For AI agents: A markdown version of this page is available at https://docs.datadoghq.com/security/code_security/iac_security/iac_rules/terraform-aws-elasticsearch-domain-with-vulnerable-policy.md. A documentation index is available at /llms.txt.

Elasticsearch domain with vulnerable policy

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Metadata

Id: terraform-aws-elasticsearch-domain-with-vulnerable-policy

Provider: AWS

Platform: Terraform

Severity: Medium

Category: Access Control

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Description

Using a wildcard (*) for both Action and Principal in an aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy—such as "Action": "es:*" and "Principal": "*"—grants unrestricted access to the Elasticsearch domain, allowing any identity to perform any action. This broad permission model introduces a significant security vulnerability, as it may expose sensitive data and allow unauthorized users to modify or delete resources. To mitigate this risk, explicitly define trusted principals and limit actions using specific permissions in the policy document.

Compliant Code Examples

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain" "example2" {
  domain_name           = "tf-test"
  elasticsearch_version = "2.3"
}

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy" "main2" {
  domain_name = aws_elasticsearch_domain.example2.domain_name

  access_policies = <<POLICIES
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "AWS": [
          "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/test-user"
        ]
      },
      "Action": [
        "es:ESHttpGet"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:es:us-west-1:987654321098:domain/test-domain/test-index/_search"
    }
  ]
}
POLICIES
}

Non-Compliant Code Examples

provider "aws" {
  region = "us-east-1"
}

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain" "es-not-secure-policy" {
  domain_name = "es-not-secure-policy"

  ebs_options {
    ebs_enabled = true
    volume_size = 10
    volume_type = "gp2"
  }
}

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy" "main" {
  domain_name = aws_elasticsearch_domain.es-not-secure-policy.domain_name

  access_policies = <<POLICIES
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": "es:*",
            "Principal": "*",
            "Effect": "Allow"
        }
    ]
}
POLICIES
}

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy" "multi_statement" {
  domain_name = aws_elasticsearch_domain.example.domain_name

  access_policies = <<POLICIES
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "Safe",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"},
      "Action": ["es:DescribeDomain"]
    },
    {
      "Sid": "Vulnerable",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": ["es:*"]
    }
  ]
}
POLICIES
}

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy" "jsonencoded" {
  domain_name = aws_elasticsearch_domain.example.domain_name

  access_policies = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [
      {
        Sid       = "JsonEncodedVulnerable"
        Effect    = "Allow"
        Principal = "*"
        Action    = ["es:*"]
      }
    ]
  })
}