Cloud Security Maturity Model 2.0
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IAM-04.1: IAM policies are automatically assessed for overly broad access or possible privilege escalations in production deployments
IAM-04.1: IAM policies in deployments are assessed for excessive privileges or misconfigurations that are known to create the risk of privilege escalation. This control objective does not need to be enforced in nonproduction accounts where excessive privileges are often necessary for building and testing. This is commonly a feature of CSPM tools and there are some OSS tools designed to perform these assessments.
  • Control automation: Automated
  • AWS control specification: IAM policies attached to entities in production accounts do not have excessive privileges. Look for "*" on the resource in a policy statement without a conditional. Efforts can focus on IAM actions in this list: https://github.com/primeharbor/sensitive_iam_actions/blob/main/actions.yaml
  • Azure control specification: none
  • GCP control specification: none
  • Third-party (CSPM/CNAPP) control specification: CSPM tool runs scans for excessive privileges or potential privilege escalation, ideally only on deployments flagged as production
Not Applicable - Not applicable
Level 1: Initial - Initial. Manually managing policies/procedures, mostly through console. Architectures tend to resemble traditional infrastructure (e.g., low use of serverless and high reliance on network security controls). IAM mostly ad hoc with little-to-no federation.
Level 2: Repeatable - Repeatable. Policy-/checklist-based and relies more on manual or simple tooling. High variability between projects; not coordinated across deployments. Initial use of infrastructure as code (Terraform/CloudFormation), but security not consistently engaged in design/review. Federation on some accounts, but limited use of MFA due to difficulties supporting teams (especially on the command line).
Level 3: Defined - Defined. Policies and central coordination in place. Some initial security automation still executed manually. Some third-party tooling (orchestration with other tools), Federation on most accounts with widespread MFA, but still gaps on consistency. Security starting to review and promote use of CloudFormation/Terraform. CSPM/CNAPP (CSP or third party) in use.
Level 4: Capable - Capable. Strong centralized security management with consistent enforcement. Automation and guardrails across multiple deployments. Expanding library. Big shift from manual management and execution to running security operations with centralized platforms with centralized management and reporting. Consistent use of federation and MFA, with some gaps supporting toolchains.
Level 5: Efficient - Efficient. All major activities centrally managed, covering all of the CSMM domains. Integrated into infrastructure-as-code (IaC) environment. Built into the stack with provisioning automation. Federation and MFA working consistently across toolchains (e.g., command-line support).

Description
  • Control automation: Automated
  • AWS control specification: IAM policies attached to entities in production accounts do not have excessive privileges. Look for "*" on the resource in a policy statement without a conditional. Efforts can focus on IAM actions in this list: https://github.com/primeharbor/sensitive_iam_actions/blob/main/actions.yaml
  • Azure control specification: none
  • GCP control specification: none
  • Third-party (CSPM/CNAPP) control specification: CSPM tool runs scans for excessive privileges or potential privilege escalation, ideally only on deployments flagged as production