Detection: SNS Topic Granted Public Access

Overview

Detect when an Amazon SNS topic was granted public access. Publicly accessible SNS topics expose sensitive messaging workflows to unauthorized access, increasing the risk of message interception, data breaches, and resource abuse. Restricting access to trusted entities ensures secure messaging and aligns with best practices.

References:

Usage

Run the detection in your terminal:

powerpipe detection run aws_cloudtrail_log_detections.detection.sns_topic_granted_public_access

Snapshot and share results via Turbot Pipes:

powerpipe login
powerpipe detection run aws_cloudtrail_log_detections.detection.sns_topic_granted_public_access --share

SQL

This detection uses a named query:

with policy as (
  select
    *,
    unnest(
    from_json((request_parameters ->> 'attributeValue' -> 'Statement'), '["JSON"]')
  ) as statement_item
  from
    aws_cloudtrail_log
  where
    event_source = 'sns.amazonaws.com'
    and event_name = 'SetTopicAttributes'
    and (request_parameters ->> 'attributeName') = 'Policy'
)
select      
  tp_timestamp as timestamp,
string_split(event_source, '.')[1] || ':' || event_name as operation,
request_parameters ->> 'topicArn' as resource,
user_identity.arn as actor,
tp_source_ip as source_ip,
tp_index as account_id,
aws_region as region,
tp_id as source_id,
*

from
  policy
where
  (statement_item ->> 'Effect') = 'Allow'
  and (json_contains((statement_item -> 'Principal'), '{"AWS":"*"}') or ((statement_item ->> 'Principal') = '*'))
  and error_code is null

order by
  event_time desc;

Detection: SNS Topic Granted Public Access

Overview

Usage

SQL

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