Review KICS IaC Findings

Expert analysis workflow for triaging KICS Infrastructure as Code scan results. Critical distinction: IaC findings are reconnaissance, not vulnerabilities. The code describes intended infrastructure - you must verify actual deployment.

Project Structure

All paths are relative to the project root (working directory):

threat_hunting/                    # Project root (working directory)
├── <org-name>/                    # Cloned repositories (e.g., jitsi/, tronprotocol/)
│   └── <repo-name>/               # Individual repository source code
├── findings/<org-name>/           # All scan results for an organization
│   ├── semgrep-results/
│   ├── trufflehog-results/
│   ├── artifact-results/
│   ├── kics-results/              # KICS JSON output files
│   │   └── <repo-name>.json
│   └── reports/                   # Final consolidated reports
└── scripts/                       # ALL extraction and scanning scripts

Repository source code location: <org-name>/<repo-name>/ (e.g., jitsi/infra-provisioning/terraform/...) Scan results location: findings/<org-name>/kics-results/<repo-name>.json

CRITICAL: Do NOT Write Custom Scripts

All extraction scripts already exist in ./scripts/. Never write custom jq, Python, or shell scripts to parse findings. The existing scripts handle:

• Complex JSON/NDJSON parsing
• Large file handling
• Edge cases and error handling
• Consistent output formatting

Available extraction scripts:

• ./scripts/extract-semgrep-findings.sh - Parse semgrep results
• ./scripts/extract-trufflehog-findings.sh - Parse trufflehog results
• ./scripts/extract-artifact-findings.sh - Parse artifact results
• ./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh - Parse KICS results

If you need functionality not provided by existing scripts, ask the user to update the scripts rather than writing one-off solutions.

The IaC Reality Check

IaC Finding (code)  →  Resource Identifier  →  Auto-Verify  →  Reportable Finding
     ↑                       ↑                      ↑
   KICS scan           Extraction           Safe GET requests

CRITICAL: Always Use the Extraction Script First

MANDATORY: Before doing ANY manual analysis, run the extraction script:

./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name>

Then extract resource identifiers:

./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> resources

Quick Reference

# Extract from findings/ directory (per-repo files)
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name>                  # All repos, summary
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> resources        # Resource identifiers
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> count            # Counts only

# Extract from catalog scans (merged gzipped files)
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> --catalog         # Latest scan
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> --scan 2025-12-24 # Specific scan

Data Sources:

• findings/<org>/kics-results/*.json - Per-repo results (uncompressed)
• catalog/tracked/<org>/scans/<timestamp>/kics.json.gz - Merged scan (gzipped)

Workflow

Step 1: Extract Findings and Verify Counts

# Step 1a: Get counts to verify total findings
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> count

# Step 1b: Get summary of all findings
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name>

# Or from catalog scans
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> --catalog

# Step 1c: Extract resource identifiers for verification
./scripts/extract-kics-findings.sh <org-name> resources

CRITICAL COUNT VERIFICATION: The summary output shows "Total: N findings" at the bottom. This MUST match the sum of all counts from step 1a (summing the 'total' column). If they don't match, the extraction may be truncating results - investigate before proceeding.

Note: Findings are sorted by severity (HIGH first, then MEDIUM, then LOW). All HIGH severity findings appear at the top of the output for immediate attention.

Step 2: Read IaC Files to Extract Resource Names

For each HIGH/MEDIUM finding, read the IaC file to extract actual resource identifiers:

Terraform - Look for:

• bucket = "actual-bucket-name"
• name = "resource-name"
• Hardcoded values (not var. or local. references)

Kubernetes - Look for:

• metadata.name
• Service type: LoadBalancer or NodePort
• Ingress hostnames

CloudFormation - Look for:

• BucketName:
• Resource logical names and properties

Step 3: Automatic Safe Verification

YOU MUST AUTOMATICALLY RUN THESE VERIFICATIONS for any discovered resource identifiers. All commands below are safe, read-only operations.

S3 Buckets (Safe - Anonymous HEAD/LIST)

For each S3 bucket name found:

# Check if bucket exists and is public (HEAD request)
curl -s -I "https://BUCKET_NAME.s3.amazonaws.com/" | head -20

# Check bucket region
curl -s -I "https://BUCKET_NAME.s3.amazonaws.com/" 2>&1 | grep -i "x-amz-bucket-region"

# Try anonymous listing (read-only)
curl -s "https://BUCKET_NAME.s3.amazonaws.com/?max-keys=5"

Interpreting results:

• HTTP 200 + XML listing = PUBLIC BUCKET (reportable!)
• HTTP 403 AccessDenied = Bucket exists but not public
• HTTP 404 NoSuchBucket = Bucket doesn't exist
• HTTP 301 = Bucket exists, different region

GCS Buckets (Safe - Anonymous GET)

# Check if bucket is public
curl -s "https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME?maxResults=5"

Azure Blob Storage (Safe - Anonymous GET)

# Check if container is public (format: account.blob.core.windows.net/container)
curl -s "https://ACCOUNT.blob.core.windows.net/CONTAINER?restype=container&comp=list&maxresults=5"

Web Endpoints / APIs (Safe - GET only)

For discovered hostnames, endpoints, or IPs:

# Check if endpoint responds (GET request only)
curl -s -I -m 10 "https://HOSTNAME/" | head -10

# Check HTTP (if HTTPS fails)
curl -s -I -m 10 "http://HOSTNAME/" | head -10

DNS Verification (Safe - Lookup only)

# Check if hostname resolves
dig +short HOSTNAME

# Check for internal hostnames that might resolve externally
dig +short internal.company.local

Kubernetes API (Safe - Unauthenticated probe only)

If you find a potential K8s API endpoint:

# Check if API is exposed (GET only)
curl -s -k -m 10 "https://HOSTNAME:6443/version"
curl -s -k -m 10 "https://HOSTNAME:443/version"

DO NOT run kubectl commands or attempt authentication.

