Adversaries may abuse permission configurations that allow them to gain temporarily elevated access to cloud resources. Many cloud environments allow administrators to grant user or service accounts permission to request just-in-time access to roles, impersonate other accounts, pass roles onto resources and services, or otherwise gain short-term access to a set of privileges that may be distinct from their own.
Just-in-time access is a mechanism for granting additional roles to cloud accounts in a granular, temporary manner. This allows accounts to operate with only the permissions they need on a daily basis, and to request additional permissions as necessary. Sometimes just-in-time access requests are configured to require manual approval, while other times the desired permissions are automatically granted.(Citation: Azure Just in Time Access 2023)
Account impersonation allows user or service accounts to temporarily act with the permissions of another account. For example, in GCP users with the iam.serviceAccountTokenCreator role can create temporary access tokens or sign arbitrary payloads with the permissions of a service account, while service accounts with domain-wide delegation permission are permitted to impersonate Google Workspace accounts.(Citation: Google Cloud Service Account Authentication Roles)(Citation: Hunters Domain Wide Delegation Google Workspace 2023)(Citation: Google Cloud Just in Time Access 2023)(Citation: Palo Alto Unit 42 Google Workspace Domain Wide Delegation 2023) In Exchange Online, the ApplicationImpersonation role allows a service account to use the permissions associated with specified user accounts.(Citation: Microsoft Impersonation and EWS in Exchange)
Many cloud environments also include mechanisms for users to pass roles to resources that allow them to perform tasks and authenticate to other services. While the user that creates the resource does not directly assume the role they pass to it, they may still be able to take advantage of the role's access – for example, by configuring the resource to perform certain actions with the permissions it has been granted. In AWS, users with the PassRole permission can allow a service they create to assume a given role, while in GCP, users with the iam.serviceAccountUser role can attach a service account to a resource.(Citation: AWS PassRole)(Citation: Google Cloud Service Account Authentication Roles)
While users require specific role assignments in order to use any of these features, cloud administrators may misconfigure permissions. This could result in escalation paths that allow adversaries to gain access to resources beyond what was originally intended.(Citation: Rhino Google Cloud Privilege Escalation)(Citation: Rhino Security Labs AWS Privilege Escalation)
Note: this technique is distinct from Additional Cloud Roles, which involves assigning permanent roles to accounts rather than abusing existing permissions structures to gain temporarily elevated access to resources. However, adversaries that compromise a sufficiently privileged account may grant another account they control Additional Cloud Roles that would allow them to also abuse these features. This may also allow for greater stealth than would be had by directly using the highly privileged account, especially when logs do not clarify when role impersonation is taking place.(Citation: CrowdStrike StellarParticle January 2022)
View in MITRE ATT&CK®| Capability ID | Capability Description | Mapping Type | ATT&CK ID | ATT&CK Name | Notes |
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| IAM-06 | User Access Provisioning | mitigates | T1548.005 | Temporary Elevated Cloud Access |
Comments
This control describes the implementation of a secure and controlled user access provisioning process. Proper user account management reduces the attack surface by limiting unauthorized access to data, assets, and systems. Managing account access authorizations can reduce the risk of privilege escalation by ensuring accounts cannot perform unauthorized actions.
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| IAM-04 | Separation of Duties | mitigates | T1548.005 | Temporary Elevated Cloud Access |
Comments
This control describes separation of duties (SoD) must be implemented by assigning and managing distinct roles for users, applications, and services, minimizing overlapping responsibilities and restricting access to critical functions through centralized role management, multi-level approvals, and automated provisioning tools.
Adversaries may abuse permission configurations that allow them to gain temporarily elevated access to cloud resources. Many cloud environments allow administrators to grant user or service accounts permission to request just-in-time access to roles, impersonate other accounts, or pass roles onto resources and services. In terms of mitigations, limit the privileges of cloud accounts to assume, create, or impersonate additional roles, policies, and permissions to only those required. Where just-in-time access is enabled, consider requiring manual approval for temporary elevation of privileges.
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| IAM-07 | User Access Changes and Revocation | mitigates | T1548.005 | Temporary Elevated Cloud Access |
Comments
This control focuses on the secure deprovisioning of user access by automating account removal, detecting and revoking inactive accounts. These mitigative actions reduce the risk of lingering or inappropriate access following employee termination, role changes, or security incidents.
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| IAM-05 | Least Privilege | mitigates | T1548.005 | Temporary Elevated Cloud Access |
Comments
This control describes the enforcement of the principle of least privilege implementing controls such as regular automated reviews of access permissions, enforcing MFA for high-risk accounts, promptly revoking unused privileges, and by limiting access to sensitive data.
For this technique, in terms of mitigation, limit the privileges of cloud accounts to assume, create, or impersonate additional roles, policies, and permissions to only those required. Where just-in-time access is enabled, consider requiring manual approval for temporary elevation of privileges.
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