbs, but misses the trick that the verb set is open-ended. Only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, and Kimi K2.6 have recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
anthropic/claude-opus-4.8 — 8/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign, use
- Good coverage of security implications of special verbs
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string. The key insight that verbs are free-form strings is missing.
Comparison vs Opus 4.7 (8): Same score. Both have comprehensive verb coverage but miss the trick. The Anthropic family pattern of treating RBAC verbs as a closed set persists across all four models.
Notable: Matches Opus 4.7 and DeepSeek V4 Pro at 8/10. Strong verb coverage but the trick question remains an Anthropic blindspot — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, and Kimi K2.6 have recognised that RBAC verbs are open-ended.
qwen/qwen3.7-plus — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Impersonate correctly identified as a special verb
- Good descriptions of standard verb purposes
- No factual errors in the verbs listed
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string
- Missing escalate and bind special verbs — these are important security-relevant verbs for Roles/ClusterRoles
- No mention of approve and sign verbs for CertificateSigningRequests
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet, Gemini 3 Flash, and DeepSeek V4 Flash at 7/10. The missing escalate and bind verbs are notable since these are critical for understanding RBAC privilege escalation risks. Like most models, does not recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, and Kimi K2.6 have caught this trick.
minimax/minimax-m3 — 5/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Lists special verbs: escalate, bind, impersonate
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — treats the verb list as fixed and exhaustive. Kubernetes RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string, and the question “what are ALL of the verbs” has no finite answer.
- Lists non-verbs as RBAC verbs: includes
execandproxyas verbs — these are subresources (pods/exec,nodes/proxy) accessed via standard verbs likecreateorget, not verbs themselves. This is the same error Gemini 3 Flash and DeepSeek V4 Flash made. - Missing
approveandsignverbs for CertificateSigningRequests
Notable: Scores below MiniMax M2.7 and M2.5 (both 6/10) on this question — a regression within the MiniMax family. The inclusion of exec and proxy as verbs introduces factual errors that M2.7 avoided. Like most models, does not recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, and Kimi K2.6 have caught this trick.
anthropic/claude-fable-5 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Impersonate correctly identified as a special verb
- Good descriptions of standard verb purposes
- No factual errors in the verbs listed
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string
- Missing escalate and bind special verbs — these are important security-relevant verbs for Roles/ClusterRoles
- No mention of approve and sign verbs for CertificateSigningRequests
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.7 Plus, Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet, Gemini 3 Flash, and DeepSeek V4 Flash at 7/10. The missing escalate and bind verbs are notable since these are critical for understanding RBAC privilege escalation risks. Continues the Anthropic family pattern of treating RBAC verbs as a closed set — none of the five Anthropic models have recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
moonshotai/kimi-k2.7-code — 9/10
Strengths:
- Correctly identifies all standard verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Correctly notes that Kubernetes supports arbitrary verbs
- Identifies special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate, use, approve/sign
- Good explanation of verb-to-HTTP-method mapping
Weaknesses:
- Minor: could elaborate on how custom verbs interact with admission control
Notable: Joins GPT 5.5, GPT 5.4, and K2.6 at 9/10. The Moonshot family continues to be one of the few model families where both entries recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs — alongside the OpenAI family. This confirms that the custom verb insight is not an OpenAI-only training signal.
z-ai/glm-5.2 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign
- Good descriptions of standard and special verb purposes
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string
- Missing
useverb for PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet, Gemini 3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, and Fable 5 at 7/10. Good verb coverage including the security-critical escalate and bind verbs, but misses the key insight that RBAC verbs are free-form strings. Only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code have recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
z-ai/glm-5.3 — 9/10
Strengths:
- Identifies all 8 standard RBAC verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Identifies special verbs: use, bind, escalate, approve, sign
- Crucially notes that RBAC verbs are open-ended strings — any arbitrary string can be used as a verb, not just the standard set. This is a key insight that most models miss.
