Role Permissions That Can Modify Infrastructure

Using Console

Below is a practical, step‑by‑step way to find and fix IAM roles that have permissions to modify infrastructure in AWS, using only the AWS Console.

1. Identify High‑Risk Roles

Sign in to the AWS Management Console.
Go to IAM:
- Search for “IAM” in the services search bar and open IAM.
In the left menu, click Access reports → Policy usage (AWS Managed Policies) (if available in your region), or:
- Click Policies and filter by:
  - AdministratorAccess
  - PowerUserAccess
  - Any custom policies that obviously grant high privileges (e.g., names containing admin, fullaccess, *).
For each high‑privilege policy:
1. Click the policy.
2. Go to the Policy usage tab.
3. Review which roles this policy is attached to.

Focus on roles that:

Use AdministratorAccess, PowerUserAccess, or very broad * permissions.
Have broad access to critical infra services: ec2:*, iam:*, cloudformation:*, eks:*, rds:*, lambda:*, elasticloadbalancing:*, etc.

2. Understand What Each Role Really Needs

For each high‑risk role you found:

In IAM → Roles, click the role name.
Check:
- Trust relationships (who/what can assume the role).
- Permissions tab → all attached policies.
Determine the role’s real purpose:
- Is it used by an application (e.g., EC2 instance profile, Lambda, ECS task)?
- Is it used by a human via AWS SSO or sts:AssumeRole?
- Is it used by a CI/CD system (e.g., GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CodePipeline)?

Ask (with your team if needed):

Which specific services and actions does this role actually need to perform?
What environments does it operate in (dev/test/prod)?

Document the minimal required permissions per role (services + actions + resource scopes).

3. Create a Least‑Privilege Custom Policy

You’ll now replace broad/infrastructure‑modifying permissions with a custom least‑privilege policy.

In IAM → Policies, click Create policy.
Choose Visual editor (easier through console).
For each service the role truly needs:
1. Click Service and select (for example):
  - Amazon EC2
  - AWS Lambda
  - Amazon S3
  - etc.
2. Under Actions, select only the exact Read/Write operations required, and avoid:
  - * (All EC2 actions, All IAM actions, etc.).
  - Any action that allows broad infra modification if not required, such as:
    - ec2:TerminateInstances, ec2:RunInstances, ec2:CreateVpc, etc.
    - iam:* or powerful IAM actions like iam:CreateRole, iam:PutRolePolicy, iam:PassRole* (unless truly required).
    - cloudformation:* if not really needed.
3. Under Resources, avoid All resources where possible:
  - Use ARNs to narrow to specific resources (e.g., a specific S3 bucket, specific Lambda functions, a particular VPC or EC2 instances via tags).
  - Use Conditions to further restrict (e.g., only allow certain tags, regions, or actions from particular principals/IPs).
Click Next → add Tags if needed → Next: Review.
Give the policy a clear, descriptive name, e.g.:
- AppName-Role-LeastPrivilege-EC2Lambda-Policy
Click Create policy.

Repeat as needed to create multiple smaller, purpose‑built policies instead of a single large “catch‑all” policy.

4. Apply the New Policy to the Role and Remove Over‑Privileged Ones

For each high‑risk role:

In IAM → Roles, select the role.
Go to the Permissions tab and click Add permissions → Attach policies.
Search for and select the new custom policy(ies) you just created.
Click Next → Add permissions.

Then:

Still on the role’s Permissions tab, identify over‑privileged policies such as:
- AdministratorAccess
- PowerUserAccess
- Any policy with * on critical infra services.
For each such policy:
- Click the X or “Detach” button next to the policy.
- Confirm the detachment.

Change only one or a few roles at a time, and in lower environments first (dev/stage), to avoid breaking production.

