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العربيةAttach admin policy to user
Can attach the AdministratorAccess managed policy to a user.
Grants escalation on its own.
iam:AttachUserPolicyOn its own, iam:AttachUserPolicy can attach the AdministratorAccess managed policy to a user. On a wide resource scope that alone reaches administrator access.
Why it is dangerous
A principal can call iam:AttachUserPolicy to attach the managed AdministratorAccess policy (or any powerful managed policy) to the user. If the target user is controlled by the principal this is one-call self-promotion to full admin, and the attachment persists until someone detaches it.
In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1098.003, Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Roles, under the privilege escalation tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as AttachUserPolicy. The call shows up in CloudTrail but blends into normal administration, so it needs a rule to stand out. It also gives an attacker a way to keep access after the first foothold is closed, so it is worth watching even when it looks like routine administration.
Detection
AttachUserPolicyPrerequisites
Ability to act as the target user (e.g. it is the source principal).
Tactic
Privilege Escalation
A control that would remove it: Remove iam:AttachUserPolicy from the principal.
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 iam:AttachUserPolicy allow?
Can attach the AdministratorAccess managed policy to a user.
Can iam:AttachUserPolicy escalate privileges on its own?
Yes. Held on a broad enough resource it reaches administrator access with no other permission.
How is attach admin policy to user detected?
Watch for AttachUserPolicy in CloudTrail. The call shows up in CloudTrail but blends into normal administration, so it needs a rule to stand out.
How do you break this path?
A control that would remove it is: Remove iam:AttachUserPolicy from the principal. 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?
T1098.003, Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Roles, under the privilege escalation tactic.
Related paths
References
Find this in your own account
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