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Security group ingress with port range

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Metadata

Id: cloudformation-aws-security-group-ingress-with-port-range

Provider: AWS

Platform: CloudFormation

Severity: Medium

Category: Networking and Firewall

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Description

Security group ingress rules that specify a port range (FromPort does not equal ToPort) broaden the network attack surface and can unintentionally expose services that were not meant to be reachable.

In CloudFormation, AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress resources must have FromPort equal to ToPort. Each entry in an AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup resource’s SecurityGroupIngress list must also have FromPort equal to ToPort. Any ingress entry where these values differ will be flagged. Resources that intentionally require ranges should include a documented justification and restrict allowed sources (for example, via CidrIp or SourceSecurityGroupId) to minimize exposure. Note that protocol-specific behavior (for example, ICMP type/code) may use these fields differently and still requires careful review.

Secure configuration examples:

MySgIngress:
  Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
  Properties:
    GroupId: sg-0123456789abcdef0
    IpProtocol: tcp
    FromPort: 22
    ToPort: 22
    CidrIp: 203.0.113.4/32

MySecurityGroup:
  Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup
  Properties:
    GroupDescription: allow-https
    SecurityGroupIngress:
      - IpProtocol: tcp
        FromPort: 443
        ToPort: 443
        CidrIp: 198.51.100.0/24

Compliant Code Examples

Resources:
  InstanceSecurityGroup:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup
    Properties:
      GroupDescription: Allow http to client host
      VpcId:
         Ref: myVPC
      SecurityGroupIngress:
      - IpProtocol: tcp
        Description: TCP
        FromPort: 80
        ToPort: 80
        CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
      SecurityGroupEgress:
      - IpProtocol: tcp
        Description: TCP
        FromPort: 80
        ToPort: 80
        CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
  OutboundRule:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupEgress
    Properties:
      Description: TCP
      IpProtocol: tcp
      FromPort: 0
      ToPort: 0
      DestinationSecurityGroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - TargetSG
        - GroupId
      GroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - SourceSG
        - GroupId
  InboundRule:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
    Properties:
      Description: TCP
      IpProtocol: tcp
      FromPort: 0
      ToPort: 0
      SourceSecurityGroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - SourceSG
        - GroupId
      GroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - TargetSG
        - GroupId

{
  "Resources": {
    "InboundRule": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress",
      "Properties": {
        "IpProtocol": "tcp",
        "FromPort": 0,
        "ToPort": 0,
        "SourceSecurityGroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "SourceSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "GroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "TargetSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "Description": "TCP"
      }
    },
    "InstanceSecurityGroup": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "GroupDescription": "Allow http to client host",
        "VpcId": {
          "Ref": "myVPC"
        },
        "SecurityGroupIngress": [
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "Description": "TCP",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 80,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          }
        ],
        "SecurityGroupEgress": [
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "Description": "TCP",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 80,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "OutboundRule": {
      "Properties": {
        "DestinationSecurityGroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "TargetSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "GroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "SourceSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "Description": "TCP",
        "IpProtocol": "tcp",
        "FromPort": 0,
        "ToPort": 0
      },
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupEgress"
    }
  }
}

Non-Compliant Code Examples

Resources:
  InstanceSecurityGroup:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup
    Properties:
      GroupDescription: Allow http to client host
      VpcId:
         Ref: myVPC
      SecurityGroupIngress:
      - IpProtocol: tcp
        Description: TCP
        FromPort: 80
        ToPort: 87
        CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
      SecurityGroupEgress:
      - IpProtocol: tcp
        Description: TCP
        FromPort: 80
        ToPort: 87
        CidrIp: 0.0.0.0/0
  OutboundRule:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupEgress
    Properties:
      Description: TCP
      IpProtocol: tcp
      FromPort: 0
      ToPort: 65535
      DestinationSecurityGroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - TargetSG
        - GroupId
      GroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - SourceSG
        - GroupId
  InboundRule:
    Type: AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress
    Properties:
      Description: TCP
      IpProtocol: tcp
      FromPort: 0
      ToPort: 65535
      SourceSecurityGroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - SourceSG
        - GroupId
      GroupId:
        Fn::GetAtt:
        - TargetSG
        - GroupId

{
  "Resources": {
    "InstanceSecurityGroup": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroup",
      "Properties": {
        "VpcId": {
          "Ref": "myVPC"
        },
        "SecurityGroupIngress": [
          {
            "Description": "TCP",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 87,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0",
            "IpProtocol": "tcp"
          }
        ],
        "SecurityGroupEgress": [
          {
            "IpProtocol": "tcp",
            "Description": "TCP",
            "FromPort": 80,
            "ToPort": 87,
            "CidrIp": "0.0.0.0/0"
          }
        ],
        "GroupDescription": "Allow http to client host"
      }
    },
    "OutboundRule": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupEgress",
      "Properties": {
        "ToPort": 65535,
        "DestinationSecurityGroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "TargetSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "GroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "SourceSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "Description": "TCP",
        "IpProtocol": "tcp",
        "FromPort": 0
      }
    },
    "InboundRule": {
      "Type": "AWS::EC2::SecurityGroupIngress",
      "Properties": {
        "Description": "TCP",
        "IpProtocol": "tcp",
        "FromPort": 0,
        "ToPort": 65535,
        "SourceSecurityGroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "SourceSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        },
        "GroupId": {
          "Fn::GetAtt": [
            "TargetSG",
            "GroupId"
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}