For roles that still must modify infrastructure (e.g., CI/CD roles, automation roles), scope them down:

Limit IAM Changes:
- Avoid iam:*. Instead grant minimal:
  - iam:PassRole only for specific roles (narrow by ARN).
  - If needed, iam:CreateRole, iam:AttachRolePolicy, etc., but only for specific roles and with conditions.
Limit EC2 / VPC / RDS / CFN:
- Prefer granular actions: e.g., ec2:DescribeInstances, ec2:RebootInstances instead of ec2:*.
- Restrict by resource ARN or tags when supported.
Use Conditions in policies:
- Restrict to specific regions: aws:RequestedRegion.
- Restrict to specific VPC / tags when available.
- Restrict to service principals or specific users where relevant.

6. (Optional) Use IAM Permissions Boundaries for Shared/Delegated Roles

If you delegate creation of roles to different teams but want to ensure they cannot grant themselves infra‑wide powers:

Create a permissions boundary policy (IAM → Policies → Create policy) that:
- Allows typical application actions.
- Explicitly denies dangerous top‑level actions such as:
  - iam:* (or specifically iam:CreateRole, iam:PutRolePolicy, etc.).
  - ec2:* except for approved actions.
  - cloudformation:* if not required.
Save the policy (e.g., OrgAppRoles-PermissionsBoundary).
When a new role is created:
- In IAM → Roles → Create role, on the Permissions boundary step select this policy.
For existing roles (where needed):
- Go to the role → Permissions tab → Permissions boundary → Edit and attach the boundary.

This ensures even if a team attaches an overly broad policy, the boundary caps actual effective permissions.

7. Validate with IAM Access Analyzer and Access Advisor

In IAM → Access Analyzer:
- Create an analyzer if not present.
- Review Findings for unusual or broad access (e.g., roles with external access or public access).
In IAM → Roles, select a role and go to:
- Access Advisor tab (or Last accessed info):
  - Inspect which services the role actually uses.
  - If some services are never used, remove those permissions from the role’s policies.

8. Put Guardrails in Place (Optional but Recommended)

AWS Config Rules:
- Go to AWS Config in the console.
- Set up rules such as:
  - IAM_POLICY_NO_STATEMENTS_WITH_ADMIN_ACCESS
  - IAM_USER_NO_POLICIES_CHECK
  - And other IAM‑related rules that flag over‑privileged policies.
Security Hub (if used):
- Enable Foundational Security Best Practices standard.
- Review and remediate IAM‑related findings regularly.

9. Operate a Safe Change Process

For production roles that can modify infrastructure, add process protections:

Test role changes in dev/stage accounts first.
Keep versioned IAM policies (JSON exported to Git or similar).
Implement change approvals for any role that:
- Can modify networks (VPC, Security Groups, Route Tables).
- Can create/modify IAM roles or policies.
- Can deploy infra via CloudFormation/Terraform/other IaC tools.

If you share an example of a specific role’s current policy (JSON or console screenshots), I can walk you through an exact “before → after” policy and the precise console clicks for that case.

Using CLI

Below is a concise, AWS-CLI–focused walkthrough to find and remediate IAM roles whose permissions can modify infrastructure (e.g., EC2, RDS, Lambda, CloudFormation, IAM, etc.).

1. Preparation

Configure AWS CLI with appropriate credentials and region:

aws configure

Ensure you’re using an admin or security/audit account to inspect and update IAM.

2. Identify IAM Roles and Attached Policies

2.1 List all roles

aws iam list-roles --query 'Roles[].RoleName' --output table

2.2 For each role, list its inline and attached policies

Example for one role:

ROLE_NAME="YourRoleName"

# Inline policies
aws iam list-role-policies \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --query 'PolicyNames' --output table

# Attached managed policies
aws iam list-attached-role-policies \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --query 'AttachedPolicies[].PolicyArn' --output table

3. Detect “Infrastructure-Modifying” Permissions

You’re looking for actions that can create/update/delete infrastructure, or grant such rights to others.

3.1 Common infrastructure-modifying actions

Examples (not exhaustive):

ec2:*, ec2:RunInstances, ec2:Create*, ec2:Modify*, ec2:TerminateInstances
rds:*, lambda:*, elasticloadbalancing:*, eks:*, cloudformation:*
iam:Create*, iam:PutRolePolicy, iam:Attach*, iam:PassRole
autoscaling:*, elasticbeanstalk:*, apigateway:*, ecs:*, s3:CreateBucket, s3:PutBucketPolicy, etc.

