Root Account Certificates Should Be Rotated

To prevent the issue of root account certificates needing rotation in AWS IAM using the AWS CLI, you can follow these steps:

1. Create a New Access Key for the Root Account:

   • First, create a new access key for the root account. This should be done to ensure that you have a new set of credentials before deleting the old ones.

   aws iam create-access-key --user-name <root-account-username>
   

2. List Existing Access Keys:

   • List all the access keys associated with the root account to identify the old keys that need to be rotated.

   aws iam list-access-keys --user-name <root-account-username>
   

3. Delete the Old Access Key:

   • After ensuring that the new access key is working correctly, delete the old access key to complete the rotation process.

   aws iam delete-access-key --user-name <root-account-username> --access-key-id <old-access-key-id>
   

4. Enable MFA for Root Account:

   • To add an additional layer of security, enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for the root account. This can be done by associating an MFA device with the root account.

   aws iam create-virtual-mfa-device --virtual-mfa-device-name <device-name>
   aws iam enable-mfa-device --user-name <root-account-username> --serial-number <device-arn> --authentication-code-1 <code-1> --authentication-code-2 <code-2>
   

By following these steps, you can ensure that the root account certificates are rotated regularly, thereby enhancing the security of your AWS environment.

To prevent the misconfiguration of not rotating root account certificates in IAM using Python scripts, you can follow these steps:

1. Set Up AWS SDK (Boto3) for Python:

   • First, ensure you have the AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) installed. You can install it using pip if you haven’t already:

     pip install boto3
     

2. Create a Python Script to Check Certificate Age:

   • Write a Python script that checks the age of the root account certificates. If the certificates are older than a specified threshold (e.g., 90 days), the script should trigger an alert or take action to rotate them.

   import boto3
   from datetime import datetime, timedelta
   
   # Initialize a session using Amazon IAM
   session = boto3.Session(profile_name='your_profile_name')
   iam_client = session.client('iam')
   
   # Define the threshold for certificate age (e.g., 90 days)
   threshold_days = 90
   threshold_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=threshold_days)
   
   # List the server certificates
   response = iam_client.list_server_certificates()
   
   for cert in response['ServerCertificateMetadataList']:
       cert_name = cert['ServerCertificateName']
       cert_upload_date = cert['UploadDate']
   
       # Check if the certificate is older than the threshold
       if cert_upload_date < threshold_date:
           print(f"Certificate {cert_name} is older than {threshold_days} days and should be rotated.")
           # Here you can add code to trigger an alert or initiate the rotation process
   

3. Automate the Script Execution:

   • Schedule the script to run at regular intervals (e.g., daily) using a task scheduler like cron (Linux) or Task Scheduler (Windows). This ensures continuous monitoring and timely alerts.

   Example cron job to run the script daily at midnight:

   0 0 * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/your_script.py
   

4. Integrate with Notification System:

   • Enhance the script to send notifications (e.g., via email, Slack, or AWS SNS) when a certificate is due for rotation. This ensures that the responsible team is promptly informed.

   Example of sending an email notification using AWS SNS:

   import boto3
   from datetime import datetime, timedelta
   
   # Initialize a session using Amazon IAM
   session = boto3.Session(profile_name='your_profile_name')
   iam_client = session.client('iam')
   sns_client = session.client('sns')
   
   # Define the threshold for certificate age (e.g., 90 days)
   threshold_days = 90
   threshold_date = datetime.now() - timedelta(days=threshold_days)
   
   # List the server certificates
   response = iam_client.list_server_certificates()
   
   for cert in response['ServerCertificateMetadataList']:
       cert_name = cert['ServerCertificateName']
       cert_upload_date = cert['UploadDate']
   
       # Check if the certificate is older than the threshold
       if cert_upload_date < threshold_date:
           message = f"Certificate {cert_name} is older than {threshold_days} days and should be rotated."
           print(message)
           # Send notification
           sns_client.publish(
               TopicArn='arn:aws:sns:your-region:your-account-id:your-topic',
               Message=message,
               Subject='IAM Certificate Rotation Alert'
           )
   

By following these steps, you can effectively prevent the misconfiguration of not rotating root account certificates in IAM using Python scripts.