Request-url-http-3a-2f-2f169.254.169.254-2flatest-2fmeta Data-2fiam-2fsecurity Credentials-2f May 2026

Stealing IAM Credentials from the Instance Metadata Service * To determine if the EC2 instance has an IAM role associated with it, Hacking The Cloud

The requested URL is a critical endpoint within the used by EC2 instances to retrieve temporary security credentials. The presence of this specific string—often seen in logs or security alerts—frequently indicates an attempt to exploit a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability. What is this Endpoint? Stealing IAM Credentials from the Instance Metadata Service

: The attacker aims to steal the temporary credentials, which can then be used from outside the AWS environment to gain unauthorized access to your cloud resources, such as S3 buckets or other EC2 instances. IMDS Versioning : : The attacker aims to steal the temporary

: By appending the role name to the URL (e.g., .../security-credentials/MyRoleName ), a user can retrieve an Access Key , Secret Key , and Session Token to perform actions authorized by that role. Security Implications & SSRF Steal EC2 Metadata Credentials via SSRF - Hacking The Cloud

: Protects against SSRF by requiring a session token obtained via a PUT request, which standard SSRF vulnerabilities typically cannot perform. Steal EC2 Metadata Credentials via SSRF - Hacking The Cloud