Cloud Pentest Methodology

What is a Cloud Pentest?

A cloud penetration test is a security assessment designed to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in a cloud environment. The goal is to simulate real-world attacks that an external and internal attacker might perform, allowing organizations to understand and address weaknesses before they are exploited.

Unlike traditional infrastructure pentests, a cloud pentest focuses on cloud-specific components such as virtual machines, storage services, networking configurations, and cloud-native applications. It typically involves:

• External Assessment
  Testing from an outsider's perspective, looking for publicly exposed resources like storage buckets, API keys, or misconfigured services that could be exploited.
• Privilege Escalation
  Identifying any weaknesses that allow lower-privileged users to gain unauthorized access to higher-level permissions or sensitive resources.
• Internal Assessment
  Evaluating the cloud environment with authenticated access to uncover misconfigurations, excessive permissions, or security gaps within the cloud infrastructure, such as improper IAM role assignments or unprotected databases.
• Configuration Review
  Assessing security configurations in line with industry standards like CIS Benchmarks to ensure cloud services follow best practices for security, such as proper encryption, access control, and network segmentation.

Google Cloud Penetration Testing Methodology

1 | Reconnaissance phase

We begin by assessing the Google Cloud environment from an external perspective. Key activities include:

> Searching for publicly accessible resources such as unsecured Cloud Storage buckets, exposed GCP services (e.g., App Engine, Cloud Functions), and misconfigured APIs or keys/tokens that might leak sensitive information.

> Identifying any exposed services or endpoints that could be used by attackers to access internal resources.

2 | Fingerprinting phase

In this phase, we move to authenticated access and enumerate Google Cloud resources to understand the attack surface:

> Enumerating IAM roles, Compute Engine instances, VPC configurations, and Cloud SQL databases.

> Identifying technologies and configurations that might be vulnerable to misconfigurations or security weaknesses.

3 | Exploitation / Audit phase

We conduct both automated and manual assessments to find vulnerabilities in the environment, including:

• Security Misconfiguration Assessment
  We check for misconfigured IAM roles, overly permissive VPCs, and exposed databases.
• Privilege Escalation Attacks
  We evaluate roles, service accounts, and permissions to find any unauthorized paths for privilege escalation.
• CIS Benchmarking
  We use CIS benchmarks to validate compliance with Google Cloud's best security practices, ensuring proper configurations across infrastructure.

4 | Reporting phase

After testing, we compile all findings into a comprehensive report that includes:

• A detailed list of identified vulnerabilities, their severity, and possible exploitation.
• Recommendations for remediation based on the CIS Benchmarks and best practices for securing Google Cloud environments.

AWS Penetration Testing Methodology

1 | Reconnaissance phase

Our AWS pentesting starts with an external examination, focusing on:

> Searching for publicly accessible resources such as leaky S3 buckets, exposed RDS instances, and deployed applications that might reveal sensitive data or expose services to unauthorized users.

2 | Fingerprinting phase

Once authenticated into the AWS environment, we enumerate infrastructure components:

> Mapping out IAM roles and policies, EC2 instances, VPC configurations, and RDS instances.

> Identifying misconfigurations or weaknesses in the way these resources are deployed, which could compromise the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) of the environment.

3 | Exploitation / Audit phase

We perform detailed testing of the AWS environment using both automated tools and manual techniques:

• Security Misconfiguration Assessment
  Checking for improper IAM roles, EC2 and RDS misconfigurations, and overly permissive VPCs.
• Privilege Escalation Attacks
  We test for ways users or roles can escalate privileges, exploiting misconfigurations in IAM policies and other services.
• CIS Benchmarking
  We assess the environment against AWS-specific CIS Benchmarks to ensure it follows security best practices.

4 | Reporting phase

After testing, a detailed report is generated including:

• A list of identified vulnerabilities, the risks they pose, and recommended fixes.
• The report also maps findings to CIS Benchmarks, providing clear guidance for remediation to secure AWS environments.

Azure Penetration Testing Methodology

1 | Reconnaissance phase

We start by identifying publicly accessible resources within the Azure environment:

> Searching for leaky blob storage accounts, exposed keys or tokens, and any other publicly available information that could be used to compromise the system.

> Identifying any exposed Azure services or endpoints that could be targeted externally.

2 | Fingerprinting phase

Once authenticated, we map out the Azure infrastructure, including:

> Enumerating VM instances, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) configurations, storage accounts, and Key Vault services.

> Identifying the technologies in use and any potential misconfigurations or vulnerabilities.

3 | Exploitation / Audit phase

We conduct an in-depth security assessment using both automated tools and manual testing:

• Security Misconfiguration Assessment
  We use tools like Prowler and Cloud Enum to scan for misconfigurations, privilege escalations, and other risks. This includes verifying client ID, client secret, and tenant ID configurations.
• Privilege Escalation Attacks
  We analyze roles, users, and service principal configurations to ensure no misconfigurations allow unauthorized privilege escalation.
• CIS Benchmarking
  We evaluate the environment against Azure-specific CIS Benchmarks, ensuring adherence to industry best practices.

4 | Reporting phase

After completing the penetration test, we compile all findings into a detailed report, following Red Sentry's standardized template. This includes

• A summary of the identified vulnerabilities, the methods used to exploit them, and recommendations for remediation.

This methodology ensures a comprehensive assessment of your cloud environment, helping identify and address any vulnerabilities or misconfigurations before malicious internal or external actors can exploit them.