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How to Detect Use of AWS Account Root User Credentials

The root account has unrestricted access to all resources in the AWS account. It is highly recommended that the use of this account be avoided.

info

This security check is part of the CIS Amazon Web Services Benchmarks and is rated severity critical.

Prerequisites​

This guide assumes that you have already installed and configured Fix Inventory to collect your AWS resources.

Directions​

  1. Execute the following search command in Fix Inventory Shell:

    > search is(aws_root_user) {access_keys[]: --> is(access_key)} password_last_used>{{last_access_younger_than.ago}} or access_keys[*].reported.access_key_last_used.last_used>{{last_access_younger_than.ago}}
    ​kind=aws_root_user, ..., region=fixinventory-poweruser
    ​kind=aws_root_user, ..., account=poweruser-team

  2. Pipe the search command into the dump command:

    > search is(aws_root_user) {access_keys[]: --> is(access_key)} password_last_used>{{last_access_younger_than.ago}} or access_keys[*].reported.access_key_last_used.last_used>{{last_access_younger_than.ago}} | dump
    ​reported:
    ​  id: /aws/iam/123
    ​  name: some-name
    ​  ctime: '2022-12-05T22:53:14Z'
    ​  kind: aws_root_user
    ​  age: 2mo28d

    The command output will list the details of all non-compliant aws_root_user resources.

Remediation​

  • Ensure IAM policies are attached only to groups or roles.
note

Please refer to the AWS IAM documentation for details.

Further Reading​