Cloud Security , DEF CON , Events

Exposed AMIs: The Hidden Risk in AWS Environments

Public Amazon Machine Images, or AMIs, pose significant risks to enterprises, especially when they contain sensitive information. Developers often make AMIs public to share them across accounts, but this practice can expose critical data. Once public, these images can be accessed by anyone, leading to potential breaches, said Eduard Agavriloae, AWS offensive security expert.

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Matei Josephs, senior security researcher and founder of HiveHack, shared a proof of concept in which researchers discovered a public AMI that contained a supposedly private Git repository. Inside the repository, they found sensitive information, including a Stripe API key linked to an account with $30,000. To demonstrate the vulnerability, they subscribed to a service and processed a refund using the compromised key, showing how easily a threat actor could have stolen the entire amount.

"AMI is like having a virtual machine with a snapshot, and you have access to everything that's inside the AMI. So every file, every source code, every secret that we've put in the AMI, if it's public, anyone on the internet can access it," Agavriloae said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group at DEF CON 2024 Agavriloae and Josephs also discussed:

• Consequences for large enterprises if sensitive data is exposed through public AMIs;
• Challenges and processes involved in responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities found in public AMIs;
• Lessons for developers and companies that use cloud services, based on the research findings.

Josephs is a cybersecurity professional with expertise in penetration testing and vulnerability management. As the founder of HiveHack, he helps organizations identify and exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities within their products.

Agavriloae is a security researcher and ethical hacker. His areas of expertise include penetration testing, cloud security and system architecture. He previously worked as an associate manager at KPMG Romania.