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Event Information

  • The CreateRole event in AWS for IAM refers to the action of creating a new IAM role.
  • IAM roles are used to grant permissions to AWS services and resources, allowing them to access other AWS resources securely.
  • When a CreateRole event occurs, it means that a new IAM role has been created, and it can be used to define permissions and access controls for various AWS services and resources.

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Examples

  1. Overly Permissive Role Policies: Risk: If the role is created with overly permissive policies or includes more permissions than necessary, it could lead to a principle of least privilege violation. This means that the role might have unnecessary access to sensitive resources or actions, increasing the risk of unauthorized access or unintended operations.1.
  2. Inadequate Trust Relationships: Risk: The trust relationship specifies which entities (AWS accounts, IAM users, roles, or services) are allowed to assume the role. If the trust relationship is misconfigured, it could potentially allow unauthorized entities to assume the role, leading to unauthorized access or privilege escalation.
  3. Lack of Logging and Monitoring: Risk: If adequate logging and monitoring are not configured for the CreateRole event, it may be challenging to detect and respond to suspicious or unauthorized activities related to role creation. Lack of visibility into role creation events can hinder incident response and security investigations.

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Remediation

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Using Console

  1. Overly Permissive Role Policies: Remediation Steps:
    1. Access IAM Console: Go to the IAM console.
    2. Select the Role: Navigate to “Roles” in the left-hand navigation pane. Select the role created using the CreateRole event.
    3. Review and Edit Policies: Review the policies attached to the role on the “Permissions” tab. Remove any policies that are overly permissive or not necessary for the role’s intended purpose.
    4. Apply Least Privilege: Ensure that the remaining policies follow the principle of least privilege, providing only the necessary permissions for the role’s function.
    5. Save Changes: Click “Save changes” to apply the updated policy configuration.
  2. Inadequate Trust Relationships: Remediation Steps:
    1. Access IAM Console: Go to the IAM console.
    2. Select the Role: Navigate to “Roles” in the left-hand navigation pane. Select the role created using the CreateRole event.
    3. Edit Trust Relationship: On the “Trust relationships” tab, click “Edit trust relationship.” Review and Update Trust Policy:
    4. Review the JSON trust policy document. Ensure that only trusted entities are specified in the trust relationship. Update the trust policy if necessary.
    5. Validate Changes: Click “Update Trust Policy” to apply the changes.
  3. Lack of Logging and Monitoring: Remediation Steps:
    1. Access CloudTrail Console: Go to the CloudTrail console.
    2. Create or Update a Trail: Create a new trail if one doesn’t exist or update an existing trail. Ensure that the trail captures events, including CreateRole events.
    3. Configure CloudWatch Alarms: Set up CloudWatch Alarms to monitor specific CloudTrail events, including CreateRole. Create an alarm that triggers when unexpected IAM changes are detected.
    4. Review and Respond: Regularly review CloudTrail logs and CloudWatch Alarms. Configure automated responses or notifications for security incidents.

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Using CLI

  1. Overly Permissive Role Policies: 
    # Step 1: Identify the Role ARN
aws iam list-roles --query 'Roles[?RoleName==`YourRoleName`].Arn'

# Step 2: Detach Overly Permissive Policies
aws iam detach-role-policy --role-name YourRoleName --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/OverlyPermissivePolicy

# Step 3: Attach Correct Policies
aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name YourRoleName --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/CorrectPolicy
    Replace YourRoleName, OverlyPermissivePolicy, and CorrectPolicy with your actual role name, the ARN of the overly permissive policy, and the ARN of the correct policy, respectively
  2. Inadequate Trust Relationships: 
    # Step 1: Get the Trust Policy Document
    aws iam get-role --role-name YourRoleName --query 'Role.AssumeRolePolicyDocument' --output text > trust-policy.json

