Cloud Accounts

Valid accounts in cloud environments may allow adversaries to perform actions to achieve Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion. Cloud accounts are those created and configured by an organization for use by users, remote support, services, or for administration of resources within a cloud service provider or SaaS application. Cloud Accounts can exist solely in the cloud; alternatively, they may be hybrid-joined between on-premises systems and the cloud through syncing or federation with other identity sources such as Windows Active Directory.(Citation: AWS Identity Federation)(Citation: Google Federating GC)(Citation: Microsoft Deploying AD Federation) Service or user accounts may be targeted by adversaries through [Brute Force](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1110), [Phishing](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1566), or various other means to gain access to the environment. Federated or synced accounts may be a pathway for the adversary to affect both on-premises systems and cloud environments - for example, by leveraging shared credentials to log onto [Remote Services](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1021). High privileged cloud accounts, whether federated, synced, or cloud-only, may also allow pivoting to on-premises environments by leveraging SaaS-based [Software Deployment Tools](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1072) to run commands on hybrid-joined devices. An adversary may create long lasting [Additional Cloud Credentials](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/001) on a compromised cloud account to maintain persistence in the environment. Such credentials may also be used to bypass security controls such as multi-factor authentication. Cloud accounts may also be able to assume [Temporary Elevated Cloud Access](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/005) or other privileges through various means within the environment. Misconfigurations in role assignments or role assumption policies may allow an adversary to use these mechanisms to leverage permissions outside the intended scope of the account. Such over privileged accounts may be used to harvest sensitive data from online storage accounts and databases through [Cloud API](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/009) or other methods. For example, in Azure environments, adversaries may target Azure Managed Identities, which allow associated Azure resources to request access tokens. By compromising a resource with an attached Managed Identity, such as an Azure VM, adversaries may be able to [Steal Application Access Token](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1528)s to move laterally across the cloud environment.(Citation: SpecterOps Managed Identity 2022)

Linked Issues

Issuelinks
Linktype	Issue
is related to	Techniques
is blocked by	Password Policies
is blocked by	Active Directory Configuration
is blocked by	Privileged Account Management
is blocked by	Multi-factor Authentication
is blocked by	Account Use Policies
is blocked by	User Training
is blocked by	Detection of Abused or Compromised Cloud Accounts for Access and Persistence
is blocked by	User Account Management
is blocked by	Usage Parameters
is blocked by	Access Restriction For Change
is blocked by	Security, Compliance & Resilience Controls Oversight
is blocked by	Secure Baseline Configurations
is blocked by	Least Functionality
is blocked by	Continuous Monitoring
is blocked by	Encrypting Data At Rest
is blocked by	Use of External Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS)
is blocked by	Separation of Duties (SoD)
is blocked by	Identification & Authentication for Organizational Users
is blocked by	Authenticator Management
is blocked by	Account Management
is blocked by	Access Enforcement
is blocked by	Least Privilege
is blocked by	Account Lockout
is blocked by	Identity Proofing (Identity Verification)
is blocked by	Secure Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Management
is blocked by	Secure Engineering Principles
is blocked by	Technology Development & Acquisition
is blocked by	Developer Architecture & Design
is blocked by	Secure Software Development Practices (SSDP)
is blocked by	Security, Compliance & Resilience Testing Throughout Development
is blocked by	Developer Configuration Management

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