Learn how to generate and analyze an IAM credential report in AWS to enhance your account's security posture. This task involves generating a credential report, retrieving it, decoding it, and identifying potential security concerns based on the report's contents.
- Basic knowledge of AWS IAM
- AWS CLI installed and configured with appropriate permissions
Start by generating a new IAM credential report. This report will contain details about each IAM user's status within your AWS account.
aws iam generate-credential-report
You should see a response indicating that the report generation has started or is complete.
Once the report generation is complete, retrieve the generated IAM credential report using the following command:
aws iam get-credential-report
This will return a JSON object, including the credential report in a base64-encoded format.
To decode and view the content of the credential report in a human-readable format, use the following command:
aws iam get-credential-report --output text --query Content | base64 --decode
Review the decoded credential report and focus on the following columns to identify potential security concerns:
user
password_enabled
password_last_used
password_last_changed
Look for any IAM users with passwords that have not been changed in an extended period, which could indicate a lapse in security practices.
Based on your analysis, summarize any security concerns you've identified. Highlight users with outdated password practices or any other potential security risks.
- A written summary of your findings, detailing any security concerns and suggested actions to mitigate these risks.
- Successful execution of commands to generate, retrieve, and decode the IAM credential report.
- Thorough analysis of the credential report, identifying potential security concerns.
- Clear and actionable recommendations in the summary to improve the security posture based on the findings.