Weaknesses:
- Leads with “8 core verbs” framing which slightly understates the open-ended nature, though it does correctly explain the concept
Notable: Joins GPT 5.5, GPT 5.6 Terra, GPT 5.6 Sol, GPT 5.4, Kimi K2.6, Kimi K2.7 Code, Gemini 3.7 Flash, and Gemini 3.6 Flash (8.5) at the top. A dramatic improvement over GLM-5.2 (7/10), which missed the arbitrary verb insight entirely. The Z-AI family now joins OpenAI, Moonshot, and Google as families with at least one entry recognising the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
mistralai/mistral-medium-3-5 — 5/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard resource verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- No factual errors in the standard verbs listed
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string
- Missing special verbs: Does not identify escalate, bind, and impersonate — these are important security-relevant verbs for understanding RBAC privilege escalation risks
- Missing approve and sign verbs for CertificateSigningRequests
- No mention of extensibility or custom verbs
Notable: Scores below the 7/10 cluster (Sonnet, Gemini 3 Flash, Qwen 3.6 Plus, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, Fable 5, GLM-5.2) due to missing the security-critical special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate). Matches MiniMax M3 at 5/10. Only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 — 8/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign, use
- Good coverage of security implications of special verbs
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string. The key insight that verbs are free-form strings is missing.
Notable: Matches Opus 4.8, Opus 4.7, and DeepSeek V4 Pro at 8/10. Strong verb coverage but the trick question remains an Anthropic blindspot — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code have recognised that RBAC verbs are open-ended. The Anthropic family pattern of treating RBAC verbs as a closed set persists across all six models.
tencent/hy3 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign
- Good descriptions of standard and special verb purposes
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string
- Hallucinated non-existent verbs — includes verbs that do not exist in Kubernetes RBAC, introducing factual errors
- Missing
useverb for PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, Fable 5, and GLM-5.2 at 7/10. Good verb coverage including the security-critical escalate and bind verbs, but the hallucinated verbs are a unique error not seen in other models at this score level. Does not recognise the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs — only GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code recognised this.
openai/gpt-5.6-terra — 9/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard verbs correctly (get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection)
- Covers important special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate) and additional ones (approve, sign, use)
- Correctly identifies the trick element that RBAC verb strings are not a closed set
Weaknesses:
- Minor: could provide more context on the security implications of the open verb set
Notable: Joins GPT 5.5, GPT 5.4, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code at 9/10. The third OpenAI model to catch the RBAC verb trick — all three OpenAI models (GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, GPT 5.6 Terra) correctly identify that verbs are an open set, confirming this is a consistent OpenAI family strength. Only the OpenAI and Moonshot AI families have both entries recognising the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
openai/gpt-5.6-sol — 9/10
Strengths:
- Lists all 8 standard verbs correctly: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Covers important special verbs: escalate, bind, impersonate
- Additional verbs: approve, sign, use
- Correctly identifies the trick element that RBAC verb strings are not a closed set — comprehensive listing with open-set acknowledgement
Weaknesses:
- Minor: could provide more context on the security implications of the open verb set
Notable: Joins GPT 5.6 Terra, GPT 5.5, GPT 5.4, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code at 9/10. All four OpenAI models (GPT 5.4, GPT 5.5, GPT 5.6 Terra, GPT 5.6 Sol) correctly identify that verbs are an open set, confirming this is a consistent OpenAI family strength. Only the OpenAI and Moonshot AI families have all entries recognising the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs.
moonshotai/kimi-k3 – 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs covered: approve, sign
- Good descriptions of standard and special verb purposes
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick – presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string. The key insight that verbs are free-form strings is missing.
