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العربيةPass role to SageMaker processing job
Can launch a SageMaker processing job with a role and run a container as it.
Grants escalation only in combination. All of these are needed together:
iam:PassRolesagemaker:CreateProcessingJobiam:PassRole can launch a SageMaker processing job with a role and run a container as it, but only when it is held together with sagemaker:CreateProcessingJob. Held together they reach administrator access.
Why it is dangerous
A principal holds iam:PassRole on the target role plus sagemaker:CreateProcessingJob, so it can launch a SageMaker processing job with the target role as its execution role and an attacker-controlled processing container/script, the container runs on managed infrastructure with the target role's permissions and can exfiltrate the target role's credentials. Because the target role trusts sagemaker.amazonaws.com the pass is accepted; the privileged role is full privilege escalation.
In MITRE ATT&CK terms this maps to T1648, Serverless Execution, under the privilege escalation tactic. AWS records it in CloudTrail as CreateProcessingJob. The call shows up in CloudTrail but blends into normal administration, so it needs a rule to stand out.
Detection
CreateProcessingJobPrerequisites
Target role's trust policy must allow sagemaker.amazonaws.com.
MITRE ATT&CK
T1648 · Serverless ExecutionTactic
Privilege Escalation
A control that would remove it: Remove iam:PassRole for this role or scope it with iam:PassedToService.
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:PassRole allow?
Can launch a SageMaker processing job with a role and run a container as it.
What else is needed for iam:PassRole to be dangerous?
It becomes an escalation only when held together with sagemaker:CreateProcessingJob. On its own it is not enough, which is what makes the combination easy to miss.
How is pass role to SageMaker processing job detected?
Watch for CreateProcessingJob 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:PassRole for this role or scope it with iam:PassedToService. 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?
T1648, Serverless Execution, under the privilege escalation tactic.
Related paths
References
Find this in your own account
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