3.2 Inspect policies attached to a role

a) Inline role policies

# For each inline policy name:
POLICY_NAME="InlinePolicyName"

aws iam get-role-policy \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --policy-name "$POLICY_NAME" \
  --query '{Role:RoleName,PolicyName:PolicyName,Document:PolicyDocument}' \
  --output json

Review PolicyDocument.Statement[].Action for broad or dangerous actions (especially * or infra APIs above).

b) Attached managed policies

aws iam list-attached-role-policies \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --query 'AttachedPolicies[].PolicyArn' \
  --output text

For each ARN:

POLICY_ARN="arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess" # example

# Get default version
VERSION_ID=$(aws iam get-policy \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --query 'Policy.DefaultVersionId' \
  --output text)

aws iam get-policy-version \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --version-id "$VERSION_ID" \
  --query 'PolicyVersion.Document' \
  --output json

Again, examine Statement[].Action for infra-modifying permissions.You can script this to grep for suspicious services:

aws iam get-policy-version \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --version-id "$VERSION_ID" \
  --output json \
  | jq '..|.Action? // empty' \
  | grep -E 'ec2:|rds:|lambda:|eks:|cloudformation:|iam:'

4. Decide the Intended Scope (Least Privilege Design)

For each role:

What is it supposed to do? (Application role, CI/CD role, break-glass admin, etc.)
Map required actions:
- e.g., EC2 instance profile that only needs to read from S3: s3:GetObject, s3:ListBucket.
- CI/CD may need cloudformation:* in specific stacks only.

Anything beyond that is “extra” and should be removed or tightly constrained.

5. Remediate Inline Policies (Using AWS CLI)

5.1 Export existing inline policy

aws iam get-role-policy \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --policy-name "$POLICY_NAME" \
  --query 'PolicyDocument' \
  --output json > old_policy.json

5.2 Edit to least privilege

Manually edit old_policy.json:

Remove wildcards like "Action": "*".
Replace broad services like "ec2:*" with specific actions (e.g., "ec2:DescribeInstances").
Add resource constraints where possible (e.g., specific ARNs instead of "Resource": "*")
Add conditions where appropriate (e.g., IP, tags, MFA).

Save as new_policy.json.

5.3 Apply updated inline policy

aws iam put-role-policy \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --policy-name "$POLICY_NAME" \
  --policy-document file://new_policy.json

6. Remediate Managed Policies Attached to Roles

6.1 If AWS-managed (e.g., `AdministratorAccess`)

You cannot change AWS-managed policies; instead:

Detach from the role:

aws iam detach-role-policy \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --policy-arn "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess"

Create a new customer-managed least-privilege policy: Prepare least_priv_policy.json with restricted actions/resources.

aws iam create-policy \
  --policy-name "LeastPrivilege-${ROLE_NAME}" \
  --policy-document file://least_priv_policy.json \
  --query 'Policy.Arn' --output text

Attach the new policy:

NEW_POLICY_ARN="arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNT_ID>:policy/LeastPrivilege-${ROLE_NAME}"

aws iam attach-role-policy \
  --role-name "$ROLE_NAME" \
  --policy-arn "$NEW_POLICY_ARN"

6.2 If customer-managed

Create a new version with reduced permissions. Edit current document into new_policy.json (least privilege).

aws iam create-policy-version \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --policy-document file://new_policy.json \
  --set-as-default

Optionally, delete old policy versions later to stay under the 5-version limit.

aws iam list-policy-versions \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --query 'Versions[?IsDefaultVersion==`false`].VersionId' \
  --output text

Then:

aws iam delete-policy-version \
  --policy-arn "$POLICY_ARN" \
  --version-id v2   # example

7. Lock Down IAM-Sensitive Actions

Special attention to:

iam:PassRole – restrict to specific role ARNs and services:

"Condition": {
  "StringEquals": {
    "iam:PassedToService": [
      "ec2.amazonaws.com",
      "lambda.amazonaws.com"
    ]
  }
}

iam:AttachRolePolicy, iam:PutRolePolicy, iam:CreatePolicy, iam:CreateRole, etc.
Restrict to admin-only roles, or to specific ARNs.

