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-without-iam-authentication.md. A documentation index is available at /llms.txt.

Elasticsearch without IAM authentication

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Metadata

Id: terraform-aws-elasticsearch-without-iam-authentication

Provider: AWS

Platform: Terraform

Severity: Medium

Category: Access Control

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Description

AWS Elasticsearch domains should enforce IAM authentication to restrict access to authorized users only. Without proper IAM policies—such as using "Principal": "*" in the aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy resource—unauthorized users could gain access to sensitive data by connecting from approved IP addresses. To mitigate this risk, the Principal field should be set to reference specific IAM principals, as shown below:

"Principal" : {
  "AWS": [
    "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
    "arn:aws:iam::555555555555:root"
    ]
}

Failing to enforce IAM authentication can expose your Elasticsearch domain to unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

Compliant Code Examples

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

resource "aws_elasticsearch_domain_policy" "main8" {
  domain_name = aws_elasticsearch_domain.negativee.domain_name

  access_policies = <<POLICIES
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": "es:*",
            "Principal" : {
              "AWS": [
                "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root",
                "arn:aws:iam::555555555555:root"
                ]
            },
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Condition": {
                "IpAddress": {"aws:SourceIp": "127.0.0.1/32"}
            },
            "Resource": "${aws_elasticsearch_domain.negativee.arn}/*"
        }
    ]
}
POLICIES
}

Non-Compliant Code Examples

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

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

  access_policies = <<POLICIES
{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": "es:*",
            "Principal": "*",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Condition": {
                "IpAddress": {"aws:SourceIp": "127.0.0.1/32"}
            },
            "Resource": "${aws_elasticsearch_domain.example.arn}/*"
        }
    ]
}
POLICIES
}

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": [
        {
            "Action": "es:*",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Condition": {
                "IpAddress": {"aws:SourceIp": "127.0.0.1/32"}
            },
            "Resource": "${aws_elasticsearch_domain.example2.arn}/*"
        }
    ]
}
POLICIES
}