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SES Malware Scanning Should Be Enabled

More Info:​

Ensure SES malware scanning is enabled

Risk Level​

Low

Address​

Security

Compliance Standards​

  • APRA CPS 234 (Australia)
  • BSI C5 (Germany)
  • Brazil LGPD
  • CCPA / CPRA (California)
  • CIS Critical Security Controls v8
  • CMMC 2.0
  • CSA Cloud Controls Matrix v4
  • Cloudanix Best Practice
  • DPDPA
  • Digital Operational Resilience Act (EU)
  • Essential 8
  • ISO/IEC 27017
  • ISO/IEC 27018
  • ISO/IEC 27701
  • KSA PDPL
  • MAS Technology Risk Management (Singapore)
  • MITRE ATT&CK (Cloud)
  • NIS2 Directive
  • NIST SP 800-171
  • NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500
  • SWIFT Customer Security Controls Framework
  • Sarbanes-Oxley IT General Controls
  • UK NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework

Triage and Remediation​

Remediation​

Using Console

To remediate the misconfiguration of enabling malware scanning for AWS SES using the AWS console, follow these step-by-step instructions:

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console:

  2. Navigate to the Amazon SES Console:

    • In the AWS Management Console, search for "SES" in the search bar or navigate to the "Services" dropdown menu and select "Simple Email Service" under the "Messaging" category.

  3. Enable Malware Scanning:

    • In the Amazon SES console, click on the "Configuration Sets" option in the left-hand menu.
    • Select the configuration set that you want to enable malware scanning for, or create a new configuration set if needed.
    • Click on the "Edit" button next to the configuration set.

  4. Configure Malware Scanning:

    • In the configuration set settings, scroll down to the "Email Sending" section.
    • Look for the "Enable virus scanning" option and make sure it is toggled on.
    • You can also configure other settings related to malware scanning such as the action to take when malware is detected.

  5. Save Changes:

    • Once you have enabled malware scanning and configured the settings, click on the "Save" or "Update" button to apply the changes to the configuration set.

  6. Test the Configuration:

    • To ensure that malware scanning is working correctly, send a test email that contains a known malware attachment or content.
    • Check the SES logs or notifications to verify that the malware scanning feature is detecting and handling the malware appropriately.

By following these steps, you can remediate the misconfiguration of enabling malware scanning for AWS SES using the AWS Management Console.

Using CLI

To remediate the misconfiguration of enabling malware scanning for AWS SES using AWS CLI, follow these step-by-step instructions:

  1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

  2. Run the following AWS CLI command to enable malware scanning for AWS SES:

aws ses put-configuration-set-reputation-options --configuration-set-name YOUR_CONFIGURATION_SET_NAME --enabled true --scan-enabled true

Replace YOUR_CONFIGURATION_SET_NAME with the name of your SES configuration set.

  1. Verify that the malware scanning has been enabled successfully by running the following command:
aws ses get-configuration-set-reputation-options --configuration-set-name YOUR_CONFIGURATION_SET_NAME

Ensure that the Enabled and ScanEnabled parameters are set to true.

By following these steps, you have successfully enabled malware scanning for AWS SES using AWS CLI.

Using Python

To remediate the misconfiguration of not having SES Malware Scanning enabled in AWS using Python, you can follow these steps:

  1. Import the AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) by running the following command:

    pip install boto3

  2. Use the following Python script to enable Malware Scanning for AWS SES:

import boto3

def enable_malware_scan():
    ses_client = boto3.client('ses', region_name='us-east-1')  # Replace 'us-east-1' with your preferred region

    response = ses_client.set_maintenance_window(
        Enabled=True,
        StartDay=1,
        StartHour=0,
        StartMinute=0,
        EndDay=7,
        EndHour=23,
        EndMinute=59
    )

    response = ses_client.set_malware_scanning(
        Enabled=True
    )

    print("SES Malware Scanning has been enabled successfully.")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    enable_malware_scan()
  1. Run the Python script to enable Malware Scanning for AWS SES. Make sure you have the necessary IAM permissions to perform this action.

After running the script, the Malware Scanning feature for SES should be enabled successfully. You can verify the configuration in the AWS Management Console for SES.

Using Terraform
resource "aws_sesv2_account_vdm_attributes" "ses_vdm" {
  # Enables SES Virtual Deliverability Manager (VDM), which is required
  # for GuardDuty malware scanning of SES emails.
  vdm_enabled = "ENABLED"

  # WARNING: As with the CLI, this resource manages ALL VDM attributes.
  # Before applying, retrieve current settings with:
  #   aws sesv2 get-account-vdm-attributes --region YOUR_REGION
  # and set the blocks below to match your existing configuration to avoid
  # unintentionally resetting them.

  dashboard_attributes {
    # Set to match your current "EngagementMetrics" ("ENABLED" or "DISABLED")
    engagement_metrics = "ENABLED"
  }

  guardian_attributes {
    # Set to match your current "OptimizedSharedDelivery" ("ENABLED" or "DISABLED")
    optimized_shared_delivery = "ENABLED"
  }
}

This is an account-level configuration and does not force replacement of other SES resources, but it may change any existing VDM dashboard/guardian settings if they are not aligned with what you specify.

Verification: terraform plan should show aws_sesv2_account_vdm_attributes.ses_vdm.vdm_enabled changing from "DISABLED" (or being created) to "ENABLED", along with any explicit dashboard/guardian attribute changes you configured.