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Attack paths Compliance How it works Attack map Pricing Blog
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The Pathbreak Attack Map for AWS / Redshift
Resource exposure Redshift T1537

Authorize Redshift snapshot restore

Can authorize an attacker account to restore a Redshift snapshot.

Grants escalation on its own.

redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess
Key takeaway

On its own, redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess can authorize an attacker account to restore a Redshift snapshot. On a wide resource scope that alone reaches access for an outside or public principal.

AuthorizeSnapshotAccess shares out to external 01 Attacker principal 02 Resource 03 Shared out 04 External account
How an attacker moves from this permission.
Explore this in Pathbreak

Why it is dangerous

A principal can call redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess to authorize an attacker account to restore the snapshot, yielding a full copy of the data warehouse. Active counterpart to the public-redshift-snapshot-shared exposure.

In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1537, Transfer Data to Cloud Account, under the exfiltration tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as AuthorizeSnapshotAccess. The call shows up in CloudTrail but blends into normal administration, so it needs a rule to stand out.

Detection

AuthorizeSnapshotAccess

Prerequisites

redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess on the snapshot; an attacker-controlled account to authorize.

MITRE ATT&CK

T1537 · Transfer Data to Cloud Account

Tactic

Exfiltration

Breaking the path

A control that would remove it: Restrict redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess on the snapshot.

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 redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess allow?

Can authorize an attacker account to restore a Redshift snapshot.

Can redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess escalate privileges on its own?

Yes. Held on a broad enough resource it reaches access for an outside or public principal with no other permission.

How is authorize Redshift snapshot restore detected?

Watch for AuthorizeSnapshotAccess 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: Restrict redshift:AuthorizeSnapshotAccess on the snapshot. 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?

T1537, Transfer Data to Cloud Account, under the exfiltration tactic.

Related paths

Same servicePublicly shared Redshift snapshotRedshiftSame techniqueShare EBS snapshot outec2:ModifySnapshotAttributeSame techniqueShare AMI outec2:ModifyImageAttributeSame techniqueExfiltrate through S3 replications3:PutReplicationConfigurationSame techniqueExfiltrate through a log subscription filterlogs:PutSubscriptionFilterSame techniqueShare Aurora cluster snapshot outrds:ModifyDBClusterSnapshotAttribute

References

  • https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1537/

Find this in your own account

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