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Detecting aws iam privilege escalation

Skill pinkpixel-dev/skills-collection-1/SKILLS/detecting-aws-iam-privilege-escalation

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Install
npx -y skills add pinkpixel-dev/skills-collection-1 --skill detecting-aws-iam-privilege-escalation

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Detect AWS IAM privilege escalation paths using boto3 and Cloudsplaining policy analysis to identify overly permissive policies, dangerous permission combinations, and least-privilege violations

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SKILL.md

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Detecting AWS IAM Privilege Escalation

Overview

This skill uses boto3 and Cloudsplaining-style analysis to identify IAM privilege escalation paths in AWS accounts. It downloads the account authorization details, analyzes each policy for dangerous permission combinations (iam:PassRole + lambda:CreateFunction, iam:CreatePolicyVersion, sts:AssumeRole), and flags policies that violate least-privilege principles.

When to Use

  • When investigating security incidents that require detecting aws iam privilege escalation
  • When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
  • When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
  • When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques

Prerequisites

  • Python 3.8+ with boto3 library
  • AWS credentials with IAM read-only access (iam:GetAccountAuthorizationDetails)
  • Optional: cloudsplaining Python package for HTML report generation

Steps

  1. Download IAM Authorization Details — Call iam:GetAccountAuthorizationDetails to retrieve all users, groups, roles, and policies
  2. Analyze Policies for Privilege Escalation — Check each policy for known escalation permission combinations
  3. Identify Wildcard Resource Policies — Flag policies using Resource: "*" with dangerous actions
  4. Map Principal-to-Policy Relationships — Build a graph of which principals can access which escalation paths
  5. Score and Prioritize Findings — Rank findings by severity based on escalation vector type
  6. Generate Report — Produce structured JSON report with remediation guidance

Expected Output

  • JSON report of privilege escalation findings with severity scores
  • List of dangerous permission combinations per principal
  • Wildcard resource policy audit results
  • Remediation recommendations for each finding

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