From Social Engineering to Lambda Hijack: Anatomy of a Modern Cloud Attack

At Infinity Playground, we’re back this week with a brand-new challenge that dives deep into a real world cloud attack scenario. As more businesses move to the cloud, attackers are seeing it as an easy target. One rising threat is when they use social engineering to trick people and then gain more access through cloud services. Instead of using complicated hacks, they rely on tools like AWS Lambda to go deeper. We'll explore how this type of attack unfolds in real world scenarios, based on actual cases and recent threat reports.

Your Mission: Think Like an Attacker

You're not just here to learn. You're here to exploit.

Let's run a hands-on lab where you act as an attacker. You'll simulate a real world security incident by combining social engineering with exploiting an AWS Lambda function, using up-to-date threat info and common breach methods.

Attack Flow Diagram

Phase 1: The Human is the Weakest Link

No matter how sophisticated your cloud architecture is, it only takes one mistake, usually human, for attackers to find a way in.

APT actors frequently start with social engineering campaigns:

• Fake update pop-ups
• Phishing emails targeting developers
• Malware-laced documentation or packages

Why it matters: 

Developers often have powerful API keys. If compromised, these keys can provide immediate access to critical cloud services.

Phase 2: IAM Enumeration and Role Chaining

Once inside, attackers use the stolen credentials to perform cloud reconnaissance.In AWS, this includes:

• Using Security Token Service(STS) to identify the current account
• Listing IAM roles and policies
• Critical resources to check for over-permissive bindings

Phase 3: Weaponizing AWS Lambda

Lambda is a serverless compute service designed for automation. But in the hands of attackers, it becomes a stealthy weapon.

What attackers do:

• Find a Lambda with powerful permissions
• Modify its code or trigger it remotely
• Use it to run commands via SSM(Systems Manager) on EC2 instances

Persistence and Post-Exploitation

After compromising an EC2 instance, attackers commonly use:

• Credential extraction
• Hijack temporary tokens
• API server interaction to extract sensitive data or lateral pivot

Mitigation Steps

1. Train Your Team Teach your team to spot phishing and turn on 2FA. For even stronger protection, consider using FIDO-based security that's resistant to phishing.

2. Limit Permissions Give only necessary access. Avoid wildcards (*) and review IAM roles regularly.

3. Secure Lambda & Secrets Only authorized people can update functions. Store sensitive information securely in AWS Secrets Manager instead of putting it directly in the code.

4. Monitor & Detect Utilize CloudTrail, GuardDuty, and AWS Config to identify and address anomalous behavior and configuration errors.

Want to Think Like an Attacker?

At Infinity Playground, we help you think like a real attacker. Our labs simulate real world APT techniques, letting you investigate and exploit misconfigurations just like a red teamer.

Hack. Defend. Dominate. Only on CyberWarFare Labs Infinity Playground.