Understanding EC2’s Instance Metadata Service (IMDS)
Patrick B. KABONGO
Bilingual Cybersecurity Specialist with a knack for Problem-Solving| Expert in Governance, Risk & Compliance | Effective Communicator and Passionate Mentor | Proficient in AI & Cloud Security | Soft Skills Enthusiast
For those working with EC2, you might be familiar with IMDS, or the Instance Metadata Service. This service is crucial as it provides access to the metadata of EC2 instances.
Two Versions of IMDS
Two versions of IMDS are available, each with its unique access method and features. Below is a table of comparison.
Security Implications of IMDS
IMDS includes hostname, security group, MAC address, AWS access key/secret, and much more. It also hosts user-data that you specified when launching your instance. For an attacker, this is a gold mine. Therefore, understanding the security implications of the instance metadata service is crucial.
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Patrick Kabongo
#EC2 #IMDS #AWS #CloudSecurity #CloudComputing