IAM Groups, Users, and Roles Rule
This rule states that IAM groups, users, and roles should not have any inline policies.
| Rule | IAM groups, users, and roles should not have any inline policies |
| Framework | NIST 800-53 Revision 5 |
| Severity | ✔ Low |
Rule Description:
According to NIST 800-53 Revision 5 compliance, IAM groups, users, and roles should not have any inline policies. Inline policies are directly attached to IAM entities (groups, users, roles) and can create security risks if not managed properly. It is recommended to use managed policies instead for better control, scalability, and compliance.
Troubleshooting Steps:
- 1.Identify IAM entities: First, identify the IAM groups, users, and roles in your AWS account.
- 2.Check for inline policies: Review the policies associated with each IAM entity to determine if any inline policies are present.
- 3.Understand the policy requirements: Familiarize yourself with the specific needs or use cases that led to the creation of inline policies.
- 4.Evaluate alternatives: Consider the use of managed policies, which provide a more robust and centralized approach to policy management.
- 5.Analyze potential risks: Assess the security implications of inline policies, including the potential for unintended access or policy conflicts.
- 6.Plan for migration: Develop a plan to migrate the inline policies to managed policies, ensuring minimal disruption to existing permissions and access controls.
- 7.Implement managed policies: Create relevant managed policies and attach them to the appropriate IAM entities.
- 8.Test functionality: Verify that the managed policies provide the necessary permissions for the respective IAM entities.
- 9.Remove inline policies: Once the migration is successfully completed and verified, remove any inline policies from IAM groups, users, and roles.
Necessary Codes:
No specific codes are required for this remediation process. However, the following AWS CLI commands can be used if needed:
- To list all IAM groups:
aws iam list-groups
- To list all inline policies attached to a specific IAM group:
aws iam list-group-policies --group-name <group-name>
- To remove an inline policy from an IAM group:
aws iam delete-group-policy --group-name <group-name> --policy-name <policy-name>
- To list all IAM users:
aws iam list-users
- To list all inline policies attached to a specific IAM user:
aws iam list-user-policies --user-name <user-name>
- To remove an inline policy from an IAM user:
aws iam delete-user-policy --user-name <user-name> --policy-name <policy-name>
- To list all IAM roles:
aws iam list-roles
- To list all inline policies attached to a specific IAM role:
aws iam list-role-policies --role-name <role-name>
- To remove an inline policy from an IAM role:
aws iam delete-role-policy --role-name <role-name> --policy-name <policy-name>
Step-by-Step Guide:
- 1.Identify the IAM groups, users, and roles that need to be assessed for inline policies.
- 2.For each IAM group:
- Use the command
to list all inline policies attached to the group.aws iam list-group-policies --group-name <group-name> - Review the retrieved policies and document their purposes or requirements.
- Evaluate the risks associated with each inline policy.
- Determine if a managed policy can fulfill the same requirements.
- If a managed policy can replace an inline policy, proceed to create the managed policy and attach it to the group.
- After successful verification, use
to remove the inline policy.aws iam delete-group-policy --group-name <group-name> --policy-name <policy-name>
- 3.Repeat the above steps for IAM users and roles.
- 4.Once all inline policies have been migrated to managed policies and verified, ensure that the inline policies have been deleted using the appropriate AWS CLI commands described earlier.
Remember to test the functionality of the system after implementing the managed policies and removing the inline policies to ensure that the IAM entities have the necessary permissions while complying with the NIST 800-53 Revision 5 requirements.