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How to Find AWS IAM Users with Multiple Active Access Keys

Access keys can be lost or stolen, and multiple access keys are not required.

As such, it is recommended to remove all unused access keys and to ensure that only one active access key exists for each user.

info

This security check is part of the CIS Amazon Web Services Benchmarks and is rated severity medium.

Prerequisites​

This guide assumes that you have already installed and configured Fix Inventory to collect your AWS resources.

Directions​

  1. Execute the following search command in Fix Inventory Shell:

    > search is(aws_iam_user) {access_keys[]: --> is(access_key)} access_keys[0].reported.access_key_status=="Active" and access_keys[1].reported.access_key_status=="Active"
    ​kind=aws_iam_user, ..., region=fixinventory-poweruser
    ​kind=aws_iam_user, ..., account=poweruser-team

  2. Pipe the search command into the dump command:

    > search is(aws_iam_user) {access_keys[]: --> is(access_key)} access_keys[0].reported.access_key_status=="Active" and access_keys[1].reported.access_key_status=="Active" | dump
    ​reported:
    ​  id: /aws/iam/123
    ​  name: some-name
    ​  ctime: '2022-12-05T22:53:14Z'
    ​  kind: aws_iam_user
    ​  age: 2mo28d

    The command output will list the details of all non-compliant aws_iam_user resources.

Remediation​

  • Remove the second active access key and only use one.
  • Avoid using long-lived access keys altogether.
note

Please refer to the AWS IAM documentation for details.

Further Reading​