📝 AWS RDS Instance is publicly accessible and in an unrestricted public subnet 🟢

• Contextual name: 📝 Instance is publicly accessible and in an unrestricted public subnet 🟢
• ID: /ce/ca/aws/rds/instance-publicly-accessible-in-public-subnet
• Located in: 📁 AWS RDS

Flags

• 🟢 Policy with categories
• 🟢 Policy with type
• 🟢 Production policy

Our Metadata

• Policy Type: COMPLIANCE_POLICY
• Policy Category:
  • SECURITY

Similar Policies

• Cloud Conformity
  • RDS Publicly Accessible
  • RDS Instance Not In Public Subnet
• Internal
  • dec-x-f937c35f

Similar Internal Rules

Rule	Policies	Flags
✉️ dec-x-f937c35f	1

Logic

• 🧠 prod.logic.yaml 🟢
  • 📕 AWS RDS Instance
  • 🔌 AWS RDS Instance - object.extracts.yaml
  • 🔌 AWS VPC Route - object.extracts.yaml
  • 🔌 AWS VPC Route Table Association - object.extracts.yaml
  • 🧪 test-data.json

Description

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Description

Ensure and verify that RDS database instances provisioned in your AWS account do restrict unauthorized access in order to minimize security risks. To restrict access to any publicly accessible RDS database instance, you must disable the database Publicly Accessible flag and update the VPC security group associated with the instance.

Rationale

Ensure that no public-facing RDS database instances are provisioned in your AWS account and restrict unauthorized access in order to minimize security risks. When the RDS instance allows unrestricted access (0.0.0.0/0), everyone and everything on the Internet can establish a connection to your database and this can increase the opportunity for malicious activities such as brute force attacks, PostgreSQL injections, or DoS/DDoS attacks.

Audit

From Console

1. Log in to the AWS management console and navigate to the RDS dashboard at https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/.
2. Under the navigation panel, On RDS Dashboard, click Databases.
3. Select the RDS instance that you want to examine.

... see more

Remediation

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Remediation

From Console

1. Log in to the AWS management console and navigate to the RDS dashboard at https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/.

2. Under the navigation panel, On RDS Dashboard, click Databases.

3. Select the RDS instance that you want to update.

4. Click Modify from the dashboard top menu.

5. On the Modify DB Instance panel, under the Connectivity section, click on Additional connectivity configuration and update the value for Publicly Accessible to Not publicly accessible to restrict public access.

6. Follow the below steps to update subnet configurations:

• Select the Connectivity and security tab, and click on the VPC attribute value inside the Networking section.
• Select the Details tab from the VPC dashboard bottom panel and click on Route table configuration attribute value.
• On the Route table details page, select the Routes tab from the dashboard bottom panel and click on Edit routes.
• On the Edit routes page, update the Destination of Target which is set to igw-xxxxx and click on Save routes.