Ensure only tightly controlled admin roles can modify IAM and broad infrastructure.

8. Validate Effective Permissions

8.1 Simulate policy for a role

aws iam simulate-principal-policy \
  --policy-source-arn "arn:aws:iam::<ACCOUNT_ID>:role/$ROLE_NAME" \
  --action-names ec2:RunInstances ec2:TerminateInstances iam:PassRole cloudformation:CreateStack \
  --output table

Check which actions are “allowed.” Confirm only intended actions are permitted.

8.2 Optional: Enumerate all actions (coarse check)

Use a broad set (e.g., ec2:*, cloudformation:*) in simulation to see if any infra-modifying actions slip through.

9. Continuous Control

Use IAM Access Analyzer to find overly broad permissions:
aws accessanalyzer list-analyzers
Configure a CI check or script to:
- List roles.
- Parse attached policies.
- Flag roles with Action: "*", resource: "*", or infra-modifying APIs.

If you share a sample policy document or a specific role name/policy, I can provide an exact CLI sequence and a concrete “before/after” JSON policy tailored to your use case.

Using Python

Below is a focused, step‑by‑step approach to remediating IAM roles that can modify infrastructure in AWS, using Python (boto3). I’ll assume you want to:

Identify “risky” IAM roles (those with permissions to change infrastructure such as EC2, IAM, CloudFormation, etc.).
Review and reduce their permissions.
Enforce a least‑privilege pattern.

1. Preparation

Install and configure AWS + Python tooling

pip install boto3
aws configure

Make sure the credentials you use have permission to call iam:ListRoles, iam:ListAttachedRolePolicies, iam:ListRolePolicies, iam:GetPolicy, iam:GetPolicyVersion, iam:GetRolePolicy.

2. Define What “Can Modify Infrastructure” Means

Typical infra‑modifying services (example, adjust as needed):

ec2:*
iam:*
cloudformation:*
lambda:*
rds:*
elasticloadbalancing:*
autoscaling:*
eks:*
route53:*
organizations:*
s3:* (if modifying buckets that hold infra state, e.g., Terraform state)
ssm:* (if used to push changes)
logs:* and cloudtrail:* (if you want to protect logging infra)

High‑risk patterns:

*:*
service:* (e.g., ec2:*)
Specific mutating actions: RunInstances, Create*, Update*, Delete*, Put*, Attach*, Detach*, Modify*, Set*, etc.

Create a Python list/regex of these actions or service prefixes.

3. Python Script: Discover Risky IAM Roles

This script:

Lists all roles
Retrieves attached managed policies
Retrieves inline policies
Parses policy documents
Flags roles that can modify infrastructure

import boto3
import json
import re

iam = boto3.client('iam')

# Services/actions considered infra-modifying (customize this list)
INFRA_SERVICE_PREFIXES = [
    'ec2', 'iam', 'cloudformation', 'lambda', 'rds', 'elasticloadbalancing',
    'autoscaling', 'eks', 'route53', 'organizations', 's3', 'ssm'
]

# Regex to catch mutating actions, e.g., Create*, Delete*, Modify*, etc.
MUTATING_ACTION_REGEX = re.compile(r'^(Create|Delete|Update|Put|Modify|Attach|Detach|Set|Revoke|Terminate).*')

def is_infra_modifying_action(action):
    """
    Return True if the action is infra-modifying according to our rules.
    """
    if action == '*':  # Full admin
        return True

