GCP Penetration Testing
We test your Google Cloud environment for service-account abuse and IAM privilege escalation — the chains that turn a small foothold into project-wide control.
What is GCP Penetration Testing?
In Google Cloud, service accounts are the keys to the kingdom. We test for the impersonation and IAM escalation chains that turn a small foothold into project-wide control, alongside storage exposure and metadata token theft.
Google Cloud security revolves around service accounts and the permissions to act as them. An attacker who lands anywhere in the project hunts for impersonation rights and broad IAM bindings, and one actAs or token-creation permission can turn a modest foothold into project-wide control. We test for those escalation chains alongside storage exposure and metadata token theft.
GCP testing also benefits from the platform's tight coupling between IAM and everything else: because permissions cascade through the resource hierarchy, a single over-broad grant high up can silently expose everything below it. We test that hierarchy deliberately, tracing inherited permissions attackers exploit but dashboards rarely surface.
GCP 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 gcp 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
GCP testing suits data- and ML-heavy organisations, cloud-native startups and enterprises running analytics or Kubernetes on Google Cloud.
What we test
Manual, exploit-driven coverage focused on real impact — not scanner noise.
- IAM and service-account privilege escalation
- Storage bucket exposure
- Metadata SSRF and token theft
- Over-permissive bindings
- Exposed services and functions
- Secrets across the project
Signs you should run a gcp penetration testing
If any of these apply, testing is overdue.
- You run production or data workloads on GCP
- You use service accounts heavily
- You have complex folder/org IAM inheritance
- You run GKE or data/ML pipelines
- You want to validate least privilege with evidence
Common vulnerabilities we find
The issues that show up again and again in gcp penetration testing — and the ones that actually get exploited.
Service-account impersonation
actAs or token-creation rights to assume a stronger identity.
Over-permissive IAM bindings
Broad roles granted at project or org level.
Metadata token theft
SSRF or local access retrieving service-account tokens.
Over-broad IAM at project/org level
Roles granted too high in the hierarchy, inherited everywhere below.
Exposed functions and Cloud Run services
Unauthenticated or over-permissioned serverless endpoints.
Inherited permissions from folders/org
Broad grants high in the hierarchy exposing all child resources.
Public Cloud Storage buckets
Objects or buckets readable or writable by anyone.
Weak audit logging
Insufficient logging leaving IAM abuse undetected.
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 gcp 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 gcp 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 gcp 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
Do you focus on service accounts?
Yes — service-account impersonation and key abuse are the dominant GCP escalation paths.
Config plus active testing?
Yes — a configuration review paired with hands-on exploitation.
Do you focus on service accounts?
Yes — impersonation and key abuse are the dominant GCP escalation paths.
Do you test GKE too?
We can include Kubernetes on GCP and its IAM ties as part of the engagement.
Do you test IAM inheritance?
Yes — inherited, cascading permissions are a common and easily-missed GCP escalation path.
Do you cover BigQuery and data services?
Yes — access to analytics and data stores is often the real prize, so it's in scope.
How long does a gcp 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 gcp 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 GCP 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.