Step 4: Triage Findings

Automatically Verify These (HIGH Priority)

Finding Type	Extract	Verify With
S3 Public ACL	Bucket name from bucket =	curl -s https://BUCKET.s3.amazonaws.com/
GCS Public	Bucket name	curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET
Azure Public Blob	Account + container	curl -s https://ACCOUNT.blob.core.windows.net/CONTAINER?comp=list
Exposed Service	Hostname/IP + port	curl -s -I https://HOST:PORT/
K8s API Exposed	Endpoint	curl -s -k https://HOST:6443/version

Skip These (Not Verifiable via Safe Methods)

• IAM policy issues (requires authenticated access)
• Encryption-at-rest issues (requires data access)
• Internal network configurations
• Container privilege issues (requires runtime access)

Step 5: Document Results

For each verification, record:

Resource: s3://company-backup-bucket
Source: terraform/storage.tf:23
Verification: curl -s "https://company-backup-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/?max-keys=5"
Result: [PASTE OUTPUT]
Status: PUBLIC / PRIVATE / NOT_FOUND

Step 6: Report Confirmed Findings

Only report findings you verified with actual evidence.

## VERIFIED - Public S3 Bucket

**Repository**: org/repo-name
**IaC File**: terraform/storage.tf:45
**Bucket Name**: company-data-bucket

**IaC Code**:
```hcl
resource "aws_s3_bucket" "data" {
  bucket = "company-data-bucket"
  acl    = "public-read"
}

Verification Command:

curl -s "https://company-data-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/?max-keys=10"

Verification Output:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ListBucketResult>
  <Name>company-data-bucket</Name>
  <Contents>
    <Key>backup-2024-01.sql</Key>
    <Size>1234567</Size>
  </Contents>
  ...
</ListBucketResult>

Impact: Bucket is publicly listable and contains database backups

Recommendation:

1. Remove public ACL immediately
2. Review bucket contents for sensitive data exposure
3. Enable bucket policy to restrict access

## Safe Verification Commands Reference

### ALWAYS SAFE (Run automatically)

| Resource Type | Command | What It Does |
|---------------|---------|--------------|
| S3 Bucket | `curl -s -I https://BUCKET.s3.amazonaws.com/` | HEAD request, checks existence |
| S3 Bucket | `curl -s https://BUCKET.s3.amazonaws.com/?max-keys=5` | Anonymous list (5 items max) |
| GCS Bucket | `curl -s https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET?maxResults=5` | Anonymous list |
| Azure Blob | `curl -s https://ACCT.blob.core.windows.net/CONTAINER?comp=list&maxresults=5` | Anonymous list |
| Web Endpoint | `curl -s -I -m 10 https://HOST/` | HEAD request with timeout |
| DNS | `dig +short HOSTNAME` | DNS lookup only |
| K8s API | `curl -s -k -m 10 https://HOST:6443/version` | Version check (no auth) |

### NEVER RUN (Potentially harmful)

- `aws s3 cp` or `aws s3 sync` - Downloads files
- `nmap` - Active port scanning (may trigger alerts)
- `kubectl` with any write operations
- `docker` commands against remote hosts
- Any POST/PUT/DELETE requests
- Brute force or enumeration scripts
- Anything requiring or attempting authentication

## False Positive Indicators

**Skip verification for:**
- Resources in `test/`, `examples/`, `samples/` directories
- Parameterized values (`var.bucket_name`, `${var.name}`)
- Obviously fake names (`example-bucket`, `my-test-bucket`)
- Template files (`.example`, `.template`)

**Always verify:**
- Hardcoded bucket/resource names
- Production directories (`prod/`, `production/`)
- CI/CD configurations
- Helm values.yaml with real-looking values

## Output Summary Format

After verification, provide a summary:

KICS Review Summary:

Verified Exposures (Reportable)

1. PUBLIC S3: company-backup-bucket (terraform/storage.tf:23)
   • Contains: database backups, config files
   • Evidence: [curl output showing listing]

Verified Private (Not Reportable)

1. s3://company-internal - Returns 403 AccessDenied
2. s3://company-logs - Returns 403 AccessDenied

Not Found (IaC May Be Stale)

1. s3://old-bucket-name - Returns 404 NoSuchBucket

Could Not Verify (No Resource Identifier)

1. terraform/network.tf:45 - Security group rule, no target IP to test

Skipped (Test/Example Code)

1. examples/demo-bucket - In examples/ directory

## Guidelines

- **Automatically verify** all discovered resource identifiers using safe commands
- **Only report** findings with verified evidence
- **Document everything** - show the command and its output
- **Be conservative** - if curl returns 403, it's working as intended
- **Check context** - same bucket name in test/ vs prod/ means different things
- IaC code ≠ deployed infrastructure - verification is mandatory