Add Write Permissions to Existing IAM Role in EC2 Instance | Secure Testing of New Service

Adding Write Permissions to Existing IAM Role in EC2 Instance

Question

In order to test a new service in production, you need to add several write permissions for an existing IAM role in an EC2 instance.

This IAM role has been used by several other EC2 instances.

How could you accomplish this securely?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

Answer - D.

Option A is incorrect because it should be a custom policy rather than an AWS managed policy.

Option B is incorrect because it is not appropriate to delete the existing role before the new role is fully tested.

Option C is incorrect because an inline policy is not very appropriate.

It is better to use a custom-managed IAM policy so that it can be reused and easy to maintain.

In most cases, AWS recommends that users use managed policies instead of inline policies.

Please check the reference in https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_managed-vs-inline.html#choosing-managed-or-inline.

Option D is CORRECT because you can create a custom policy with the required permission in an IAM role.

While testing, the changes will not influence the other EC2 instances.

For more information on how to create IAM policies, please refer to the following URL:

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_create.html

In order to securely add write permissions to an existing IAM role in an EC2 instance to test a new service in production, there are a few options to consider:

A. Add an AWS managed policy for the IAM role:

This option involves attaching an AWS managed policy to the IAM role to add the required write permissions. AWS managed policies are pre-built policies provided by AWS and can be easily attached to an IAM role. However, this option should be used with caution as the managed policy may grant additional permissions that may not be required for the specific test.

B. Create another IAM role with the required permissions and delete the existing IAM role. Attach it to an EC2 instance to test:

This option involves creating a new IAM role with the required write permissions and attaching it to an EC2 instance to test the new service. However, this option is not recommended as it involves deleting the existing IAM role that is being used by several other EC2 instances, which could result in service disruptions.

C. Add an inline policy for the IAM role. Remove the policy after the testing is complete:

This option involves adding an inline policy to the existing IAM role to add the required write permissions for testing. An inline policy is a policy that is embedded directly into the IAM role and is only used by that IAM role. Once testing is complete, the inline policy can be removed. This option provides a more granular control over permissions and is a more secure option than using an AWS managed policy.

D. Create an IAM policy with the required permissions and attach it to a new IAM role. Add that new IAM role to the EC2 instance and test it:

This option involves creating a new IAM policy with the required write permissions and attaching it to a new IAM role. The new IAM role can then be added to the EC2 instance for testing. This option provides a more granular control over permissions and is a more secure option than using an AWS managed policy. However, this option involves creating a new IAM role, which could result in additional management overhead.

Overall, the best option for adding write permissions for an existing IAM role in an EC2 instance securely would be to add an inline policy for the IAM role. This option provides granular control over permissions and can be easily removed after testing is complete.