An external actor tricks a legitimate, authorized third-party application into making requests to the cloud environment. A role in the cloud account (the "deputy"), which trusts that third-party application, then performs unauthorized actions on behalf of the actor.
IAM Role is Coerced into Unauthorized Cross-Account Actions (Confused Deputy)
CCC.IAM.TH12
Related Capabilities
| ID | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CCC.IAM.CP06 | IAM Roles and Service Principals | The service can create, list, modify and delete roles or service principals, which are identities that applications and services use to access resources without a human user. |
| CCC.IAM.CP10 | Custom Roles | The service can create, list, modify and delete user-defined roles that specify exactly which actions are permitted, in addition to the roles the provider defines. |
| CCC.IAM.CP15 | Role Assumption and Delegation | The service can allow an authenticated principal to temporarily assume another role or impersonate a service identity, obtaining that identity's permissions for a limited session. |
Related Controls
| ID | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CCC.IAM.CN03 | Restrict Role Assumption / Delegation | Limit which principals can assume a role or impersonate a service identity, and which roles a principal may pass to a resource, to only those required. This prevents unintended cross-account or public access by securing the "who can act as this identity" boundary. |