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Event Information

  • The RequestCertificate event in AWS Certificate Manager refers to the action of requesting a new SSL/TLS certificate for a domain or subdomain.
  • This event is triggered when a user or application initiates the process of obtaining a certificate from AWS Certificate Manager.
  • The RequestCertificate event is an important step in securing web applications and enabling HTTPS communication by obtaining a trusted certificate from a Certificate Authority.

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Examples

  1. Insufficient permissions: If the IAM role or user executing the RequestCertificate API call does not have the necessary permissions, it can result in security issues. This could include unauthorized access to the certificate or the ability to request certificates for unauthorized domains.

  2. Insecure certificate storage: If the certificate is not securely stored after it is issued, it can lead to potential security breaches. This includes storing the certificate in an unencrypted or easily accessible location, such as a public S3 bucket or a shared network drive.

  3. Misconfigured certificate settings: If the certificate is not configured correctly, it can introduce security vulnerabilities. This includes using weak encryption algorithms or key lengths, not enabling certificate revocation checks, or not properly configuring certificate expiration and renewal processes.

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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 modifying the domain names associated with the certificate or updating the certificate’s security policy.

  7. Monitor and test: After making any changes or renewing certificates, it is important to monitor the status of the certificates and test their functionality. Use the AWS Certificate Manager console to check the status of the certificates and ensure they are properly deployed and functioning as expected.

  8. Automate certificate management: To avoid similar issues in the future, consider implementing automation for certificate management. AWS provides APIs and SDKs that can be used to automate certificate renewal, deployment, and configuration updates. Explore AWS documentation and resources to learn more about automating certificate management tasks.

Note: The specific steps may vary slightly depending on the AWS console interface and any recent updates to the AWS Certificate Manager service. Always refer to the official AWS documentation for the most up-to-date instructions.

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Using CLI

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

  1. Renew Expired Certificate:

    • Identify the expired certificate using the list-certificates command: 
      aws acm list-certificates
    • Take note of the ARN of the expired certificate.
    • Request a new certificate using the request-certificate command, providing the necessary parameters like domain name, validation method, etc.: 
      aws acm request-certificate --domain-name example.com --validation-method DNS
    • Complete the validation process for the new certificate.
    • Update your resources (e.g., load balancers, CloudFront distributions) to use the new certificate.

  2. Enable Auto-Renewal for Certificates:

    • Identify the certificate for which you want to enable auto-renewal using the list-certificates command.
    • Enable auto-renewal for the certificate using the update-certificate-options command: 
      aws acm update-certificate-options --certificate-arn <certificate-arn> --options RenewalEligibility=ELIGIBLE

  3. Delete Unused Certificates:

    • List all certificates using the list-certificates command.
    • Identify the unused certificates that you want to delete.
    • Delete the unused certificates using the delete-certificate command, providing the ARN of each certificate: 
      aws acm delete-certificate --certificate-arn <certificate-arn>

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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 remediate common issues:

  1. Renewing an expiring certificate:

    • Use the boto3.client('acm') method to create a client object for AWS Certificate Manager.
    • Use the list_certificates() method to retrieve a list of all certificates.
    • Iterate through the list and identify the expiring certificate based on the NotAfter attribute.
    • Use the renew_certificate() method to renew the expiring certificate.
    import boto3

client = boto3.client('acm')

def renew_certificate():
    certificates = client.list_certificates()['CertificateSummaryList']
    for certificate in certificates:
        if certificate['NotAfter'] < datetime.datetime.now():
            response = client.renew_certificate(
                CertificateArn=certificate['CertificateArn']
            )
            print(f"Renewed certificate: {response['CertificateArn']}")

renew_certificate()

  2. Deleting an unused certificate:

    • Use the list_certificates() method to retrieve a list of all certificates.
    • Iterate through the list and identify the unused certificate based on your criteria (e.g., no associated resources).
    • Use the delete_certificate() method to delete the unused certificate.
    import boto3

client = boto3.client('acm')

def delete_unused_certificate():
    certificates = client.list_certificates()['CertificateSummaryList']
    for certificate in certificates:
        if not certificate['InUseBy']:
            response = client.delete_certificate(
                CertificateArn=certificate['CertificateArn']
            )
            print(f"Deleted certificate: {response['CertificateArn']}")

delete_unused_certificate()

  3. Importing a certificate from an external source:

    • Use the import_certificate() method to import a certificate from an external source.
    • Provide the necessary parameters such as the certificate’s private key, public key, and certificate chain.
    • Optionally, specify the certificate’s domain name and tags.
    import boto3

client = boto3.client('acm')

def import_certificate():
    response = client.import_certificate(
        CertificateArn='arn:aws:acm:us-east-1:123456789012:certificate/abcdefg-1234-5678-90ab-cdef12345678',
        Certificate='-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n...',
        PrivateKey='-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...',
        CertificateChain='-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n...',
        Tags=[
            {
                'Key': 'Environment',
                'Value': 'Production'
            }
        ]
    )
    print(f"Imported certificate: {response['CertificateArn']}")

import_certificate()

Please note that you need to have the necessary permissions and configure your AWS credentials before running these scripts.