AWS Penetration Testing
We test your AWS environment for the misconfigurations that lead to full account takeover — IAM privilege escalation, exposed storage, and SSRF paths to instance credentials.
What is AWS Penetration Testing?
An AWS breach is rarely one bug — it's a chain from a small foothold to the whole account. We test for the IAM privilege-escalation paths, exposed storage and SSRF-to-metadata routes that turn a minor issue into full control of your environment.
An AWS account is a web of identities and permissions, and its breaches are chains, not single bugs: a minor SSRF becomes credential theft, a broad IAM permission becomes privilege escalation, a public bucket becomes the exfiltration point. We test from a real attacker's position — inside and outside — to find those chains and prove how a small foothold becomes control of the whole account.
AWS testing also matters because the shared-responsibility model quietly puts the exploitable part on you: AWS secures the cloud, you secure what you build in it, and almost every reported 'AWS breach' is really a customer misconfiguration. Testing your configuration and identities is how you hold up your side of that model with evidence rather than assumption.
AWS Penetration Testing is a manual, exploit-driven assessment: real people attacking your target the way an adversary would, then proving each finding with a working proof of concept. It is not an automated scan with a logo on it — the point is to find and demonstrate the issues that actually put you at risk, and hand your team a clear plan to fix them.
Why it matters
Cloud breaches rarely come from a single flaw; they come from chains of small misconfigurations that end in full account takeover. Identity and configuration are the new perimeter, and both fail silently.
A aws penetration testing engagement replaces guesswork with evidence. Instead of hoping your controls hold, you get a ranked, reproducible picture of where they don’t — before someone hostile finds the same gaps.
Industries & use cases
AWS testing matters for SaaS and startups born in the cloud, enterprises with large multi-account estates, and any regulated workload (fintech, healthtech) where a single IAM misstep exposes production data.
What we test
Manual, exploit-driven coverage focused on real impact — not scanner noise.
- IAM privilege escalation paths
- S3 and storage exposure
- SSRF to instance metadata (IMDS)
- Over-permissive roles and policies
- Exposed services and public resources
- Secrets in code, images and env
Signs you should run a aws penetration testing
If any of these apply, testing is overdue.
- You run production workloads on AWS
- You have multiple accounts, roles and IAM sprawl
- You're pursuing SOC 2, ISO 27001 or FedRAMP
- You've grown quickly and governance lagged
- You want to prove the shared-responsibility model is met
Common vulnerabilities we find
The issues that show up again and again in aws penetration testing — and the ones that actually get exploited.
IAM privilege escalation
A permission like iam:PassRole or policy edit rights escalates to admin.
Public S3 exposure
Buckets or objects readable or writable by anyone.
SSRF to instance metadata
Reaching IMDS to steal instance-role credentials.
Lambda and compute privilege escalation
Function or instance roles with permissions that allow escalation to admin.
Secrets across code, images and env
Long-lived keys in repositories, container images, user-data and environment variables.
Publicly exposed databases/services
RDS, Elasticsearch or dashboards reachable from the internet.
Overly trusting resource policies
S3, KMS or SNS/SQS policies granting broad or cross-account access.
Weak logging and detection
CloudTrail gaps and no alerting on suspicious IAM activity.
Example attack chain
Real impact rarely comes from one bug — it comes from chaining several. A representative example:
Why choose webhook.press
Attacker mindset
We’re offensive security people who also build the free tools bug-bounty hunters use daily. We test the way real adversaries do — and prove it.
No scanner theatre
You get findings a human exploited and verified, ranked by real business risk — not an unfiltered tool dump padded to look thorough.
Fixed price, free retest
A clear quote after scoping, a report your team and auditors can use, and a free retest to confirm the fixes hold.
Our methodology
A structured, transparent process aligned to OWASP and PTES — with a named point of contact throughout.
Scoping & rules of engagement
We agree the exact targets, depth, timing and constraints for your aws penetration testing, and set clear rules of engagement so testing is safe and predictable.
