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AWS VPC Security AWS VPC Security

AWS VPC Security

Category: NETWORKING

Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) provides network isolation with subnets, security groups, and NACLs. Network misconfigurations enable lateral movement and data exfiltration.

Quick Stats

Risk Level Scope + NACLs + Transit GW
HIGH Regional SGs Peering

Service Overview

Network Controls

Security Groups are stateful firewalls at the instance level. Network ACLs are stateless firewalls at the subnet level. Route tables control traffic flow between subnets and to internet gateways.

Attack note: Default VPC has public subnets with internet gateway - not designed for security

Connectivity Options

VPC Peering, Transit Gateway, and VPN connections link VPCs together. PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints provide private access to AWS services without internet exposure.

Attack note: VPC peering misconfigurations can allow cross-account lateral movement

Security Risk Assessment

███████░░░ 7.0/10 (HIGH)

VPC misconfigurations enable lateral movement between systems and data exfiltration. Open security groups, permissive peering, and missing VPC endpoints are common issues.

⚔️ Attack Vectors

Network Access

  • Open security groups (0.0.0.0/0)
  • Default VPC with public subnets
  • Missing egress filtering
  • Direct internet access from instances
  • NAT Gateway for exfiltration

Lateral Movement

  • Permissive VPC peering
  • Transit Gateway routing
  • Shared subnets in RAM
  • Cross-account VPC access
  • PrivateLink service abuse

⚠️ Misconfigurations

Security Groups

  • Ingress 0.0.0.0/0 on SSH/RDP
  • All ports open
  • No egress restrictions
  • Referenced deleted groups
  • Unused but attached groups

Architecture

  • Database in public subnet
  • No private subnets
  • Missing NAT Gateway
  • VPC Flow Logs disabled
  • Default NACL allows all

🔍 Enumeration

List VPCs

aws ec2 describe-vpcs

List Subnets

aws ec2 describe-subnets

List Security Groups

aws ec2 describe-security-groups

List VPC Peering

aws ec2 describe-vpc-peering-connections

List VPC Endpoints

aws ec2 describe-vpc-endpoints

📤 Data Exfiltration

Outbound Routes

  • NAT Gateway for large transfers
  • Internet Gateway direct access
  • VPC peering to external account
  • VPN tunnel to attacker infra
  • DNS tunneling via Route 53

Service Routes

  • S3 Gateway Endpoint
  • EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint
  • API Gateway public endpoint
  • Lambda function URL
  • CloudFront to attacker origin

Key insight: Without egress filtering, any compromised instance can freely exfiltrate data.

🔗 Persistence

Network-Based

  • Create VPC peering to attacker
  • Add route to malicious endpoint
  • Create PrivateLink service
  • Modify security group rules
  • Add VPN connection

Access-Based

  • Create EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint
  • Add NAT Instance as backdoor
  • Client VPN endpoint
  • Site-to-Site VPN
  • Transit Gateway attachment

🛡️ Detection

Monitoring

  • VPC Flow Logs analysis
  • CloudTrail network events
  • GuardDuty network findings
  • Traffic Mirroring
  • Network Firewall logs

Key Events

  • CreateVpcPeeringConnection
  • AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress
  • CreateRoute
  • CreateVpcEndpoint
  • AttachVpnGateway

Exploitation Commands

Open Security Group to Internet

aws ec2 authorize-security-group-ingress \\
  --group-id sg-xxx \\
  --protocol tcp --port 22 --cidr 0.0.0.0/0

Create VPC Peering

aws ec2 create-vpc-peering-connection \\
  --vpc-id vpc-xxx \\
  --peer-vpc-id vpc-attacker \\
  --peer-owner-id ATTACKER_ACCOUNT

Add Route to Peering

aws ec2 create-route \\
  --route-table-id rtb-xxx \\
  --destination-cidr-block 10.0.0.0/8 \\
  --vpc-peering-connection-id pcx-xxx

Create EC2 Instance Connect Endpoint

aws ec2 create-instance-connect-endpoint \\
  --subnet-id subnet-xxx \\
  --security-group-ids sg-xxx

Find Overly Permissive SGs

aws ec2 describe-security-groups \\
  --query 'SecurityGroups[?IpPermissions[?IpRanges[?CidrIp==\`0.0.0.0/0\`]]]'

Delete Security Group Rule

aws ec2 revoke-security-group-ingress \\
  --group-id sg-xxx \\
  --protocol tcp --port 443 --cidr 10.0.0.0/8

Policy Examples

❌ Dangerous - Public Database

Subnet: public-subnet-1
Route Table:
  0.0.0.0/0 -> igw-xxx

Security Group:
  Inbound: 0.0.0.0/0 -> 3306

Database directly accessible from internet

✅ Secure - Private Subnet

Subnet: private-subnet-1
Route Table:
  0.0.0.0/0 -> nat-xxx

Security Group:
  Inbound: sg-app-servers -> 3306

Database only accessible from app layer

❌ Dangerous - Open NACL

Network ACL:
  Inbound:
    100: 0.0.0.0/0 -> All Traffic -> ALLOW
  Outbound:
    100: 0.0.0.0/0 -> All Traffic -> ALLOW

No network-level traffic filtering

✅ Secure - Restricted NACL

Network ACL:
  Inbound:
    100: 10.0.0.0/16 -> TCP 443 -> ALLOW
    110: 10.0.0.0/16 -> TCP 1024-65535 -> ALLOW
    *: 0.0.0.0/0 -> All -> DENY
  Outbound: (similar restrictions)

Only allow expected traffic patterns

Defense Recommendations

🔐 No 0.0.0.0/0 Ingress

Never allow all traffic from internet. Use specific CIDRs.

--cidr 10.0.0.0/8 (not 0.0.0.0/0)

🚫 Private Subnets by Default

Only use public subnets for load balancers and bastions.

aws ec2 modify-subnet-attribute --subnet-id SUBNET_ID --no-map-public-ip-on-launch

🔒 Enable VPC Flow Logs

Monitor all network traffic for analysis.

aws ec2 create-flow-logs \\
  --resource-type VPC --resource-ids vpc-xxx \\
  --traffic-type ALL

📝 Use VPC Endpoints

Access AWS services without internet gateway.

aws ec2 create-vpc-endpoint \\
  --vpc-id vpc-xxx --service-name com.amazonaws.REGION.s3

🌐 Network Firewall

Deep packet inspection and IDS/IPS capabilities.

aws network-firewall create-firewall ...

🔍 Security Group Rules Analysis

Use VPC Reachability Analyzer to find paths.

aws ec2 create-network-insights-path \\
  --source eni-xxx --destination eni-yyy

AWS VPC Security Card

Always obtain proper authorization before testing