    # Normalized like 'ec2:RunInstances'
    if ':' not in action:
        return False
    service, op = action.split(':', 1)
    service = service.lower()

    if service in INFRA_SERVICE_PREFIXES:
        if op == '*' or MUTATING_ACTION_REGEX.match(op):
            return True
    return False

def expand_statement_actions(statement):
    """
    Normalize and expand the 'Action' or 'NotAction' fields in a policy statement.
    For simplicity, we only handle 'Action'.
    """
    actions = statement.get('Action', [])
    if isinstance(actions, str):
        actions = [actions]
    return actions

def role_has_infra_modify_perms(policy_doc):
    """
    Given a policy JSON dict, determine if it grants infra-modifying permissions.
    """
    if policy_doc.get('Version') is None:
        return False

    for stmt in policy_doc.get('Statement', []):
        if isinstance(stmt, dict):
            effect = stmt.get('Effect', 'Allow')
            if effect != 'Allow':
                continue

            actions = expand_statement_actions(stmt)
            for action in actions:
                if is_infra_modifying_action(action):
                    return True
    return False

def get_managed_policies_for_role(role_name):
    attached = iam.list_attached_role_policies(RoleName=role_name)['AttachedPolicies']
    return attached

def get_policy_doc(arn):
    policy = iam.get_policy(PolicyArn=arn)['Policy']
    version_id = policy['DefaultVersionId']
    version = iam.get_policy_version(PolicyArn=arn, VersionId=version_id)
    return version['PolicyVersion']['Document']

def get_inline_policies_for_role(role_name):
    inline_names = iam.list_role_policies(RoleName=role_name)['PolicyNames']
    policies = []
    for name in inline_names:
        pol = iam.get_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyName=name)
        policies.append(pol['PolicyDocument'])
    return policies

def discover_risky_roles():
    paginator = iam.get_paginator('list_roles')
    risky_roles = []

    for page in paginator.paginate():
        for role in page['Roles']:
            role_name = role['RoleName']
            is_risky = False
            details = []

            # Managed policies
            for attached in get_managed_policies_for_role(role_name):
                pol_arn = attached['PolicyArn']
                pol_name = attached['PolicyName']
                doc = get_policy_doc(pol_arn)
                if role_has_infra_modify_perms(doc):
                    is_risky = True
                    details.append(f"ManagedPolicy: {pol_name} ({pol_arn})")

            # Inline policies
            for inline_doc in get_inline_policies_for_role(role_name):
                if role_has_infra_modify_perms(inline_doc):
                    is_risky = True
                    details.append("InlinePolicy")

            if is_risky:
                risky_roles.append({
                    'RoleName': role_name,
                    'Arn': role['Arn'],
                    'Reason': details
                })
    return risky_roles

if __name__ == '__main__':
    risky = discover_risky_roles()
    print("Roles with infra-modifying permissions:")
    for r in risky:
        print(f"- {r['RoleName']} ({r['Arn']}) -> {', '.join(r['Reason'])}")

Run it:

python discover_risky_roles.py

Export results to a file if needed.

4. Analyze and Design Least‑Privilege Policies

For each flagged role:

Identify who/what uses the role (Lambda, EC2 instance profile, CI/CD, human, etc.).
Get CloudTrail logs or service usage reports to know exactly which actions/resources are actually used.
- Use AWS Console: CloudTrail → Event history (filter by role ARN).
- Or Athena queries over CloudTrail logs to list actions used.
Build a minimal policy:
- Restrict to specific actions actually required (e.g., ec2:DescribeInstances, not ec2:*).
- Restrict Resource to needed ARNs or patterns instead of "*" where possible.
- Add conditions (e.g., limit by tag, region, or source IP if appropriate).

5. Remediate Policies via Python

5.1 Example: Replace `AdministratorAccess` with Custom Managed Policy

Create a new least‑privilege managed policy.
Attach it to the role.
Detach the broad policy.

