Troubleshooting access denied error messages

Check if the error message includes the type of policy responsible for denying access. For example, if the error mentions that access is denied due to a Service Control Policy (SCP), then you can focus on troubleshooting SCP issues. When you know the policy type, you can also check for a deny statement or a missing allow on the specific action in policies of that policy type. If the error message doesn't mention the policy type responsible for denying access, use the rest of the guidelines in this section to troubleshoot further.

Verify that you have the identity-based policy permission to call the action and resource that you have requested. If any conditions are set, you must also meet those conditions when you send the request. For information about viewing or modifying policies for an IAM user, group, or role, see Managing IAM policies.

If the AWS Management Console returns a message stating that you're not authorized to perform an action, then you must contact your administrator for assistance. Your administrator provided you with your sign-in credentials or sign-in link.

The following example error occurs when the mateojackson IAM user attempts to use the console to view details about a fictional my-example-widget resource but does not have the fictional widgets:GetWidget permissions.

User: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/mateojackson is not authorized to perform: widgets:GetWidget on resource: my-example-widget

In this case, Mateo must ask his administrator to update his policies to allow access to the my-example-widget resource using the widgets:GetWidget action.

Are you trying to access a service that supports resource-based policies, such as Amazon S3, Amazon SNS, or Amazon SQS? If so, verify that the policy specifies you as a principal and grants you access. If you make a request to a service within your account, either your identity-based policies or the resource-based policies can grant you permission. If you make a request to a service in a different account, then both your identity-based policies and the resource-based policies must grant you permission. To view the services that support resource-based policies, see AWS services that work with IAM.

If your policy includes a condition with a key–value pair, review it carefully. Examples include the aws:RequestTag/tag-key global condition key, the AWS KMS kms:EncryptionContext:encryption_context_key, and the ResourceTag/tag-key condition key supported by multiple services. Make sure that the key name does not match multiple results. Because condition key names are not case sensitive, a condition that checks for a key named foo matches foo, Foo, or FOO. If your request includes multiple key–value pairs with key names that differ only by case, then your access might be unexpectedly denied. For more information, see IAM JSON policy elements: Condition.

If you have a permissions boundary, verify that the policy that is used for the permissions boundary allows your request. If your identity-based policies allow the request, but your permissions boundary does not, then the request is denied. A permissions boundary controls the maximum permissions that an IAM principal (user or role) can have. Resource-based policies are not limited by permissions boundaries. Permissions boundaries are not common. For more information about how AWS evaluates policies, see Policy evaluation logic.

If you are signing requests manually (without using the AWS SDKs), verify that you have correctly signed the request.

First, make sure that you are not denied access for a reason that is unrelated to your temporary credentials. For more information, see I get "access denied" when I make a request to an AWS service.

Verify that the service accepts temporary security credentials, see AWS services that work with IAM.

Verify that your requests are being signed correctly and that the request is well-formed. For details, see your toolkit documentation or Using temporary credentials with AWS resources.

Verify that your temporary security credentials haven't expired. For more information, see Temporary security credentials in IAM.

Verify that the IAM user or role has the correct permissions. Permissions for temporary security credentials are derived from an IAM user or role. As a result, the permissions are limited to those that are granted to the role whose temporary credentials you have assumed. For more information about how permissions for temporary security credentials are determined, see Controlling permissions for temporary security credentials.

If you assumed a role, your role session might be limited by session policies. When you request temporary security credentials programmatically using AWS STS, you can optionally pass inline or managed session policies. Session policies are advanced policies that you pass as a parameter when you programmatically create a temporary credential session for a role. You can pass a single JSON inline session policy document using the Policy parameter. You can use the PolicyArns parameter to specify up to 10 managed session policies. The resulting session's permissions are the intersection of the role's identity-based policies and the session policies. Alternatively, if your administrator or a custom program provides you with temporary credentials, they might have included a session policy to limit your access.

If you are a federated user, your session might be limited by session policies. You become a federated user by signing in to AWS as an IAM user and then requesting a federation token. For more information about federated users, see GetFederationToken—federation through a custom identity broker. If you or your identity broker passed session policies while requesting a federation token, then your session is limited by those policies. The resulting session's permissions are the intersection of your IAM user identity-based policies and the session policies. For more information about session policies, see Session policies.

If you are accessing a resource that has a resource-based policy by using a role, verify that the policy grants permissions to the role. For example, the following policy allows MyRole from account 111122223333 to access MyBucket.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [{
    "Sid": "S3BucketPolicy",
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Principal": {"AWS": ["arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/MyRole"]},
    "Action": ["s3:PutObject"],
    "Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::MyBucket/*"]
  }]
}