Check ID: iam_customer_attached_policy_no_administrative_privileges
Provider: AWS
Service: iam
Severity: HIGH
Categories: identity-access
Resource type: AwsIamPolicy

What this check verifies

Attached customer-managed IAM policies are evaluated for statements granting full admin access via Action: "*", Resource: "*", i.e., *:*. Only policies you created and attached to identities are considered.

Risk

Unrestricted admin access lets any attached principal perform any action on any resource, enabling data exfiltration, policy tampering, credential creation, logging disablement, and destructive deletions-compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability across the account.

Recommendation

Enforce least privilege: replace wildcards with specific actions, scope Resource to needed ARNs, and add restrictive Conditions. Prefer role-based access and separation of duties. Use permissions boundaries and organization guardrails, and regularly review policies with policy validation and Access Analyzer.

Remediation

aws iam create-policy-version --policy-arn <EXAMPLE_POLICY_ARN> --policy-document '{"Version":"2012-10-17","Statement":[{"Effect":"Allow","Action":"iam:GetUser","Resource":"*"}]}' --set-as-default

References

Where this check fires

This check runs on every scheduled scan against your AWS account. Findings appear at Cloud Security → Findings filterable by Check ID = iam_customer_attached_policy_no_administrative_privileges. To re-evaluate after a fix, hit Run now on the account’s schedule under Cloud Security → Schedules — the next scan re-checks this control and marks the finding fixed or keeps it persistent.
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