    # Step 2: Edit the Trust Policy Document (manually or using a text editor)

    # Step 3: Update the Trust Policy
    aws iam update-assume-role-policy --role-name YourRoleName --policy-document file://trust-policy.json
    Make sure to update YourRoleName and trust-policy.json accordingly.
  3. Lack of Logging and Monitoring: 
    # Step 1: Create or Update CloudTrail Trail
 aws cloudtrail create-trail --name YourTrailName --s3-bucket-name YourS3Bucket --enable-log-file-validation

 # Step 2: Update CloudTrail with Include/Exclude Events as Needed
 aws cloudtrail update-trail --name YourTrailName --include-global-service-events --event-selectors file://event-selectors.json

 # Step 3: Create CloudWatch Alarms
 aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name YourCloudWatchAlarm --metric-name ConsoleLogin --namespace AWS/ConsoleSignIn --statistic Sum --period 300 --threshold 1 --comparison-operator GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold --evaluation-periods 1 --alarm-actions YourSnsTopicArn

 # Step 4: Configure CloudWatch Alarms for IAM Changes
 # Repeat the above command with appropriate metrics and settings for IAM events.
    Adjust the parameters such as YourTrailName, YourS3Bucket, event-selectors.json, YourCloudWatchAlarm, and YourSnsTopicArn based on your configuration.

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Using Python

  1. Overly Permissive Role Policies: 
     import boto3

 # Step 1: Identify the Role ARN
 role_name = 'YourRoleName'
 iam_client = boto3.client('iam')
 response = iam_client.list_roles(PathPrefix='/')
 role_arn = next((role['Arn'] for role in response['Roles'] if role['RoleName'] == role_name), None)

 # Step 2: Detach Overly Permissive Policies
 policy_arn_to_detach = 'arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/OverlyPermissivePolicy'
 iam_client.detach_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyArn=policy_arn_to_detach)

 # Step 3: Attach Correct Policies
 policy_arn_to_attach = 'arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/CorrectPolicy'
 iam_client.attach_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyArn=policy_arn_to_attach)
  2. Inadequate Trust Relationships: 
     import boto3
 import json

 # Step 1: Get the Trust Policy Document
 role_name = 'YourRoleName'
 iam_client = boto3.client('iam')
 response = iam_client.get_role(RoleName=role_name)
 trust_policy_document = response['Role']['AssumeRolePolicyDocument']

 # Step 2: Edit the Trust Policy Document (manually or using a Python script)

 # Step 3: Update the Trust Policy
 iam_client.update_assume_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyDocument=json.dumps(trust_policy_document))
  3. Lack of Logging and Monitoring: 
     import boto3
 import json

 # Step 1: Create or Update CloudTrail Trail
 cloudtrail_client = boto3.client('cloudtrail')
 trail_name = 'YourTrailName'
 s3_bucket_name = 'YourS3Bucket'
 response = cloudtrail_client.create_trail(
     Name=trail_name,
     S3BucketName=s3_bucket_name,
     EnableLogFileValidation=True
 )

 # Step 2: Update CloudTrail with Include/Exclude Events as Needed
 event_selectors = {
     'DataResources': [],
     'IncludeManagementEvents': True,
     'ReadWriteType': 'All'
 }
 cloudtrail_client.update_trail(Name=trail_name, EventSelectors=[event_selectors])

 # Step 3: Create CloudWatch Alarms
 cloudwatch_client = boto3.client('cloudwatch')
 alarm_name = 'YourCloudWatchAlarm'
 sns_topic_arn = 'YourSnsTopicArn'
 cloudwatch_client.put_metric_alarm(
     AlarmName=alarm_name,
     MetricName='ConsoleLogin',
     Namespace='AWS/ConsoleSignIn',
     Statistic='Sum',
     Period=300,
     Threshold=1,
     ComparisonOperator='GreaterThanOrEqualToThreshold',
     EvaluationPeriods=1,
     AlarmActions=[sns_topic_arn]
 )

 # Step 4: Configure CloudWatch Alarms for IAM Changes
 # Repeat the above command with appropriate metrics and settings for IAM events.
    Adjust the parameters such as YourRoleName, YourS3Bucket, YourTrailName, YourCloudWatchAlarm, and YourSnsTopicArn based on your configuration.