diff --git a/gpustack_runtime/deployer/kubernetes.py b/gpustack_runtime/deployer/kubernetes.py
index 69128c3..bb819d9 100644
--- a/gpustack_runtime/deployer/kubernetes.py
+++ b/gpustack_runtime/deployer/kubernetes.py
@@ -692,6 +692,21 @@ def _resolve_runtime_class_name(
     pod.spec.runtime_class_name = runtime_class_name
 
 
+def _set_privilege_escalation(container: kubernetes.client.V1Container) -> None:
+    security = container.security_context or kubernetes.client.V1SecurityContext()
+    capabilities = security.capabilities
+    added_capabilities = {
+        capability.upper().removeprefix("CAP_")
+        for capability in (capabilities.add or [])
+    } if capabilities else set()
+    # Kubernetes cannot disable escalation for privileged containers, SYS_ADMIN, or ALL.
+    security.allow_privilege_escalation = bool(
+        security.privileged
+        or added_capabilities.intersection({"SYS_ADMIN", "ALL"}),
+    )
+    container.security_context = security
+
+
 def _resolve_privileged(container: Container, kdp: bool) -> bool:
     """
     Resolve whether a container runs privileged.
@@ -1765,6 +1780,8 @@ def _create_pod(
                     ),
                 )
 
+            _set_privilege_escalation(container)
+
             # Append the container.
             if c.profile == ContainerProfileEnum.INIT:
                 pod.spec.init_containers = pod.spec.init_containers or []
diff --git a/tests/gpustack_runtime/deployer/test_privilege_escalation.py b/tests/gpustack_runtime/deployer/test_privilege_escalation.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4d0005
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gpustack_runtime/deployer/test_privilege_escalation.py
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+from __future__ import annotations as __future_annotations__
+
+import kubernetes
+import pytest
+
+from gpustack_runtime.deployer.kubernetes import _set_privilege_escalation
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "security, expected",
+    [
+        (None, False),
+        (kubernetes.client.V1SecurityContext(privileged=False), False),
+        (kubernetes.client.V1SecurityContext(privileged=True), True),
+        *[
+            (kubernetes.client.V1SecurityContext(
+                capabilities=kubernetes.client.V1Capabilities(add=[value]),
+            ), True)
+            for value in ["SYS_ADMIN", "CAP_SYS_ADMIN", "sys_admin", "cap_sys_admin", "ALL", "CAP_ALL"]
+        ],
+        (
+            kubernetes.client.V1SecurityContext(
+                capabilities=kubernetes.client.V1Capabilities(add=["IPC_LOCK"]),
+                run_as_user=1000,
+            ),
+            False,
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_privilege_escalation_matches_final_security_context(security, expected):
+    container = kubernetes.client.V1Container(name="model", security_context=security)
+    _set_privilege_escalation(container)
+    assert container.security_context.allow_privilege_escalation is expected
+    if security is not None:
+        assert container.security_context is security
+        assert container.security_context.run_as_user == security.run_as_user