Testing your AWS infrastructure requires understanding AWS's specific rules and best practices. Unlike traditional on-premise environments, cloud penetration testing has unique considerations around shared responsibility, permitted services, and proper authorization.
This guide covers AWS penetration testing policies, what you can and can't test, how to get authorization, and best practices for comprehensive cloud security assessments.
AWS Penetration Testing Policy
Good news: AWS no longer requires pre-approval for penetration testing on most services. As of 2019, AWS updated their policy to allow customers to conduct security assessments against their own AWS infrastructure without prior authorization for permitted services.
Key Policy Update
You can perform penetration testing on your own AWS resources without requesting permission, as long as you stay within the permitted services list and follow AWS's acceptable use policy.
Permitted Services for Testing
AWS explicitly permits penetration testing against the following services:
Prohibited Testing Activities
While AWS permits penetration testing, certain activities remain strictly prohibited:
DNS Zone Walking
Against Amazon Route 53 Hosted Zones
Denial of Service (DoS/DDoS)
Any form of flooding attacks or resource exhaustion
Port/Protocol Flooding
Request flooding or API request flooding
Testing Other Customers
Never test resources you don't own
DDoS Testing Requires Approval
If you need to test DDoS resilience, you must use AWS Shield Advanced and work with the AWS DDoS Response Team. Standard DDoS testing is never permitted.
Understanding Shared Responsibility
AWS operates on a shared responsibility model. Understanding this is critical for scoping your pentest:
AWS Responsibility
"Security OF the Cloud"- Physical data center security
- Hardware and infrastructure
- Hypervisor and virtualization
- Network infrastructure
- Managed service internals
You cannot test these—AWS handles security here
Your Responsibility
"Security IN the Cloud"- Application code and logic
- IAM policies and access control
- Security group configurations
- OS patching (EC2)
- Data encryption settings
This is what you should test
What to Test in AWS Environments
A comprehensive AWS penetration test should cover these key areas:
IAM Configuration
Overly permissive policies, unused credentials, MFA enforcement, role assumption chains, privilege escalation paths.
S3 Bucket Security
Public buckets, misconfigured ACLs, sensitive data exposure, bucket policy weaknesses.
Network Security
Security group rules, NACLs, VPC configuration, exposed services, unnecessary open ports.
EC2 Instance Security
OS vulnerabilities, exposed metadata service, instance profile abuse, user data secrets.
Lambda Function Security
Injection vulnerabilities, overprivileged execution roles, environment variable secrets.
API Gateway Security
Common AWS Security Issues Found
Public S3 Buckets
Sensitive data exposed to the internet through misconfigured bucket policies or ACLs.
IMDS Exploitation
SSRF attacks accessing EC2 instance metadata to steal IAM credentials.
Overprivileged IAM
Roles and users with excessive permissions enabling privilege escalation.
Secrets in Code
AWS credentials hardcoded in Lambda functions, EC2 user data, or application code.
How ManticoreAI Tests AWS Environments
ManticoreAI provides comprehensive AWS penetration testing that covers your entire cloud attack surface:
Cloud Discovery
Enumerate all AWS resources, identify attack surface, map trust relationships.
Configuration Testing
Test IAM, S3, security groups, and service configurations for weaknesses.
Expert Validation
Getting Started with AWS Pentesting
Key takeaways for AWS penetration testing:
- No pre-approval needed for permitted services—just stay within policy
- Focus on your responsibility: IAM, S3, security groups, application code
- Never attempt DoS/DDoS testing without explicit AWS approval
- Test after major infrastructure changes and
- Ensure your testing covers cloud-specific issues like IMDS and IAM
Test Your AWS Infrastructure
ManticoreAI delivers comprehensive AWS penetration testing with 48-hour results. Cloud-native testing that stays within AWS policy.