For AI agents: A markdown version of this page is available at https://docs.datadoghq.com/security/code_security/iac_security/iac_rules/ansible-gcp-using-default-service-account.md. A documentation index is available at /llms.txt.

Using default service account

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Metadata

Id: ansible-gcp-using-default-service-account

Provider: GCP

Platform: Ansible

Severity: Medium

Category: Insecure Configurations

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Description

Compute instances must not use the default Google Compute Engine service account. That account often has broad Cloud API privileges, which can lead to unintended privilege escalation or overly permissive access. For Ansible tasks using the google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance or gcp_compute_instance module with auth_kind: serviceaccount, the service_account_email property must be defined, must be a non-empty string containing an @, and must not reference a default Compute Engine service account (values containing @developer.gserviceaccount.com). Resources missing service_account_email, with an empty value, lacking an @ character, or using a default developer service account are flagged.

Secure example:

- name: Create instance with explicit service account
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: my-instance
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_email: my-sa@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com

Compliant Code Examples

#this code is a correct code for which the query should not find any result
- name: create a instance
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: test_object
    machine_type: n1-standard-1
    disks:
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      boot: 'true'
      source: '{{ disk }}'
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      interface: NVME
      type: SCRATCH
      initialize_params:
        disk_type: local-ssd
    metadata:
      startup-script-url: gs:://graphite-playground/bootstrap.sh
      cost-center: '12345'
    labels:
      environment: production
    network_interfaces:
    - network: '{{ network }}'
      access_configs:
      - name: External NAT
        nat_ip: '{{ address }}'
        type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    zone: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_email: admin@admin.com
    state: present

Non-Compliant Code Examples

#this is a problematic code where the query should report a result(s)
- name: create a instance1
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: test_object1
    machine_type: n1-standard-1
    disks:
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      boot: 'true'
      source: "{{ disk }}"
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      interface: NVME
      type: SCRATCH
      initialize_params:
        disk_type: local-ssd
    metadata:
      startup-script-url: gs:://graphite-playground/bootstrap.sh
      cost-center: '12345'
    labels:
      environment: production
    network_interfaces:
    - network: "{{ network }}"
      access_configs:
      - name: External NAT
        nat_ip: "{{ address }}"
        type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    zone: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    state: present
- name: create a instance2
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: test_object2
    machine_type: n1-standard-1
    disks:
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      boot: 'true'
      source: "{{ disk }}"
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      interface: NVME
      type: SCRATCH
      initialize_params:
        disk_type: local-ssd
    metadata:
      startup-script-url: gs:://graphite-playground/bootstrap.sh
      cost-center: '12345'
    labels:
      environment: production
    network_interfaces:
    - network: "{{ network }}"
      access_configs:
      - name: External NAT
        nat_ip: "{{ address }}"
        type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    zone: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_email: ""
    state: present
- name: create a instance3
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: test_object3
    machine_type: n1-standard-1
    disks:
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      boot: 'true'
      source: "{{ disk }}"
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      interface: NVME
      type: SCRATCH
      initialize_params:
        disk_type: local-ssd
    metadata:
      startup-script-url: gs:://graphite-playground/bootstrap.sh
      cost-center: '12345'
    labels:
      environment: production
    network_interfaces:
    - network: "{{ network }}"
      access_configs:
      - name: External NAT
        nat_ip: "{{ address }}"
        type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    zone: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_email: "admin"
    state: present
- name: create a instance4
  google.cloud.gcp_compute_instance:
    name: test_object4
    machine_type: n1-standard-1
    disks:
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      boot: 'true'
      source: "{{ disk }}"
    - auto_delete: 'true'
      interface: NVME
      type: SCRATCH
      initialize_params:
        disk_type: local-ssd
    metadata:
      startup-script-url: gs:://graphite-playground/bootstrap.sh
      cost-center: '12345'
    labels:
      environment: production
    network_interfaces:
    - network: "{{ network }}"
      access_configs:
      - name: External NAT
        nat_ip: "{{ address }}"
        type: ONE_TO_ONE_NAT
    zone: us-central1-a
    project: test_project
    auth_kind: serviceaccount
    service_account_email: "admin@developer.gserviceaccount.com"
    state: present