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العربيةSet console password for user
Can set a console password for a user that had none.
Grants escalation on its own.
iam:CreateLoginProfileOn its own, iam:CreateLoginProfile can set a console password for a user that had none. On a wide resource scope that alone reaches usable credentials.
Why it is dangerous
A principal can call iam:CreateLoginProfile to set a console password for the user that currently has none (e.g. a programmatic-only service user). That gives the principal interactive AWS console access as the target user, a takeover of an account that previously had no human login path, and the password persists until changed.
In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1098.001, Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials, under the persistence tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as CreateLoginProfile. 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
CreateLoginProfilePrerequisites
Target user must not already have a login profile (else use UpdateLoginProfile).
Tactic
Persistence
A control that would remove it: Remove iam:CreateLoginProfile 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:CreateLoginProfile allow?
Can set a console password for a user that had none.
Can iam:CreateLoginProfile escalate privileges on its own?
Yes. Held on a broad enough resource it reaches usable credentials with no other permission.
How is set console password for user detected?
Watch for CreateLoginProfile 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:CreateLoginProfile 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?
T1098.001, Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials, under the persistence tactic.
Related paths
References
Find this in your own account
We run a read-only scan of one AWS account and show you which of these paths exist, ranked by blast radius, with the change that breaks each one. First validated paths within the hour.