diff --git a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources.go b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources.go
index 476cb0fb512d..b02d8de8c572 100644
--- a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources.go
+++ b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources.go
@@ -1794,20 +1794,41 @@ done`, endpoint, manifests.KASConnectionCheckerConfigMapName, manifests.KASConne
 		deployment.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Labels = map[string]string{
 			"app": manifests.KASConnectionCheckerName,
 		}
-		deployment.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Annotations = map[string]string{
-			"openshift.io/required-scc": "restricted-v2",
-		}
+		// No openshift.io/required-scc annotation: kube-system is exempt from SCC
+		// admission, so the annotation would be inert. Worse, if that exemption ever
+		// changed, restricted-v2 (MustRunAsRange) would reject the explicit UID below
+		// because it falls outside the namespace uid-range, breaking the checker.
+		// Set to nil so the annotation is also cleared from pre-existing deployments.
+		deployment.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Annotations = nil
 
 		deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.ServiceAccountName = manifests.KASConnectionCheckerName
 		deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.PriorityClassName = "system-node-critical"
 		automount := true
 		deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.AutomountServiceAccountToken = &automount
 
+		// kube-system is exempt from both SCC and Pod Security admission, so nothing
+		// assigns a UID for us and the cli image would otherwise run as root. The UID
+		// must be numeric: RunAsNonRoot alone would fail admission at the kubelet
+		// because the image declares no user. Same approach as konnectivity-agent,
+		// which also runs in kube-system.
+		deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.SecurityContext = &corev1.PodSecurityContext{
+			RunAsUser: ptr.To[int64](1000),
+		}
+
 		deployment.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers = []corev1.Container{
 			{
 				Name:    "connection-checker",
 				Image:   cliImage,
 				Command: []string{"/bin/sh", "-c", checkScript},
+				SecurityContext: &corev1.SecurityContext{
+					AllowPrivilegeEscalation: ptr.To(false),
+					ReadOnlyRootFilesystem:   ptr.To(true),
+					RunAsNonRoot:             ptr.To(true),
+					Capabilities: &corev1.Capabilities{
+						Drop: []corev1.Capability{"ALL"},
+					},
+				},
+				TerminationMessagePolicy: corev1.TerminationMessageFallbackToLogsOnError,
 				Resources: corev1.ResourceRequirements{
 					Requests: corev1.ResourceList{
 						corev1.ResourceCPU:    resource.MustParse("5m"),
diff --git a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources_test.go b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources_test.go
index a8138e1b3a5a..46b670501e88 100644
--- a/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources_test.go
+++ b/control-plane-operator/hostedclusterconfigoperator/controllers/resources/resources_test.go
@@ -3156,8 +3156,40 @@ func verifyKASCheckerTolerations(t *testing.T, dep *appsv1.Deployment) {
 
 func verifyKASCheckerAnnotations(t *testing.T, dep *appsv1.Deployment) {
 	t.Helper()
-	if dep.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Annotations["openshift.io/required-scc"] != "restricted-v2" {
-		t.Errorf("Expected openshift.io/required-scc annotation 'restricted-v2', got %s", dep.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Annotations["openshift.io/required-scc"])
+	// kube-system is exempt from SCC admission, so the annotation is inert there and
+	// would reject the explicit non-root UID if that exemption ever changed.
+	if got, ok := dep.Spec.Template.ObjectMeta.Annotations["openshift.io/required-scc"]; ok {
+		t.Errorf("openshift.io/required-scc annotation should not be set, got %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func verifyKASCheckerSecurityContext(t *testing.T, dep *appsv1.Deployment, container corev1.Container) {
+	t.Helper()
+	// A numeric UID is required: nothing assigns one in kube-system, and RunAsNonRoot
+	// alone would fail at the kubelet because the cli image declares no user.
+	podSecurityContext := dep.Spec.Template.Spec.SecurityContext
+	if podSecurityContext == nil || podSecurityContext.RunAsUser == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Pod SecurityContext should set RunAsUser")
+	}
+	if *podSecurityContext.RunAsUser != 1000 {
+		t.Errorf("Expected RunAsUser 1000, got %d", *podSecurityContext.RunAsUser)
+	}
+
+	if container.SecurityContext == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Container SecurityContext should be set")
+	}
+	if !ptr.Deref(container.SecurityContext.RunAsNonRoot, false) {
+		t.Error("RunAsNonRoot should be true")
+	}
+	if ptr.Deref(container.SecurityContext.AllowPrivilegeEscalation, true) {
+		t.Error("AllowPrivilegeEscalation should be false")
+	}
+	if !ptr.Deref(container.SecurityContext.ReadOnlyRootFilesystem, false) {
+		t.Error("ReadOnlyRootFilesystem should be true")
+	}
+	if container.SecurityContext.Capabilities == nil ||
+		!reflect.DeepEqual(container.SecurityContext.Capabilities.Drop, []corev1.Capability{"ALL"}) {
+		t.Errorf("Expected all capabilities dropped, got %v", container.SecurityContext.Capabilities)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -3206,6 +3238,7 @@ func Test_reconciler_reconcileKASConnectionCheckerDeployment(t *testing.T) {
 				verifyKASCheckerResources(t, container)
 				verifyKASCheckerTolerations(t, dep)
 				verifyKASCheckerAnnotations(t, dep)
+				verifyKASCheckerSecurityContext(t, dep, container)
 
 				cm := &corev1.ConfigMap{}
 				if err := c.Get(context.Background(), client.ObjectKey{Name: manifests.KASConnectionCheckerConfigMapName, Namespace: manifests.KASConnectionCheckerNamespace}, cm); err != nil {
@@ -3256,6 +3289,10 @@ func Test_reconciler_reconcileKASConnectionCheckerDeployment(t *testing.T) {
 							Labels: map[string]string{
 								"app": "old-label",
 							},
+							// Written by an older HCCO; must be cleared on upgrade.
+							Annotations: map[string]string{
+								"openshift.io/required-scc": "restricted-v2",
+							},
 						},
 						Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
 							Containers: []corev1.Container{
@@ -3283,6 +3320,7 @@ func Test_reconciler_reconcileKASConnectionCheckerDeployment(t *testing.T) {
 					t.Errorf("Expected ServiceAccountName %s, got %s", manifests.KASConnectionCheckerName, dep.Spec.Template.Spec.ServiceAccountName)
 				}
 				verifyKASCheckerAnnotations(t, dep)
+				verifyKASCheckerSecurityContext(t, dep, container)
 			},
 		},
 	}