UpdateAccountPasswordPolicy

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Event Information

• The UpdateAccountPasswordPolicy event in AWS for IAM refers to a change made to the account-level password policy settings.
• This event is triggered when the password policy for the AWS account is updated, such as changing the minimum password length, requiring specific character types, or setting password expiration rules.
• It is important to monitor this event to ensure that the account password policy aligns with security best practices and compliance requirements.

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Examples

• Enforcing a weak password policy: If the UpdateAccountPasswordPolicy in AWS for IAM is not configured properly, it may allow users to set weak passwords that are easily guessable or susceptible to brute-force attacks. This can significantly impact the security of the AWS account and increase the risk of unauthorized access.

• Disabling password expiration: If the UpdateAccountPasswordPolicy is used to disable password expiration for IAM users, it can lead to compromised accounts. Regularly changing passwords is a best practice for maintaining security, and disabling password expiration removes this important security measure.

• Allowing password reuse: If the UpdateAccountPasswordPolicy is configured to allow password reuse, it can weaken the security of IAM accounts. Reusing passwords across multiple accounts or services increases the risk of unauthorized access if one account is compromised. It is recommended to enforce a policy that prevents password reuse to enhance security.

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Remediation

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Using Console

1. Example 1: Enforce strong password policy for IAM users

   • Step 1: Login to the AWS Management Console.
   • Step 2: Go to the IAM service.
   • Step 3: Click on “Account settings” in the left navigation pane.
   • Step 4: Under the “Password policy” section, click on “Edit”.
   • Step 5: Enable the “Require at least one uppercase letter” option.
   • Step 6: Enable the “Require at least one lowercase letter” option.
   • Step 7: Enable the “Require at least one number” option.
   • Step 8: Enable the “Require at least one non-alphanumeric character” option.
   • Step 9: Set the “Minimum password length” to an appropriate value.
   • Step 10: Click on “Apply password policy”.

2. Example 2: Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for IAM users

   • Step 1: Login to the AWS Management Console.
   • Step 2: Go to the IAM service.
   • Step 3: Click on “Users” in the left navigation pane.
   • Step 4: Select the IAM user for which you want to enable MFA.
   • Step 5: Click on the “Security credentials” tab.
   • Step 6: Under the “Multi-factor authentication (MFA)” section, click on “Manage”.
   • Step 7: Click on “Activate MFA”.
   • Step 8: Choose the appropriate MFA device option (e.g., virtual MFA device, hardware MFA device).
   • Step 9: Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the MFA device.
   • Step 10: Click on “Assign MFA”.

3. Example 3: Enable AWS CloudTrail for logging IAM events

   • Step 1: Login to the AWS Management Console.
   • Step 2: Go to the CloudTrail service.
   • Step 3: Click on “Trails” in the left navigation pane.
   • Step 4: Click on “Create trail”.
   • Step 5: Provide a name for the trail and choose the appropriate settings (e.g., log file validation, S3 bucket for storing logs).
   • Step 6: Under the “Management events” section, enable logging for IAM events.
   • Step 7: Click on “Create”.
   • Step 8: Once the trail is created, go to the IAM service.
   • Step 9: Click on “Policies” in the left navigation pane.
   • Step 10: Create a new IAM policy that allows the necessary CloudTrail actions and attach it to the IAM users or groups that require access to CloudTrail logs.

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Using CLI

1. Ensure IAM users have strong passwords:

• Use the update-login-profile command to enforce a strong password policy for IAM users:

  aws iam update-login-profile --user-name <user-name> --password <new-password> --password-reset-required
  

2. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for IAM users:

• Use the enable-mfa-device command to enable MFA for an IAM user:

  aws iam enable-mfa-device --user-name <user-name> --serial-number <mfa-serial-number> --authentication-code1 <code1> --authentication-code2 <code2>
  

3. Rotate access keys regularly:

• Use the create-access-key command to generate a new access key for an IAM user:

  aws iam create-access-key --user-name <user-name>
  

• Use the delete-access-key command to delete the old access key:

  aws iam delete-access-key --user-name <user-name> --access-key-id <access-key-id>
  

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Using Python

1. Ensure IAM users have strong passwords:
   • Use the boto3 library in Python to retrieve a list of IAM users.
   • For each user, check if their password meets the desired complexity requirements (e.g., minimum length, use of special characters, etc.).
   • If a user’s password does not meet the requirements, use the update_login_profile method to force a password reset for that user.

import boto3

def enforce_strong_passwords():
    iam_client = boto3.client('iam')
    users = iam_client.list_users()['Users']
    
    for user in users:
        response = iam_client.get_login_profile(UserName=user['UserName'])
        password = response['LoginProfile'].get('PasswordResetRequired')
        
        if password:
            # Implement your password complexity checks here
            # If the password does not meet the requirements, reset it
            iam_client.update_login_profile(UserName=user['UserName'], PasswordResetRequired=True)

2. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for IAM users:
   • Use the boto3 library in Python to retrieve a list of IAM users.
   • For each user, check if MFA is already enabled.
   • If MFA is not enabled, use the enable_mfa method to enable it for that user.

import boto3

def enable_mfa_for_users():
    iam_client = boto3.client('iam')
    users = iam_client.list_users()['Users']
    
    for user in users:
        response = iam_client.list_mfa_devices(UserName=user['UserName'])
        mfa_devices = response['MFADevices']
        
        if not mfa_devices:
            # Enable MFA for the user
            iam_client.enable_mfa(UserName=user['UserName'])

3. Regularly rotate access keys for IAM users:
   • Use the boto3 library in Python to retrieve a list of IAM users.
   • For each user, check if they have access keys.
   • If access keys are found, use the create_access_key method to generate new access keys for that user and delete the old ones.

import boto3

def rotate_access_keys():
    iam_client = boto3.client('iam')
    users = iam_client.list_users()['Users']
    
    for user in users:
        response = iam_client.list_access_keys(UserName=user['UserName'])
        access_keys = response['AccessKeyMetadata']
        
        for access_key in access_keys:
            # Create new access keys
            new_access_key = iam_client.create_access_key(UserName=user['UserName'])
            
            # Delete the old access keys
            iam_client.delete_access_key(UserName=user['UserName'], AccessKeyId=access_key['AccessKeyId'])

Please note that these scripts provide a basic implementation and may need to be customized based on your specific requirements and security policies.