Cloud-Specific Vulnerabilities
Security weaknesses unique to cloud environments including misconfigured storage buckets, insecure APIs, shared responsibility model gaps, identity management flaws, and multi-tenancy risks.
Understanding Cloud-Specific Vulnerabilities
Cloud computing introduces unique security challenges beyond traditional infrastructure. The ease of provisioning resources, complex permission models, and shared responsibility between provider and customer create vulnerabilities specific to cloud environments.
Key cloud vulnerability areas: • Misconfigured storage — Publicly exposed buckets and blobs • Insecure APIs — Weak authentication, excessive permissions • Shared responsibility gaps — Customer assumes provider handles security • Identity mismanagement — Overprivileged accounts and poor access control
Many major data breaches have resulted from simple cloud misconfigurations, not sophisticated attacks.
Why This Matters for the Exam
Cloud security is heavily emphasized in SY0-701 as organizations increasingly adopt cloud services. Understanding cloud-specific vulnerabilities helps you assess and secure cloud deployments.
The shared responsibility model is frequently tested—knowing what the customer is responsible for versus the provider is essential.
Real-world cloud breaches often involve simple misconfigurations. Understanding these vulnerabilities helps prevent common, devastating mistakes.
Deep Dive
Misconfigured Storage
Cloud storage (S3, Azure Blob, GCS) exposed publicly due to configuration errors.
How Storage Gets Exposed:
- •Default permissions left unchanged
- •Public access enabled for convenience
- •ACLs misconfigured
- •Bucket policies too permissive
- •Developers unaware of implications
Famous Storage Exposures:
- •Capital One breach (100M+ records)
- •Numerous S3 bucket leaks (voter data, PII)
- •Elasticsearch/MongoDB exposed instances
What Gets Exposed:
- •Customer data (PII, financial)
- •Backup files
- •Log files
- •Configuration files
- •Application data
Storage Security Best Practices:
- •Block public access by default
- •Audit storage permissions regularly
- •Use Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
- •Enable logging and monitoring
- •Encrypt data at rest
Insecure APIs
Cloud services accessed via APIs—vulnerable APIs expose cloud resources.
API Vulnerability Types:
| Vulnerability | Description |
|---|---|
| Weak authentication | No auth, API keys in code |
| Broken authorization | Insufficient permission checks |
| Excessive data exposure | API returns more than needed |
| Rate limiting gaps | No protection against abuse |
| Injection flaws | SQLi, command injection via API |
API Key Problems:
- •Hard-coded in source code
- •Committed to public repositories
- •Shared in documentation
- •Never rotated
- •Overly permissive
API Security Controls:
- •Strong authentication (OAuth, JWT)
- •Proper authorization checks
- •Input validation
- •Rate limiting
- •API gateway security
- •Regular key rotation
Shared Responsibility Model Gaps
Misunderstanding of security responsibilities between provider and customer.
Shared Responsibility Model:
| Layer | IaaS | PaaS | SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | Customer | Customer | Provider |
| Data | Customer | Customer | Shared |
| Runtime | Customer | Provider | Provider |
| OS | Customer | Provider | Provider |
| Virtualization | Provider | Provider | Provider |
| Infrastructure | Provider | Provider | Provider |
Common Gaps:
- •Customer assumes provider patches everything
- •Provider security doesn't extend to customer data
- •Network security may be customer responsibility
- •Identity management often customer's job
Gap Examples:
- •Thinking AWS secures your S3 data (customer must configure)
- •Assuming SaaS provider backs up your data
- •Not securing IaaS virtual machines
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Issues
Misconfigured cloud identity creating security risks.
IAM Vulnerabilities:
| Issue | Risk |
|---|---|
| Overprivileged users | Excessive access to resources |
| Long-lived credentials | Never-rotated API keys |
| No MFA | Single factor compromise |
| Unused accounts | Forgotten accounts still active |
| Root account use | Using admin for daily tasks |
IAM Best Practices:
- •Principle of least privilege
- •Use roles instead of users where possible
- •Rotate credentials regularly
- •Enforce MFA
- •Audit permissions regularly
- •Disable unused accounts
Other Cloud Vulnerabilities
Multi-tenancy Risks:
- •Shared infrastructure with other customers
- •Data isolation failures
- •Noisy neighbor (resource contention)
- •Side-channel attacks
Serverless/Function Risks:
- •Event injection
- •Function privilege escalation
- •Third-party library vulnerabilities
- •Insecure function configuration
Container Orchestration (Kubernetes):
- •Exposed dashboards
- •Misconfigured RBAC
- •Insecure pod configurations
- •Secrets management failures
Cloud Security Monitoring:
- •Cloud-native logging (CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log)
- •Security groups and network ACLs
- •Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
- •Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
How CompTIA Tests This
Example Analysis
Scenario: A company migrates to AWS but leaves their S3 bucket permissions at default. A security researcher discovers the bucket is publicly accessible and contains customer PII. When notified, the company says "We thought AWS secured everything."
Analysis - Shared Responsibility Gap:
What Went Wrong: • Bucket created with public access enabled • No review of permissions after creation • Misunderstanding of shared responsibility • No monitoring for public exposure
Shared Responsibility Breakdown: • AWS responsibility: Secure infrastructure, physical security, hypervisor • Customer responsibility: Data, access control, bucket configuration, encryption
Why This Happens: • Cloud seems "managed" so security assumed • Easy provisioning without security review • Default settings not always secure • Lack of cloud security training
Correct Approach: • Block public access at account level • Review bucket policies before deployment • Implement CSPM for continuous monitoring • Understand shared responsibility model • Encrypt sensitive data at rest
Key insight: "Cloud" doesn't mean "secure by default." Customers are responsible for securing their data and configurations.
Key Terms to Know
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Exam Tips
Memory Trick
"MASIS" - Cloud Vulnerabilities
- •Misconfigured storage (public buckets)
- •API insecurity (weak auth, exposed keys)
- •Shared responsibility gaps (who does what?)
- •IAM issues (overprivileged accounts)
- •Serverless/container risks
- •Shared Responsibility Memory:
- •IaaS = I (customer) do most security
- •PaaS = Partially shared
- •SaaS = Supplier (provider) does most
Storage Security: "S3" = "Secure Storage Settings" Always verify bucket permissions!
API Key Rules: Never in Code, Rotate regularly, Audit access, Privileged minimally = "CRAP keys are dangerous"
Test Your Knowledge
Q1.A company's customer data is exposed because their S3 bucket was publicly accessible. Under the shared responsibility model, who is responsible for this misconfiguration?
Q2.A developer hard-codes an API key with full administrative privileges into an application, which is then committed to a public GitHub repository. What vulnerabilities does this create?
Q3.What is the PRIMARY purpose of Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools?
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