<p>Since Kubernetes release 1.6 until RBAC's GA in 1.8 there has been a lot of background noise about how RBAC is now the default in Kubernetes and is a complete rehaul of the permissions framework. As an OpenShift Origin user/administrator, I haven't been following the Kubernetes side of the discussion, reasoning that I'd wait for a proper OpenShift Origin release including those changes and then look up the release notes and/or migration documentation.</p>

<p>However, now that I've skimmed through a couple of articles about RBAC, I have found the descriptions of RBAC extremely similar to OpenShift's permissions framework (being in use since Origin's inception), to the point of being minorly different in syntax only.</p>

<p>So is my impression correct that Kubernetes' RBAC is just an upstream port or direct code donation from OpenShift Origin, with only minor changes?</p>

<p>Yes, it was an upstream port of OpenShift's access control, with minor differences. Over the 3.6 and 3.7 releases, OpenShift is migrating to back its authorization objects with Kubernetes objects:</p>

<ul>
<li>In OpenShift 3.6, OpenShift authorization objects migrate to corresponding Kubernetes RBAC objects, overwriting any existing Kubernetes RBAC objects</li>
<li>In OpenShift 3.7, the Kubernetes RBAC objects back both the OpenShift and Kubernetes APIs, and either can be used interchangeably</li>
</ul>
