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العربيةReplace role permissions boundary
Can replace a role's permissions boundary with a permissive one.
Grants escalation on its own.
iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundaryOn its own, iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundary can replace a role's permissions boundary with a permissive one. On a wide resource scope that alone reaches administrator access.
Why it is dangerous
A principal can call iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundary on the role to overwrite its boundary with a permissive one (e.g. AdministratorAccess), lifting the cap on the role's existing policies.
In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1548, Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism, under the privilege escalation tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as PutRolePermissionsBoundary. The call shows up in CloudTrail but blends into normal administration, so it needs a rule to stand out.
Detection
PutRolePermissionsBoundaryPrerequisites
iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundary on the role, and the role has a capping boundary.
MITRE ATT&CK
T1548 · Abuse Elevation Control MechanismTactic
Privilege Escalation
A control that would remove it: Remove iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundary from the principal; protect boundary changes with SCP and alarms.
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:PutRolePermissionsBoundary allow?
Can replace a role's permissions boundary with a permissive one.
Can iam:PutRolePermissionsBoundary escalate privileges on its own?
Yes. Held on a broad enough resource it reaches administrator access with no other permission.
How is replace role permissions boundary detected?
Watch for PutRolePermissionsBoundary 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:PutRolePermissionsBoundary from the principal; protect boundary changes with SCP and alarms. 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?
T1548, Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism, under the privilege escalation tactic.
Related paths
References
Find this in your own account
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