diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/security/support/CrossClusterShardTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/security/support/CrossClusterShardTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..90e230606cdab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/core/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/core/security/support/CrossClusterShardTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License
+ * 2.0.
+ */
+
+package org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.support;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.action.support.TransportAction;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Binding;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.TypeLiteral;
+import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
+import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.ESSingleNodeTestCase;
+import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.XPackPlugin;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Set;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authz.privilege.IndexPrivilege.CROSS_CLUSTER_REPLICATION;
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authz.privilege.IndexPrivilege.CROSS_CLUSTER_REPLICATION_INTERNAL;
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authz.privilege.IndexPrivilege.READ;
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authz.privilege.IndexPrivilege.READ_CROSS_CLUSTER;
+import static org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.security.authz.privilege.IndexPrivilege.VIEW_METADATA;
+
+public class CrossClusterShardTests extends ESSingleNodeTestCase {
+
+
+    @Override
+    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> getPlugins() {
+        return Set.of(XPackPlugin.class); //TODO: need to move this test out to a QA test with a dependency on ALL plugins (including xpack plugins)
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+    public void testMe() throws Exception {
+        try (Node node = node()) {
+            List<Binding<TransportAction>> transportActionBindings =
+                node.injector().findBindingsByType(TypeLiteral.get(TransportAction.class));
+            AtomicInteger actionCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
+            AtomicInteger indexActionCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
+            AtomicInteger matchingIndexActionCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
+            AtomicInteger matchingIndexActionShardCount = new AtomicInteger(0);
+
+            transportActionBindings.forEach(b -> {
+                actionCount.incrementAndGet();
+                TransportAction action = b.getProvider().get();
+                String actionName = action.actionName;
+                // System.out.println(actionName);
+                if (actionName.startsWith("indices:")) {
+                    indexActionCount.incrementAndGet();
+                    //TODO: add an additional test to ensure that these names are in sync with the string version declared
+                    // in CrossClusterApiKeyRoleDescriptorBuilder
+                    if (READ.predicate().test(actionName)
+                    || READ_CROSS_CLUSTER.predicate().test(actionName)
+                    || VIEW_METADATA.predicate().test(actionName)
+                    || CROSS_CLUSTER_REPLICATION.predicate().test(actionName)
+                    || CROSS_CLUSTER_REPLICATION_INTERNAL.predicate().test(actionName)) {
+                        //The set of all the index actions that permissions allow to cross cluster boundaries
+
+                        matchingIndexActionCount.incrementAndGet();
+                        if(action.getClass().getName().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).contains("shard")
+                        || actionName.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).contains("shard")) {
+                            // The set of all the index actions that are allowed to go cross cluster that have the word "shard"
+                            matchingIndexActionShardCount.incrementAndGet();
+                            System.out.println("********************");
+                            System.out.println(action.getClass().getName());
+                            System.out.println(actionName);
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+
+            });
+
+            System.out.println(">>>>>>>>>>> actionCount: " + actionCount.get()
+                + ", indexActionCount: " + indexActionCount.get()
+                + ", matchingIndexActionCount: " + matchingIndexActionCount.get()
+                + ", matchingIndexActionShardCount: " + matchingIndexActionShardCount.get());
+        }
+    }
+
+}