... see more

policy.yaml

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Linked Framework Sections

Section	Sub Sections	Internal Rules	Policies	Flags
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 36d access management controls —only authorised users, software and hardware are able to access information assets (refer to Attachment B for further guidance);		13	13
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 36e hardware and software asset controls —appropriate authorisation to prevent security compromises from unauthorised hardware and software assets;		15	15
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 36f network design — to ensure authorised network traffic flows and to reduce the impact of security compromises;		28	29
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 45 An understanding of plausible worst case scenarios can help regulated entities identify and implement additional controls to prevent or reduce the impact of such scenarios. One example is malware that infects computers and encrypts data, both on the infected computer and any connected storage, including (corporate) networks and cloud storage. Such attacks reinforce the importance of protecting the backup environment in the event that the production environment is compromised. Common techniques to achieve this include network segmentation, highly restricted and segregated access controls and network traffic flow restrictions.		34	36
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 52d appropriate segmentation of data, based on sensitivity and access needs;		10	10
💼 APRA CPG 234 → 💼 53 Wholesale access to sensitive data (e.g. contents of customer databases or intellectual property that can be exploited for personal gain) would be highly restricted to reduce the risk exposure to significant data leakage events. Industry experience of actual data leakage incidents include the unauthorised extraction of debit/credit card details, theft of personally identifiable information, loss of unencrypted backup media and the sale/trade or exploitation of customer identity data.		10	10
💼 AWS Foundational Security Best Practices v1.0.0 → 💼 [RDS.2] RDS DB Instances should prohibit public access, as determined by the PubliclyAccessible configuration		1	1
💼 CIS AWS v1.5.0 → 💼 2.3.3 Ensure that public access is not given to RDS Instance - Level 1 (Automated)		1	1
💼 CIS AWS v2.0.0 → 💼 2.3.3 Ensure that public access is not given to RDS Instance - Level 1 (Automated)		1	1
💼 CIS AWS v3.0.0 → 💼 2.3.3 Ensure that public access is not given to RDS Instance - Level 1 (Automated)		1	1
💼 CIS AWS v4.0.0 → 💼 2.2.3 Ensure that RDS instances are not publicly accessible (Automated)			1
💼 CIS AWS v4.0.1 → 💼 2.2.3 Ensure that RDS instances are not publicly accessible (Automated)			1
💼 CIS AWS v5.0.0 → 💼 2.2.3 Ensure that RDS instances are not publicly accessible (Automated)			1
💼 Cloudaware Framework → 💼 Public and Anonymous Access			24
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AC-3 Access Enforcement (L)(M)(H)		37	47
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement (M)(H)	2	31	65
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AC-4(21) Physical or Logical Separation of Information Flows (M)(H)		11	39
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SC-7 Boundary Protection (L)(M)(H)	10	6	33
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SC-7(4) External Telecommunications Services (M)(H)			17
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SC-7(5) Deny by Default — Allow by Exception (M)(H)			19
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SC-7(21) Isolation of System Components (H)			16
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 AC-3 Access Enforcement (L)(M)(H)			47
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 SC-7 Boundary Protection (L)(M)(H)			23
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AC-3 Access Enforcement (L)(M)(H)			47
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement (M)(H)	1		51
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AC-4(21) Physical or Logical Separation of Information Flows (M)(H)			39
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 SC-7 Boundary Protection (L)(M)(H)	7		29
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 SC-7(4) External Telecommunications Services (M)(H)			17
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 SC-7(5) Deny by Default — Allow by Exception (M)(H)			19
💼 GDPR → 💼 Art. 25 Data protection by design and by default		10	10
💼 GDPR → 💼 Art. 46 Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards		2	2
💼 ISO/IEC 27001:2013 → 💼 A.9.4.1 Information access restriction		19	20
💼 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 → 💼 5.10 Acceptable use of information and other associated assets		11	14
💼 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 → 💼 5.15 Access control		14	16
💼 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 → 💼 8.3 Information access restriction		10	11
💼 ISO/IEC 27001:2022 → 💼 8.4 Access to source code		8	9
💼 NIST CSF v1.1 → 💼 PR.AC-4: Access permissions and authorizations are managed, incorporating the principles of least privilege and separation of duties		17	35
💼 NIST CSF v1.1 → 💼 PR.DS-5: Protections against data leaks are implemented		43	51
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-01: Networks and network services are monitored to find potentially adverse events			83
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-09: Computing hardware and software, runtime environments, and their data are monitored to find potentially adverse events			89
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.AM-03: Representations of the organization's authorized network communication and internal and external network data flows are maintained			31
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 PR.AA-05: Access permissions, entitlements, and authorizations are defined in a policy, managed, enforced, and reviewed, and incorporate the principles of least privilege and separation of duties			58
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 PR.DS-01: The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-at-rest are protected			82
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 PR.DS-02: The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-in-transit are protected			69
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 PR.DS-10: The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-in-use are protected			67
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 PR.IR-01: Networks and environments are protected from unauthorized logical access and usage			40
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement	32	61	73
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-4(15) Information Flow Enforcement _ Detection of Unsanctioned Information		7	8
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-4(21) Information Flow Enforcement _ Physical or Logical Separation of Information Flows		35	39
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7 Boundary Protection	29	5	33
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(4) Boundary Protection _ External Telecommunications Services			17
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(5) Boundary Protection _ Deny by Default — Allow by Exception		5	19
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(11) Boundary Protection _ Restrict Incoming Communications Traffic			15
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(16) Boundary Protection _ Prevent Discovery of System Components			16
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(21) Boundary Protection _ Isolation of System Components			16
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.2.1 Restrict inbound and outbound traffic to that which is necessary for the cardholder data environment, and specifically deny all other traffic.		10	14
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3 Prohibit direct public access between the Internet and any system component in the cardholder data environment.	7	9	11
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3.1 Implement a DMZ to limit inbound traffic to only system components that provide authorized publicly accessible services, protocols, and ports.		7	8
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3.2 Limit inbound Internet traffic to IP addresses within the DMZ.			8
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3.4 Do not allow unauthorized outbound traffic from the cardholder data environment to the Internet.			4
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3.5 Permit only “established” connections into the network.			8
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 1.3.6 Place system components that store cardholder data in an internal network zone, segregated from the DMZ and other untrusted networks.			3
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 7.2.1 Coverage of all system components.			5
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 1.3.1 Inbound traffic to the CDE is restricted.			14
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 1.3.2 Outbound traffic from the CDE is restricted.			14
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 1.4.1 NSCs are implemented between trusted and untrusted networks.			10
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 1.4.2 Inbound traffic from untrusted networks to trusted networks is restricted.			8
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 1.4.4 System components that store cardholder data are not directly accessible from untrusted networks.			3
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 7.3.1 An access control system(s) is in place that restricts access based on a user's need to know and covers all system components.			5
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 1.3.1 Inbound traffic to the CDE is restricted.			14
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 1.3.2 Outbound traffic from the CDE is restricted.			14
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 1.4.1 NSCs are implemented between trusted and untrusted networks.			10
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 1.4.2 Inbound traffic from untrusted networks to trusted networks is restricted.			8
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 1.4.4 System components that store cardholder data are not directly accessible from untrusted networks.			3
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 7.3.1 An access control system(s) is in place that restricts access based on a user's need to know and covers all system components.			5
💼 UK Cyber Essentials → 💼 1.2 Prevent access to the administrative interface from the internet		35	37