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AWS Fetcher Credential Setup (IAM / AWS CLI)

AWS fetchers in this repo use the AWS CLI (and your local AWS credential chain) rather than a single API token.

Environment Variables

Most AWS shell fetchers source fetchers/common/env_loader.sh, which reads:

Variable Required Description Example
AWS_PROFILE Usually AWS CLI profile name to use gov_readonly
AWS_DEFAULT_REGION Usually Default AWS region for regional APIs us-gov-west-1
EVIDENCE_DIR No Output directory (defaults to ./evidence) ./evidence

Some fetchers also accept fetcher-specific flags via environment variables. Example:

Variable Required Description Example
IAM_ROLES_FETCHER No Extra flags for iam_roles.sh --exclude-aws-managed-roles

Fetchers Covered

All *.sh scripts in fetchers/aws/ that call aws ... commands using --profile "$PROFILE" and --region "$REGION" from the shared env loader.

APIs / Commands Used

AWS fetchers call AWS service APIs via the AWS CLI (examples include):

  • aws sts get-caller-identity
  • aws iam list-roles, aws iam get-role, aws iam list-attached-role-policies, …
  • aws guardduty list-detectors, aws guardduty get-detector
  • Many other service-specific aws <service> <operation> calls depending on the script

Required Permissions (Least Privilege)

  • Prefer a dedicated read-only role or read-only IAM policy for evidence collection.
  • Minimum permissions depend on which AWS fetchers you run. As a baseline:
    • sts:GetCallerIdentity
    • Read/list permissions for each service used (IAM, GuardDuty, Config, CloudTrail, S3, RDS, EKS, WAFv2, etc.)

If you want strict least privilege, build a policy by enumerating only the services used by the fetchers you select.

Setting Up Credentials

Option A: AWS SSO (recommended for humans)

  1. Configure SSO profiles in ~/.aws/config (outside this repo).
  2. Set:
export AWS_PROFILE="gov_readonly"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-gov-west-1"
  1. Authenticate:
aws sso login --profile "$AWS_PROFILE"

Option B: AssumeRole / static access keys (automation)

Use a CI-friendly credential method (instance profile, OIDC, or access keys) that yields a role with the permissions above. Then set AWS_DEFAULT_REGION and optionally AWS_PROFILE.

Rotating Credentials

  • Rotation depends on your credential type:
    • SSO: re-auth via aws sso login as needed.
    • Access keys: rotate keys per your IAM policy and update the secret in your secrets manager.
    • OIDC/instance roles: no manual rotation (short-lived credentials).

Smoke Test

aws sts get-caller-identity --profile "$AWS_PROFILE" --output json | python3 -m json.tool | head -20

Notes

  • Region matters for most services; set AWS_DEFAULT_REGION even if some IAM calls are global.