Concept · 6 min read
Understanding Cloud Attack Paths
An attack path is a chain of conditions, not a single finding. Here is how to reason about entry points, pivots and targets in cloud environments.
A path is a hypothesis
An attack path describes a sequence of conditions that, if each one holds, would let an adversary move from an entry point to something that matters. It is a hypothesis to test, not a verdict.
Most cloud paths share a shape: something reachable from outside, a weakness that grants execution or credentials, an identity with more access than it needs, and a resource whose compromise has real impact.
Entry points
Start with what is actually reachable: public load balancers, API gateways, exposed management interfaces, storage with public policies, and third-party integrations that hold credentials.
Reachability is more specific than 'public'. A service may be internet-facing while the vulnerable route requires authentication. Recording that nuance is what separates a credible path from a noisy one.
Pivots
In cloud environments the most common pivot is identity. Code execution inside a workload usually means access to whatever role that workload assumes, so workload permissions define blast radius.
Network adjacency still matters — flat VPCs, permissive security groups and shared service meshes all widen the set of next hops.
Targets and prioritization
A path only deserves urgency if it ends somewhere meaningful: customer data, production secrets, deployment pipelines, or controls that would let an attacker persist.
Prioritize the edge that is cheapest to break. Removing a wildcard permission often eliminates more paths than patching any single vulnerability.
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