import boto3
import json

iam = boto3.client('iam')

def create_or_update_managed_policy(policy_name, policy_doc):
    try:
        iam.get_policy(PolicyArn=f'arn:aws:iam::YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID:policy/{policy_name}')
        # Policy exists: create a new version
        iam.create_policy_version(
            PolicyArn=f'arn:aws:iam::YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID:policy/{policy_name}',
            PolicyDocument=json.dumps(policy_doc),
            SetAsDefault=True
        )
        print(f"Updated managed policy {policy_name}")
    except iam.exceptions.NoSuchEntityException:
        iam.create_policy(
            PolicyName=policy_name,
            PolicyDocument=json.dumps(policy_doc)
        )
        print(f"Created managed policy {policy_name}")

def switch_role_policies(role_name, old_policy_arn, new_policy_arn):
    # Attach new least-privilege policy
    iam.attach_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyArn=new_policy_arn)
    # Detach old over-privileged policy
    iam.detach_role_policy(RoleName=role_name, PolicyArn=old_policy_arn)
    print(f"Switched {role_name} from {old_policy_arn} to {new_policy_arn}")

# Example: build a tailored policy (replace with your least-privilege definition)
least_priv_policy = {
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "AllowSpecificEC2Reads",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "ec2:DescribeInstances",
                "ec2:DescribeTags"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

if __name__ == '__main__':
    create_or_update_managed_policy('LeastPrivilegeMyApp', least_priv_policy)

    # Replace AdministratorAccess (example ARN) on MyAppRole
    old_admin_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess"
    new_lp_arn = "arn:aws:iam::YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID:policy/LeastPrivilegeMyApp"
    switch_role_policies("MyAppRole", old_admin_arn, new_lp_arn)

5.2 Example: Tighten Inline Policy

If a role has an inline policy that’s too broad, replace it with a stricter one.

def update_inline_policy(role_name, policy_name, new_doc):
    iam.put_role_policy(
        RoleName=role_name,
        PolicyName=policy_name,
        PolicyDocument=json.dumps(new_doc)
    )
    print(f"Updated inline policy {policy_name} on role {role_name}")

You’d construct new_doc (least‑privilege) based on CloudTrail usage.

6. Implement Guardrails (Optional but Recommended)

Service Control Policies (SCPs) (in AWS Organizations):
- Deny dangerous infra‑modifying actions account‑wide except from designated roles.
IAM permission boundaries:
- Ensure new roles cannot be given wider permissions than an approved “boundary” policy.
Automated checks:
- Integrate the detection script into CI/CD.
- Fail builds or send alerts if a role is created/updated with infra‑modifying permissions outside a whitelist.

7. Practical Workflow Summary

Run discovery script → list risky roles.
Prioritize by sensitivity (production, admin, CI/CD).
For each role:
- Review actual usage via CloudTrail.
- Design a minimal policy (actions + resources + conditions).
- Update the role via Python: create managed policy / update inline policy → detach/remove broad policies.
Re‑run the discovery script to confirm the role no longer has broad infra‑modifying permissions.
Add guardrails (SCPs, permission boundaries) to prevent regressions.

If you share an example role ARN/policy, I can help you write the exact Python code and least‑privilege replacement for that specific case.

Using Terraform

# IAM policy with restricted, least-privilege infrastructure access.
# Replace the existing aws_iam_policy that currently grants broad write
# (e.g. ec2:*, iam:*, "*") with a scoped version like this.

data "aws_iam_policy_document" "APP_INFRA_ROLE_POLICY" {
  # Read-only access to describe infrastructure across the account
  statement {
    sid    = "ReadOnlyInfra"
    effect = "Allow"

    actions = [
      "ec2:Describe*",
      "elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
      "autoscaling:Describe*",
      "rds:Describe*",
      "eks:Describe*",
      "eks:List*",
      "iam:Get*",
      "iam:List*",
      "logs:Describe*",
      "logs:Get*",
      "logs:List*",
      "cloudwatch:Describe*",
      "cloudwatch:Get*",
      "cloudwatch:List*",
      "s3:GetBucketLocation",
      "s3:ListAllMyBuckets",
      "s3:ListBucket",
      "s3:GetBucketPolicy",
    ]

    resources = ["*"]
  }

  # WRITE access only to the specific infrastructure the workload owns.
  # SCOPE THESE ARNs to just what this role needs to manage.

