Cloud Attack Vectors
The Top Cloud Attack Vectors You Need to Know (Based on UCTM)
Cloud environments are powerful but come with unique security risks. The Universal Cloud Threat Model (UCTM) highlights the main attack vectors that every cloud security professional should watch for. Here’s a concise breakdown—with examples—to help you understand and defend against the most critical threats.
1. Lost, Stolen, or Exposed Credentials
What happens: Attackers get access to cloud accounts by stealing or discovering passwords, API keys, or tokens.
Example: An AWS secret key accidentally pushed to a public GitHub repo is harvested by bots and used to access cloud resources.
How to defend: Use strong authentication, rotate credentials, and scan code repositories for secrets.
2. Publicly Exposed Resources
What happens: Cloud storage buckets, databases, or virtual machines are left open to the Internet, often by misconfiguration.
Example: A misconfigured S3 bucket allows anyone to download sensitive customer files.
How to defend: Regularly audit cloud resources for public exposure and enforce least-privilege access.
3. Credentials Exposed via Application Security Flaws
What happens: Vulnerabilities like SSRF or debug endpoints leak credentials from cloud metadata services.
Example: A web app with an SSRF flaw is used to fetch AWS IAM credentials from the instance metadata service, giving attackers access to the environment.
How to defend: Fix application vulnerabilities, require IMDSv2 on AWS, and restrict metadata service access.
4. Unpatched Vulnerabilities and Zero-Days in Overly Exposed Systems
What happens: Attackers exploit known or unknown flaws in cloud services or software that are accessible from the Internet.
Example: A critical vulnerability in a cloud-exposed VPN appliance is exploited before a patch is applied, allowing unauthorized access.
How to defend: Patch systems promptly and limit exposure of management interfaces.
5. Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
What happens: Attackers flood cloud services with traffic to disrupt availability or drive up costs (“denial of wallet”).
Example: A botnet targets a cloud-hosted API, causing downtime and unexpected cloud bills.
How to defend: Use cloud-native DDoS protection and monitor for traffic spikes.
6. Subdomain Takeover
What happens: Attackers claim abandoned cloud resources (like storage or DNS records) to hijack subdomains.
Example: A deleted Azure storage account leaves a DNS entry pointing to nowhere; an attacker registers the same resource and serves malicious content from your subdomain.
How to defend: Clean up unused DNS records and monitor for dangling cloud resources.
7. Supply Chain Compromise
What happens: Attackers infiltrate your cloud environment by compromising third-party software, images, or dependencies.
Example: A popular container image from a public registry is backdoored, and when used in your CI/CD pipeline, gives attackers access to your workloads.
How to defend: Use trusted sources, scan dependencies, and monitor for changes in third-party components.
Staying alert to these attack vectors—and taking proactive steps—will go a long way in securing your cloud environment.