<p>I know there are a lot of similar questions but none of them has a solution as far as I have browsed.
Coming to the issue, I have created a service account (using command), role (using .yaml file), role binding (using .yaml files). The role grants access only to the pods. But when I login into the dashboard (Token method) using the SA that the role is attached to, I'm able to view all the resources without any restrictions. Here are the file and commands used by me.</p>

<p><strong>Role.yaml:</strong></p>

<pre><code>kind: Role
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  namespace: assembly-prod
  name: testreadrole
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get", "watch", "list"]
</code></pre>

<p><strong>RoleBinding.yaml</strong></p>

<pre><code>kind: RoleBinding
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: testrolebinding
  namespace: assembly-prod
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: testsa
  apiGroup: ""
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: testreadrole
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
</code></pre>

<p>Command used to create service account:
<code>kubectl create serviceaccount &lt;saname&gt; --namespace &lt;namespacename&gt;</code></p>

<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> I create a service account and did not attach any kind of role to it. When I tried to login with this SA, It let me through and I was able to perform all kinds activities including deleting "secrets". So by default all SA are assuming admin access and that is the reason why my above roles are not working. Is this behavior expected, If yes then how can I change it?</p>

<p>Try the below steps</p>

<pre><code># create service account
kubectl create serviceaccount pod-viewer

# Create cluster role/role
---
kind: ClusterRole
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
metadata:
  name: pod-viewer
rules:
- apiGroups: [""] # core API group
  resources: ["pods", "namespaces"]
  verbs: ["get", "watch", "list"]
---

# create cluster role binding
kubectl create clusterrolebinding pod-viewer \
  --clusterrole=pod-viewer \
  --serviceaccount=default:pod-viewer

# get service account secret
kubectl get secret | grep pod-viewer
pod-viewer-token-6fdcn   kubernetes.io/service-account-token   3      2m58s

# get token
kubectl describe secret pod-viewer-token-6fdcn
Name:         pod-viewer-token-6fdcn
Namespace:    default
Labels:       &lt;none&gt;
Annotations:  kubernetes.io/service-account.name: pod-viewer
              kubernetes.io/service-account.uid: bbfb3c4e-2254-11ea-a26c-0242ac110009

Type:  kubernetes.io/service-account-token

Data
====
token:      eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6IiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJrdWJlcm5ldGVzL3NlcnZpY2VhY2NvdW50Iiwia3ViZXJuZXRlcy5pby9zZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudC9uYW1lc3BhY2UiOiJkZWZhdWx0Iiwia3ViZXJuZXRlcy5pby9zZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudC9zZWNyZXQubmFtZSI6InBvZC12aWV3ZXItdG9rZW4tNmZkY24iLCJrdWJlcm5ldGVzLmlvL3NlcnZpY2VhY2NvdW50L3NlcnZpY2UtYWNjb3VudC5uYW1lIjoicG9kLXZpZXdlciIsImt1YmVybmV0ZXMuaW8vc2VydmljZWFjY291bnQvc2VydmljZS1hY2NvdW50LnVpZCI6ImJiZmIzYzRlLTIyNTQtMTFlYS1hMjZjLTAyNDJhYzExMDAwOSIsInN1YiI6InN5c3RlbTpzZXJ2aWNlYWNjb3VudDpkZWZhdWx0OnBvZC12aWV3ZXIifQ.Pgco_4UwTCiOfYYS4QLwqgWnG8nry6JxoGiJCDuO4ZVDWUOkGJ3w6-8K1gGRSzWFOSB8E0l2YSQR4PB9jlc_9GYCFQ0-XNgkuiZBPvsTmKXdDvCNFz7bmg_Cua7HnACkKDbISKKyK4HMH-ShgVXDoMG5KmQQ_TCWs2E_a88COGMA543QL_BxckFowQZk19Iq8yEgSEfI9m8qfz4n6G7dQu9IpUSmVNUVB5GaEsaCIg6h_AXxDds5Ot6ngWUawvhYrPRv79zVKfAxYKwetjC291-qiIM92XZ63-YJJ3xbxPAsnCEwL_hG3P95-CNzoxJHKEfs_qa7a4hfe0k6HtHTWA
ca.crt:     1025 bytes
namespace:  7 bytes
```

Login to dashboard using the above token. you should see only pods and namespaces

[![Refer the below link][1]][1]


  [1]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/D9bDi.png
</code></pre>
