diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_alert_permission.test.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_alert_permission.test.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_alert_permission.test.tsx
rename to x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_alert_permission.test.ts
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6bb8b476b4d01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+import { renderHook } from '@testing-library/react-hooks';
+import { applicationServiceMock } from 'src/core/public/mocks';
+import { casesFeatureId } from '../../common';
+import { useGetUserCasesPermissions } from './use_get_user_cases_permissions';
+import { kibanaStartMock } from '../utils/kibana_react.mock';
+
+let mockUseKibanaReturnValue = kibanaStartMock.startContract();
+
+jest.mock('../utils/kibana_react', () => ({
+  __esModule: true,
+  useKibana: jest.fn(() => mockUseKibanaReturnValue),
+}));
+
+describe('useGetUserCasesPermissions', function () {
+  it('returns expected permissions when capabilities entry exists', () => {
+    mockUseKibanaReturnValue = {
+      ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue,
+      services: {
+        ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services,
+        application: {
+          ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services.application,
+          capabilities: {
+            ...applicationServiceMock.createStartContract().capabilities,
+            [casesFeatureId]: { crud_cases: false, read_cases: true },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useGetUserCasesPermissions(), {});
+    expect(result.current?.read).toBe(true);
+    expect(result.current?.crud).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false when capabilities entry permissions are missing', () => {
+    mockUseKibanaReturnValue = {
+      ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue,
+      services: {
+        ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services,
+        application: {
+          ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services.application,
+          capabilities: {
+            ...applicationServiceMock.createStartContract().capabilities,
+            [casesFeatureId]: {
+              /* intentionally empty */
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useGetUserCasesPermissions(), {});
+    expect(result.current?.read).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.current?.crud).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false when capabilities entry is missing entirely', () => {
+    mockUseKibanaReturnValue = {
+      ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue,
+      services: {
+        ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services,
+        application: {
+          ...mockUseKibanaReturnValue.services.application,
+          capabilities: {
+            ...applicationServiceMock.createStartContract().capabilities,
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    };
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useGetUserCasesPermissions(), {});
+    expect(result.current?.read).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.current?.crud).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.tsx b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.tsx
index 452fd8006fbf6..2827f89626794 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/hooks/use_get_user_cases_permissions.tsx
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ export function useGetUserCasesPermissions() {
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const capabilitiesCanUserCRUD: boolean =
-      typeof uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId].crud_cases === 'boolean'
+      typeof uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId]?.crud_cases === 'boolean'
         ? (uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId].crud_cases as boolean)
         : false;
     const capabilitiesCanUserRead: boolean =
-      typeof uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId].read_cases === 'boolean'
+      typeof uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId]?.read_cases === 'boolean'
         ? (uiCapabilities[casesFeatureId].read_cases as boolean)
         : false;
     setCasesPermissions({
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/observability_public_plugins_start.mock.ts b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/observability_public_plugins_start.mock.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4d6d312bcf199
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/observability_public_plugins_start.mock.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+const casesUiStartMock = {
+  createStart() {
+    return {
+      getCases: jest.fn(),
+      getAllCasesSelectorModal: jest.fn(),
+      getCreateCaseFlyout: jest.fn(),
+      getRecentCases: jest.fn(),
+    };
+  },
+};
+
+const embeddableStartMock = {
+  createStart() {
+    return {
+      getEmbeddableFactory: jest.fn(),
+      getEmbeddableFactories: jest.fn(),
+      EmbeddablePanel: jest.fn(),
+      getStateTransfer: jest.fn(),
+      getAttributeService: jest.fn(),
+      telemetry: null,
+      inject: jest.fn(),
+      extract: jest.fn(),
+      getAllMigrations: jest.fn(),
+    };
+  },
+};
+
+export const observabilityPublicPluginsStartMock = {
+  createStart() {
+    return {
+      cases: casesUiStartMock.createStart(),
+      embeddable: embeddableStartMock.createStart(),
+      triggersActionsUi: null,
+      data: null,
+      lens: null,
+      discover: null,
+    };
+  },
+};
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/utils/kibana_react.mock.ts b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/utils/kibana_react.mock.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5cb00169abfb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/observability/public/utils/kibana_react.mock.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+import { coreMock, notificationServiceMock, overlayServiceMock } from 'src/core/public/mocks';
+import { observabilityPublicPluginsStartMock } from '../observability_public_plugins_start.mock';
+
+export const kibanaStartMock = {
+  startContract() {
+    return {
+      notifications: notificationServiceMock.createStartContract(),
+      overlays: overlayServiceMock.createStartContract(),
+      services: {
+        ...coreMock.createStart(),
+        ...observabilityPublicPluginsStartMock.createStart(),
+        storage: coreMock.createStorage(),
+      },
+    };
+  },
+};