  # Example: manage EC2 instances only in a specific autoscaling group/tagged set
  statement {
    sid    = "ScopedEC2Write"
    effect = "Allow"

    actions = [
      "ec2:StartInstances",
      "ec2:StopInstances",
      "ec2:RebootInstances",
      "ec2:DescribeInstances",
      "ec2:CreateTags",
      "ec2:DeleteTags",
    ]

    # Replace with the actual instance ARNs or a constrained pattern
    resources = [
      "arn:aws:ec2:${var.AWS_REGION}:${var.AWS_ACCOUNT_ID}:instance/INSTANCE_ID_1",
      "arn:aws:ec2:${var.AWS_REGION}:${var.AWS_ACCOUNT_ID}:instance/INSTANCE_ID_2",
    ]
  }

  # Example: manage only one specific security group
  statement {
    sid    = "ScopedSecurityGroupWrite"
    effect = "Allow"

    actions = [
      "ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress",
      "ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress",
      "ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupEgress",
      "ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupEgress",
      "ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups",
    ]

    resources = [
      "arn:aws:ec2:${var.AWS_REGION}:${var.AWS_ACCOUNT_ID}:security-group/SECURITY_GROUP_ID",
    ]
  }

  # Example: manage only one specific S3 bucket the workload owns
  statement {
    sid    = "ScopedS3Write"
    effect = "Allow"

    actions = [
      "s3:GetObject",
      "s3:PutObject",
      "s3:DeleteObject",
      "s3:ListBucket",
    ]

    resources = [
      "arn:aws:s3:::APP_OWNED_BUCKET_NAME",
      "arn:aws:s3:::APP_OWNED_BUCKET_NAME/*",
    ]
  }

  # Explicitly deny high-risk guardrail changes for this role
  # (helpful if this policy is ever combined with broader ones via inheritance)
  statement {
    sid    = "DenyGuardrailChanges"
    effect = "Deny"

    actions = [
      "iam:CreatePolicy",
      "iam:DeletePolicy",
      "iam:CreateRole",
      "iam:DeleteRole",
      "iam:PutRolePolicy",
      "iam:AttachRolePolicy",
      "iam:DetachRolePolicy",
      "iam:PutUserPolicy",
      "iam:AttachUserPolicy",
      "iam:DetachUserPolicy",
      "iam:PutGroupPolicy",
      "iam:AttachGroupPolicy",
      "iam:DetachGroupPolicy",
      "organizations:*",
      "cloudtrail:StopLogging",
      "cloudtrail:DeleteTrail",
      "config:DeleteConfigurationRecorder",
      "config:StopConfigurationRecorder",
      "config:DeleteConfigRule",
      "shield:DeleteProtection",
    ]

    resources = ["*"]
  }
}

resource "aws_iam_policy" "APP_INFRA_ROLE_POLICY" {
  name        = "APP_INFRA_ROLE_POLICY"
  description = "Least-privilege, scoped infra access for APP_INFRA_ROLE; no broad infra-modify permissions."

  policy = data.aws_iam_policy_document.APP_INFRA_ROLE_POLICY.json
}

# Attach this policy only to the dedicated application role, not to generic
# human/admin roles. Replace APP_INFRA_ROLE_NAME with the IAM role name.
resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "APP_INFRA_ROLE_ATTACHMENT" {
  role       = "APP_INFRA_ROLE_NAME" # substitute with the IAM role that should have this access
  policy_arn = aws_iam_policy.APP_INFRA_ROLE_POLICY.arn
}

Substitute:

var.AWS_REGION and var.AWS_ACCOUNT_ID with your variables or literals.
INSTANCE_ID_1, INSTANCE_ID_2 with the specific instance IDs the workload may manage.
SECURITY_GROUP_ID with the specific security group ID.
APP_OWNED_BUCKET_NAME with the S3 bucket the workload owns.
APP_INFRA_ROLE_NAME with the IAM role that should have this scoped infra-write access.

This change updates the IAM policy in place (no resource replacement of the role itself), but it may remove permissions workloads currently rely on; test in a non-production environment first.To verify, terraform plan should show:

~ (update in-place) for the existing aws_iam_policy (or a new + if you are introducing this policy for the first time).
No changes that recreate the IAM role, only attachment changes if you are switching from a previous broad policy to this scoped one.