Reconnaissance & mapping
We enumerate the full attack surface — endpoints, roles, technologies and trust boundaries — and threat-model where an attacker would focus.
Manual testing & exploitation
We attack by hand, verifying and chaining weaknesses into real impact. Automated tooling supports coverage; humans find the logic and authorization bugs it can’t.
Analysis & risk rating
Each finding is validated, rated by real business risk rather than raw scanner severity, and de-duplicated so you get signal, not noise.
Reporting
You receive an executive summary for leadership and a technical section with reproducible PoCs, evidence and concrete, stack-specific remediation.
Free retest
After you remediate, we re-test the closed findings to confirm they are actually fixed — at no extra cost.
What you get
Reproducible PoCs
Every finding ships with a working proof and step-by-step reproduction your engineers can replay and verify.
Risk-ranked findings
Prioritised by real business impact, so you fix what matters first instead of drowning in low-severity noise.
Actionable remediation
Concrete, stack-specific fixes and guidance — not generic “apply best practice” filler.
Free retest
We re-check the closed findings after remediation and confirm they’re resolved.
The report is written for two audiences at once: an executive summary that a non-technical stakeholder can act on, and a detailed technical section — findings, evidence, CVSS and reproduction — that your developers and auditors can use directly.
Manual testing, not just a scan
Automated scanners are fast and useful for coverage, but they only find patterns they already know, and they flood you with false positives. They cannot understand your business logic, chain several small issues into a breach, or tell you which alert actually matters. Our aws penetration testing is led by experienced testers who exploit findings by hand and rank them by the damage they’d really do — the difference between a 300-page tool dump and a short list of things worth fixing.
Standards & compliance
Our aws penetration testing reports are written to support the frameworks your auditors and customers care about — including SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, and the EU’s NIS2 and DORA. Each engagement produces clear, independent evidence of testing with scope, methodology and findings documented the way assessors expect, so the same test both hardens your systems and helps satisfy your obligations.
Frameworks we follow
Recognised methodologies, adapted to your target — never a rigid checklist.
- OWASP — Web Security Testing Guide, ASVS and the API Security Top 10
- PTES — the Penetration Testing Execution Standard
- NIST SP 800-115 — technical guide to security testing
- OSSTMM — Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual
- MITRE ATT&CK — to frame real-world adversary techniques
FAQ
Is this allowed under AWS policy?
Yes — AWS permits customer-driven testing of your own resources; no prior approval is needed for most services.
Config review or active testing?
Both — we combine a configuration review with active exploitation from a real attacker position.
Do we need AWS approval to test?
For most services AWS permits customer-driven testing of your own resources without prior approval; we confirm scope with you.
Config review or active exploitation?
Both — we pair a configuration review against CIS with hands-on exploitation from an attacker position.
Do you assess against CIS benchmarks?
Yes — we combine a CIS-aligned configuration review with active exploitation for both coverage and proof.
Multi-account organisations?
Yes — we test cross-account trust and organisation-level identity paths, common escalation routes.
How long does a aws penetration testing take?
Most focused engagements run one to two weeks depending on scope; we agree the exact timeline during scoping.
Is a retest included?
Yes — after you remediate, we re-check the closed findings to confirm they’re fixed, at no extra cost.
How do you price it?
Per engagement, based on scope and depth — you get a fixed quote after a short scoping call. No cookie-cutter packages.
Why teams trust our aws penetration testing
Aligned to recognised standards
Testing follows OWASP, PTES, NIST SP 800-115 and MITRE ATT&CK, and reports support SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, NIS2 and DORA.
Every engagement includes
Reproducible PoCs, risk-ranked findings, concrete remediation, a named point of contact, a free retest, and a summary letter of attestation.
Confidential by default
Work is covered by an NDA, scoped with clear rules of engagement, and data is handled with care throughout — including residency requirements.
Sample report available on request — see our reporting format and depth before you commit. Ask for a sample →
Get a quote for AWS Penetration Testing
Tell us about the target — we’ll come back with scope and a fixed price. Manual, exploit-driven testing with reproducible proof and a free retest.