Ensure there is only one active access key available for any single IAM user

MEDIUM

Description

Description:

Access keys are long-term credentials for an IAM user or the AWS account 'root' user. You can use access keys to sign programmatic requests to the AWS CLI or AWS API (directly or using the AWS SDK)

Rationale:

Access keys are long-term credentials for an IAM user or the AWS account 'root' user. You can use access keys to sign programmatic requests to the AWS CLI or AWS API. One of the best ways to protect your account is to not allow users to have multiple access keys.

Remediation

From Console:

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and navigate to IAM dashboard at 'https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/'.
  2. In the left navigation panel, choose 'Users'.
  3. Click on the IAM user name that you want to examine.
  4. On the IAM user configuration page, select 'Security Credentials' tab.
  5. In 'Access Keys' section, choose one access key that is less than 90 days old. This should be the only active key used by this IAM user to access AWS resources programmatically. Test your application(s) to make sure that the chosen access key is working.
  6. In the same 'Access Keys' section, identify your non-operational access keys (other than the chosen one) and deactivate it by clicking the 'Make Inactive' link.
  7. If you receive the 'Change Key Status' confirmation box, click 'Deactivate' to switch off the selected key.
  8. Repeat steps no. 3 - 7 for each IAM user in your AWS account.

From Command Line:

  1. Using the IAM user and access key information provided in the 'Audit CLI', choose one access key that is less than 90 days old. This should be the only active key used by this IAM user to access AWS resources programmatically. Test your application(s) to make sure that the chosen access key is working.

  2. Run the 'update-access-key' command below using the IAM user name and the non-operational access key IDs to deactivate the unnecessary key(s). Refer to the Audit section to identify the unnecessary access key ID for the selected IAM user

Note - the command does not return any output:

aws iam update-access-key --access-key-id --status Inactive --user-name

  1. To confirm that the selected access key pair has been successfully 'deactivated' run the 'list-access-keys' audit command again for that IAM User:

aws iam list-access-keys --user-name

  • The command output should expose the metadata for each access key associated with the IAM user. If the non-operational key pair(s) 'Status' is set to 'Inactive', the key has been successfully deactivated and the IAM user access configuration adheres now to this recommendation.
  1. Repeat steps no. 1 - 3 for each IAM user in your AWS account.

Policy Details

Rule Reference ID: AC_AWS_0554
CSP: AWS
Remediation Available: No
Resource: aws_iam_user
Resource Type: Policy

Frameworks