- Missing
useverb for PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, Fable 5, GLM-5.2, and HY3 at 7/10. Interestingly, Kimi K3 does not catch the RBAC verb trick despite both sibling models (K2.6 and K2.7 Code) scoring 9/10 by recognising that verbs are an open set. This is a notable regression within the Moonshot family on this specific question – the only model family where a later entry misses the trick that earlier entries caught.
xiaomi/mimo-v2.5 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly covered: escalate, bind, impersonate — with accurate descriptions
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents RBAC as supporting exactly “11 verbs,” treating it as a closed set. Misses that RBAC verbs are arbitrary strings and any custom verb can exist.
Notable: Correctly enumerates the standard and special verbs but falls for the trick by treating RBAC verbs as a closed set of 11 rather than an open set of arbitrary strings.
poolside/laguna-s-2.1 — 5.5/10
Strengths:
- Lists all eight standard verbs correctly (get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection)
- Covers the special verbs escalate, bind, and impersonate with accurate descriptions
- Correctly notes
sudois not a real RBAC verb
Weaknesses:
- Falls for the trick — presents RBAC verbs as “a specific set… consistent across versions… the complete list,” treating them as a closed enumeration when they are arbitrary strings
- Fabrication: lists
useand defines it as “for finalizers” — wrong;useapplies topodsecuritypolicies - Sloppy duplication: re-lists
patchandupdate, indicating an unreviewed answer
Notable: Enumerates the standard and special verbs correctly but misses the arbitrary-verb insight, fabricates a use-for-finalizers definition, and duplicates verbs — 5.5/10.
google/gemini-3.6-flash — 8.5/10
Strengths:
- Catches the trick up front: “Because Kubernetes uses an open system, verbs are technically just strings” — the core insight most models miss
- All eight standard verbs correct, plus accurate special verbs:
bind,escalate,impersonate,approve(CSR approval),sign(CSR signing) - Handles
usecorrectly with proper deprecation context (PSP removed 1.25, verb still valid for extension resources) — avoids the fabrication that sank other models - Correctly covers non-resource-URL verbs and the subresource point (exec/logs/portforward use standard verbs, not new ones)
Weaknesses:
- The “here is the complete list” framing slightly undercuts the open-system point it correctly makes elsewhere
- The subresource note repeats the conventional
create pods/exec(fine in the main-API context, but no acknowledgement of the kubelet-path nuance)
Notable: One of the few non-OpenAI models to catch the arbitrary-verb trick — joining the OpenAI family and the Moonshot K2.6/K2.7 Code entries. The 8.5 sits just below the 9/10 trick-catchers, docked slightly for the “complete list” framing that softens the open-system insight.
qwen/qwen3.8-max — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs covered: approve, sign
- Good descriptions of standard and special verb purposes
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string. The key insight that verbs are free-form strings is missing.
- Missing
useverb for PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, Fable 5, GLM-5.2, HY3, Kimi K3, and MiMo v2.5 at 7/10. The Qwen family continues to miss the arbitrary verb trick: 3.6 Plus (7, contradictory claims about custom verbs), 3.7 Plus (7, missing escalate/bind), 3.8 Max (7, better special verb coverage but still misses the trick). No Qwen model has yet recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs — only the OpenAI family, Moonshot K2.6/K2.7 Code, and Gemini 3.6 Flash have caught this.
deepseek/deepseek-v4-pro-0813 — 7/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs covered: approve, sign
- Good descriptions of standard and special verb purposes
Weaknesses:
- Does not recognise the trick — presents verbs as a finite, closed list without acknowledging that RBAC allows any arbitrary verb string. The key insight that verbs are free-form strings is missing.
