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The Pathbreak Attack Map for AWS / Glue
Data access Glue T1555.006

Read Glue connection JDBC credentials

Can read a Glue connection's stored JDBC/DB password.

Grants escalation on its own.

glue:GetConnection
Key takeaway

On its own, glue:GetConnection can read a Glue connection's stored JDBC/DB password. On a wide resource scope that alone reaches the data itself.

GetConnection reads data 01 Attacker principal 02 Data store 03 Data read
How an attacker moves from this permission.
Explore this in Pathbreak

Why it is dangerous

A principal can call glue:GetConnection on the connection; Glue connections store JDBC/database passwords, so one read returns plaintext credentials to the backing database.

In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1555.006, Credentials from Password Stores: Cloud Secrets Management Stores, under the credential access tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as GetConnection. The call is quiet against normal activity, so it is easy to miss without a rule for it.

Detection

GetConnection

Prerequisites

glue:GetConnection on the connection; the connection stores inline credentials (not a Secrets Manager reference).

MITRE ATT&CK

T1555.006 · Credentials from Password Stores: Cloud Secrets Management Stores

Tactic

Credential Access

Breaking the path

A control that would remove it: Restrict glue:GetConnection / GetConnections; store DB credentials in Secrets Manager referenced by the connection instead of inline.

Whether to apply it depends on how the permission is used in your environment, so it is a business decision rather than an automatic fix. The same permission can be load-bearing in one account and pure risk in another.

Pathbreak confirms whether this path resolves in your account, ranks it against the others by how much it opens up, and uses your threat model and business context to show which paths are worth cutting.

Questions

What does glue:GetConnection allow?

Can read a Glue connection's stored JDBC/DB password.

Can glue:GetConnection escalate privileges on its own?

Yes. Held on a broad enough resource it reaches the data itself with no other permission.

How is read Glue connection JDBC credentials detected?

Watch for GetConnection in CloudTrail. The call is quiet against normal activity, so it is easy to miss without a rule for it.

How do you break this path?

A control that would remove it is: Restrict glue:GetConnection / GetConnections; store DB credentials in Secrets Manager referenced by the connection instead of inline. Whether to apply it depends on how the permission is used in your account, so it is a business decision rather than an automatic fix.

Which MITRE ATT&CK technique is this?

T1555.006, Credentials from Password Stores: Cloud Secrets Management Stores, under the credential access tactic.

Related paths

Same techniqueRead Secrets Manager secretsecretsmanager:GetSecretValueSame techniqueRecursively dump SSM SecureString pathssm:GetParametersByPathSame techniqueRead SSM SecureString parameterssm:GetParameterSame serviceHijack Glue dev endpoint roleglue:UpdateDevEndpointSame servicePass role to Glueiam:PassRoleSame servicePass role to Glue interactive sessioniam:PassRole

References

  • https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1555/006/

Find this in your own account

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