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Event Information

  • The DeleteCertificate event in AWS Certificate Manager signifies the deletion of a certificate from the Certificate Manager service.
  • This event indicates that a previously issued certificate, either by AWS Certificate Manager or imported into the service, has been permanently removed from the system.
  • The DeleteCertificate event can be triggered manually by an administrator or through an automated process, and it is important to note that once a certificate is deleted, it cannot be recovered.

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Examples

  1. Unauthorized deletion: If security is impacted with DeleteCertificate in AWS Certificate Manager, one example could be an unauthorized user gaining access to the AWS account and deleting a valid certificate. This could result in the loss of secure communication channels and potential data breaches.

  2. Certificate expiration: Another example could be the accidental deletion of a certificate that is still in use by various services or applications. This could lead to service disruptions or vulnerabilities if the certificate is not promptly replaced.

  3. Compliance violations: Deleting a certificate without proper documentation or justification can lead to compliance violations. For example, if a certificate is deleted without following the necessary change management processes or without proper record-keeping, it can result in audit failures and non-compliance with industry regulations.

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Remediation

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Using Console

  1. Identify the issue: Start by identifying the specific issue with the AWS Certificate Manager. This could be related to expired certificates, invalid configurations, or any other potential problems.

  2. Access the AWS Certificate Manager console: Log in to your AWS Management Console and navigate to the AWS Certificate Manager service.

  3. Review certificates: In the AWS Certificate Manager console, review the list of certificates to identify any that are expired or have other issues. You can filter the certificates based on their status or search for specific certificates using the search bar.

  4. Renew or request new certificates: If you find any expired certificates, select the certificate and click on the “Renew” button. Follow the on-screen instructions to renew the certificate. If you need to request a new certificate, click on the “Request a certificate” button and provide the necessary details.

  5. Verify domain ownership: For new certificates, you may need to verify domain ownership. AWS provides multiple methods for domain validation, such as DNS validation or email validation. Choose the appropriate method and follow the instructions to complete the domain validation process.

  6. Update configurations: If the issue is related to invalid configurations, select the certificate and click on the “Actions” button. From the dropdown menu, choose the appropriate action to update the configurations, such as updating the associated load balancer or CloudFront distribution.

  7. Monitor and validate: After making any changes or renewing certificates, monitor the status of the certificates to ensure they are successfully updated. Validate the certificates by accessing the associated resources (e.g., websites, applications) and confirming that they are functioning correctly.

  8. Implement automation: To prevent similar issues in the future, consider implementing automation using AWS services like AWS Lambda or AWS CloudFormation. This can help with certificate renewal, configuration updates, and monitoring.

Note: The specific steps may vary depending on the exact issue and requirements. It is important to refer to the AWS documentation for detailed instructions and best practices.

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Using CLI

To remediate issues related to AWS Certificate Manager using AWS CLI, you can follow these steps:

  1. Renew a certificate:

    • Use the aws acm renew-certificate command to renew a certificate.
    • Specify the ARN of the certificate using the --certificate-arn parameter.
    • Optionally, you can provide a new private key using the --private-key parameter.
    • Example command: aws acm renew-certificate --certificate-arn <certificate_arn>

  2. Delete an expired certificate:

    • Use the aws acm delete-certificate command to delete an expired certificate.
    • Specify the ARN of the certificate using the --certificate-arn parameter.
    • Example command: aws acm delete-certificate --certificate-arn <certificate_arn>

  3. Enable automatic renewal for a certificate:

    • Use the aws acm update-certificate-options command to enable automatic renewal for a certificate.
    • Specify the ARN of the certificate using the --certificate-arn parameter.
    • Set the RenewalEligibility parameter to ENABLED to enable automatic renewal.
    • Example command: aws acm update-certificate-options --certificate-arn <certificate_arn> --options RenewalEligibility=ENABLED

Please note that you need to replace <certificate_arn> with the actual ARN of the certificate you want to remediate.

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Using Python

To remediate issues related to AWS Certificate Manager using Python, you can use the AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) to interact with the AWS Certificate Manager API. Here are three examples of how you can use Python to remediate different scenarios:

  1. Renewing an expiring certificate:
import boto3

def renew_certificate(certificate_arn):
    client = boto3.client('acm')
    response = client.renew_certificate(
        CertificateArn=certificate_arn
    )
    return response

# Usage
certificate_arn = 'arn:aws:acm:us-east-1:123456789012:certificate/abcdefg-1234-5678-90ab-cdef12345678'
renew_certificate(certificate_arn)
  1. Deleting an unused certificate:
import boto3

def delete_certificate(certificate_arn):
    client = boto3.client('acm')
    response = client.delete_certificate(
        CertificateArn=certificate_arn
    )
    return response

# Usage
certificate_arn = 'arn:aws:acm:us-east-1:123456789012:certificate/abcdefg-1234-5678-90ab-cdef12345678'
delete_certificate(certificate_arn)
  1. Requesting a new certificate:
import boto3

def request_certificate(domain_name):
    client = boto3.client('acm')
    response = client.request_certificate(
        DomainName=domain_name,
        ValidationMethod='DNS'
    )
    return response

# Usage
domain_name = 'example.com'
request_certificate(domain_name)

Please note that you need to have the necessary permissions and configure your AWS credentials properly for these scripts to work.