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Cloud Vulnerability Assessment Explained: Tools, Risks and Remediation

As businesses continue shifting to AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, the need for structured cloud security checks has never been stronger. Cloud setups grow fast, and so do the chances of misconfigurations, exposed storage and weak identity permissions.

This is where a Cloud Vulnerability Assessment plays an important role. It gives you a clear picture of the weaknesses in your cloud environment before attackers can take advantage of them.

Let’s break down how it works, the tools involved and real examples of issues you might find.

What Is a Cloud Vulnerability Assessment?

A cloud vulnerability assessment is a detailed review of your cloud environment that identifies security gaps, misconfigurations and risky permissions.

Unlike a traditional vulnerability scan, this assessment focuses heavily on:

  • Cloud service configurations
  • Identity and access management
  • Network controls
  • Storage access
  • Logging and monitoring gaps
  • Managed services and cloud-native workloads

What it helps you understand:

  • Which cloud services are exposed
  • Where permissions are too broad
  • If data is stored securely
  • Whether encryption and logging are enabled
  • If any resources can be accessed publicly
  • How attackers could move inside your cloud environment

This assessment gives your team a solid starting point to fix issues and strengthen cloud security.

Tools Used in Cloud Vulnerability Assessments

Security teams use a mix of native cloud tools, scanning platforms and custom scripts to detect issues.

Here are the most common ones:

1. Cloud-Native Tools

AWS:

  • AWS Security Hub
  • IAM Access Analyzer
  • Trusted Advisor
  • Inspector
  • GuardDuty

Azure:

  • Azure Security Center (Defender for Cloud)
  • Azure Advisor
  • Azure Policy

GCP:

  • Security Command Center
  • IAM Recommender
  • Cloud Asset Inventory

2. Third-Party Tools

  • Prisma Cloud
  • Wiz
  • Orca Security
  • Tenable Cloud Security
  • Qualys CloudView

3. Open-Source Tools

  • ScoutSuite
  • Prowler
  • CloudSploit
  • kube-bench / kube-hunter (for Kubernetes)

Scanning for Misconfigurations, IAM Risks and Storage Exposure

A large portion of cloud security issues comes from simple missteps in configuration. A cloud vulnerability assessment covers all major areas where mistakes commonly occur.

1. Misconfigurations

Misconfigurations are the leading cause of cloud breaches. Common examples include:

  • Open security groups
  • Publicly exposed resources
  • Disabled encryption
  • Inactive or missing logging
  • Weak firewall or VPC rules

Example:
A database instance accidentally open to the internet on port 3306.

Impact:
Anyone can attempt to access it.

Fix:
Restrict access to internal IPs or a specific set of trusted networks.

2. IAM Risks

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is one of the most sensitive parts of cloud security.

Common IAM weaknesses include:

  • Users with admin privileges
  • Service accounts with excessive permissions
  • Long-lived access keys
  • No MFA on critical accounts
  • Wildcard permissions like "iam:*" or "s3:*"

Example:
A developer role with full S3 access when it only needs read access to one bucket.

Impact:
If the role is compromised, all buckets are at risk.

Fix:
Apply least privilege and restrict actions to required resources only.

3. Storage Exposure

Cloud storage buckets are often misconfigured and accidentally made public.

Common mistakes include:

  • Public S3 buckets
  • Unsecured Azure Blob containers
  • GCP buckets without IAM restrictions
  • Sensitive data stored without encryption
  • Missing access logs

Example:
An S3 bucket containing customer documents is readable by “Everyone.”

Impact:
Leads to data leakage.

Fix:
Block public access and apply bucket-level access policies.

Sample Findings With Remediation Steps

Below are real-world cloud findings your assessment might detect, along with the practical steps to fix them.

Finding 1: Public S3 Bucket Detected

Risk:
Anyone can access or download stored files.

Fix:

  • Enable “Block Public Access”
  • Review bucket policy
  • Add IAM roles for controlled access
  • Enable server-side encryption (SSE-S3 or KMS)

Finding 2: Overly Permissive IAM Policy (“:”)

Risk:
Allows full control of multiple services beyond requirement.

Fix:

  • Rewrite policy based on least privilege
  • Restrict actions to specific services
  • Add resource-level constraints
  • Enable MFA for elevated roles

Finding 3: Database Exposed to the Internet

Risk:
Attackers can attempt brute-force or exploit vulnerabilities.

Fix:

  • Limit inbound traffic to VPC or internal subnets
  • Use security groups
  • Rotate database credentials
  • Enable encryption and logs

Finding 4: Logging Not Enabled for CloudTrail / Azure Monitor / GCP Logging

Risk:
You lose visibility of user actions and API calls.

Fix:

  • Enable logging for all regions
  • Store logs in a dedicated bucket
  • Enable retention and monitoring alerts

Finding 5: Serverless Function With Broad Role Permissions

Risk:
A compromised function leads to privilege escalation.

Fix:

  • Limit function role access
  • Restrict triggers
  • Add timeouts and error logging
  • Scan deployed code for secrets

Start With a Baseline Risk Review

A cloud vulnerability assessment is the quickest way to understand your current security posture. It gives you a clear map of existing risks and a practical plan to fix them.

A baseline review helps you:

  • Detect misconfigurations early
  • Strengthen IAM and identity controls
  • Protect sensitive data stored in the cloud
  • Improve compliance readiness
  • Reduce exposure across multi-cloud setups

If your business depends on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, this assessment is the first step toward building a stronger security foundation.