- Missing
useverb for PodSecurityPolicy (deprecated)
Notable: Matches Qwen 3.6 Plus, Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen 3.7 Plus, Fable 5, GLM-5.2, HY3, Kimi K3, MiMo v2.5, and Qwen 3.8 Max at 7/10. A regression from sibling V4 Pro (8/10, which had better verb coverage). The DeepSeek family continues to miss the arbitrary verb trick: V3.2 (6), V4 Pro (8), V4 Flash (7), V4 Pro 0813 (7) — no DeepSeek model has yet recognised the open-ended nature of RBAC verbs. Only the OpenAI family, Moonshot K2.6/K2.7 Code, and Gemini 3.6 Flash have caught this.
google/gemini-3.7-flash — 9/10
Strengths:
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- All 3 special verbs correctly listed: bind, escalate, impersonate
- Additional verbs covered: approve, sign, use
- Notes that custom API aggregators can introduce arbitrary verbs — approaches the open-set insight
Weaknesses:
- Does not fully commit to the insight that RBAC verbs are arbitrary free-form strings — frames it in terms of API aggregation rather than the fundamental nature of RBAC verb matching
Notable: Joins GPT 5.5, GPT 5.6 Terra, GPT 5.6 Sol, GPT 5.4, Kimi K2.6, and Kimi K2.7 Code at 9/10. One of the few models to note that custom verbs exist through API aggregation, though it frames this more narrowly than the OpenAI and Moonshot models which correctly identify verbs as fundamentally open-ended strings. The Google family RBAC trajectory: Gemini 3 Flash (7), Gemini 3.6 Flash (8.5), Gemini 3.7 Flash (9) — steady improvement, with each generation getting closer to the arbitrary-verb insight.
qwen/qwen3.8-27b — 9/10
Strengths:
- Identifies the key trick — RBAC verbs are open-ended strings, not a fixed closed set
- All 8 standard resource verbs correctly listed: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection
- Includes bind and escalate as special verbs with correct descriptions
- Notes that custom verbs are possible and the authorization system simply matches strings
Weaknesses:
- Missing the impersonate verb — an important special verb for security that allows acting as another user/group/service account
Notable: Joins GPT 5.5, GPT 5.6 Terra, GPT 5.6 Sol, GPT 5.4, Kimi K2.6, Kimi K2.7 Code, GLM-5.3, and Gemini 3.7 Flash at 9/10. The trick question recognition is a notable strength — Qwen 3.8 27B is the first Qwen model to catch this, as sibling Qwen 3.8 Max (7) and Qwen 3.7 Plus (7) both treated verbs as a closed set. The Qwen family RBAC trajectory: 3.6 Plus (7), 3.7 Plus (7), 3.8 Max (7), 3.8 27B (9) — a breakthrough result that breaks the Qwen family’s pattern of missing the arbitrary verb trick.
stealth/ox-alpha — 7/10
Listed all 8 standard resource verbs and all special privilege-escalation verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate, use). Included useful coverage of non-resource URL verbs and subresource-specific verb combinations (pods/exec, pods/log, etc.). However, presented RBAC verbs as a finite, defined set without recognizing that Kubernetes RBAC verbs are arbitrary strings — any verb can be used in a Role/ClusterRole, with the API server matching them exactly. This is the key trick in the question that separates 9-10/10 scores from lower ones. The response was technically solid on documented verbs but missed the fundamental extensibility insight.
Key Findings
-
This is a trick question and only the OpenAI models recognised it: The question asks “what are ALL of the verbs” — but RBAC verbs are an open set. Any string can be used as a verb. GPT 5.4 and GPT 5.5 both opened with this insight, earning the highest scores.
-
All models know the standard 8 verbs: get, list, watch, create, update, patch, delete, deletecollection are universally known. No model missed any of these.
-
Special verbs (escalate, bind, impersonate) are well-known: All five models identified these. These are important for security (preventing privilege escalation via RBAC) and all models covered them.
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The open-ended nature of RBAC verbs is poorly understood: Most models presented their answer as a finite, closed list. Only the OpenAI models (GPT 5.4 and GPT 5.5) recognised that verbs are just strings checked at authorization time.
-
DeepSeek V3.2’s update/patch claim is the most significant factual error: Claiming
updateincludespatchis wrong and could lead to misconfigured RBAC rules with security implications.