​More Info:

​Risk Level

​Address

​Compliance Standards

​Triage and Remediation

​Remediation

​1. Identify High‑Risk Roles

​2. Understand What Each Role Really Needs

​3. Create a Least‑Privilege Custom Policy

​4. Apply the New Policy to the Role and Remove Over‑Privileged Ones

​5. Tighten IAM Permissions Specifically Related to Infrastructure

​6. (Optional) Use IAM Permissions Boundaries for Shared/Delegated Roles

​7. Validate with IAM Access Analyzer and Access Advisor

​8. Put Guardrails in Place (Optional but Recommended)

​9. Operate a Safe Change Process

​1. Preparation

​2. Identify IAM Roles and Attached Policies

​2.1 List all roles

​2.2 For each role, list its inline and attached policies

​3. Detect “Infrastructure-Modifying” Permissions

​3.1 Common infrastructure-modifying actions

​3.2 Inspect policies attached to a role

​a) Inline role policies

​b) Attached managed policies

​4. Decide the Intended Scope (Least Privilege Design)

​5. Remediate Inline Policies (Using AWS CLI)

​5.1 Export existing inline policy

​5.2 Edit to least privilege

​5.3 Apply updated inline policy

​6. Remediate Managed Policies Attached to Roles

​6.1 If AWS-managed (e.g., AdministratorAccess)

​6.2 If customer-managed

​7. Lock Down IAM-Sensitive Actions

​8. Validate Effective Permissions

​8.1 Simulate policy for a role

​8.2 Optional: Enumerate all actions (coarse check)

​9. Continuous Control

​1. Preparation

​2. Define What “Can Modify Infrastructure” Means

​3. Python Script: Discover Risky IAM Roles

​4. Analyze and Design Least‑Privilege Policies

​5. Remediate Policies via Python

​5.1 Example: Replace AdministratorAccess with Custom Managed Policy

​5.2 Example: Tighten Inline Policy

​6. Implement Guardrails (Optional but Recommended)

​7. Practical Workflow Summary

More Info:

Risk Level

Address

Compliance Standards

Triage and Remediation

Remediation

1. Identify High‑Risk Roles

2. Understand What Each Role Really Needs

3. Create a Least‑Privilege Custom Policy

4. Apply the New Policy to the Role and Remove Over‑Privileged Ones

5. Tighten IAM Permissions Specifically Related to Infrastructure

6. (Optional) Use IAM Permissions Boundaries for Shared/Delegated Roles

7. Validate with IAM Access Analyzer and Access Advisor

8. Put Guardrails in Place (Optional but Recommended)

9. Operate a Safe Change Process

1. Preparation

2. Identify IAM Roles and Attached Policies

2.1 List all roles

2.2 For each role, list its inline and attached policies

3. Detect “Infrastructure-Modifying” Permissions

3.1 Common infrastructure-modifying actions

3.2 Inspect policies attached to a role

a) Inline role policies

b) Attached managed policies

4. Decide the Intended Scope (Least Privilege Design)

5. Remediate Inline Policies (Using AWS CLI)

5.1 Export existing inline policy

5.2 Edit to least privilege

5.3 Apply updated inline policy

6. Remediate Managed Policies Attached to Roles

6.1 If AWS-managed (e.g., `AdministratorAccess`)

6.2 If customer-managed

7. Lock Down IAM-Sensitive Actions

8. Validate Effective Permissions

8.1 Simulate policy for a role

8.2 Optional: Enumerate all actions (coarse check)

9. Continuous Control

1. Preparation

2. Define What “Can Modify Infrastructure” Means

3. Python Script: Discover Risky IAM Roles

4. Analyze and Design Least‑Privilege Policies

5. Remediate Policies via Python

5.1 Example: Replace `AdministratorAccess` with Custom Managed Policy

5.2 Example: Tighten Inline Policy

6. Implement Guardrails (Optional but Recommended)

7. Practical Workflow Summary