AWS IoT identity-based policy examples

By default, IAM users and roles don't have permission to create or modify AWS IoT resources. They also can't perform tasks using the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS API. An IAM administrator must create IAM policies that grant users and roles permission to perform specific API operations on the specified resources they need. The administrator must then attach those policies to the users or groups that require those permissions.

To learn how to create an IAM identity-based policy using these example JSON policy documents, see Creating Policies on the JSON Tab in the IAM User Guide.

Policy best practices

Identity-based policies determine whether someone can create, access, or delete AWS IoT resources in your account. These actions can incur costs for your AWS account. When you create or edit identity-based policies, follow these guidelines and recommendations:

• Get started with AWS managed policies and move toward least-privilege permissions – To get started granting permissions to your users and workloads, use the AWS managed policies that grant permissions for many common use cases. They are available in your AWS account. We recommend that you reduce permissions further by defining AWS customer managed policies that are specific to your use cases. For more information, see AWS managed policies or AWS managed policies for job functions in the IAM User Guide.

• Apply least-privilege permissions – When you set permissions with IAM policies, grant only the permissions required to perform a task. You do this by defining the actions that can be taken on specific resources under specific conditions, also known as least-privilege permissions. For more information about using IAM to apply permissions, see Policies and permissions in IAM in the IAM User Guide.

• Use conditions in IAM policies to further restrict access – You can add a condition to your policies to limit access to actions and resources. For example, you can write a policy condition to specify that all requests must be sent using SSL. You can also use conditions to grant access to service actions if they are used through a specific AWS service, such as AWS CloudFormation. For more information, see IAM JSON policy elements: Condition in the IAM User Guide.

• Use IAM Access Analyzer to validate your IAM policies to ensure secure and functional permissions – IAM Access Analyzer validates new and existing policies so that the policies adhere to the IAM policy language (JSON) and IAM best practices. IAM Access Analyzer provides more than 100 policy checks and actionable recommendations to help you author secure and functional policies. For more information, see IAM Access Analyzer policy validation in the IAM User Guide.

• Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) – If you have a scenario that requires IAM users or a root user in your AWS account, turn on MFA for additional security. To require MFA when API operations are called, add MFA conditions to your policies. For more information, see Configuring MFA-protected API access in the IAM User Guide.

For more information about best practices in IAM, see Security best practices in IAM in the IAM User Guide.

Using the AWS IoT console

To access the AWS IoT console, you must have a minimum set of permissions. These permissions must allow you to list and view details about the AWS IoT resources in your AWS account. If you create an identity-based policy that is more restrictive than the minimum required permissions, the console won't function as intended for entities (users or roles) with that policy.

To ensure that those entities can still use the AWS IoT console, also attach the following AWS managed policy to the entities: AWSIoTFullAccess. For more information, see Adding Permissions to a User in the IAM User Guide.

You don't need to allow minimum console permissions for users that are making calls only to the AWS CLI or the AWS API. Instead, allow access to only the actions that match the API operation that you're trying to perform.

Allow users to view their own permissions

This example shows how you might create a policy that allows IAM users to view the inline and managed policies that are attached to their user identity. This policy includes permissions to complete this action on the console or programmatically using the AWS CLI or AWS API.

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "ViewOwnUserInfo",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "iam:GetUserPolicy",
                "iam:ListGroupsForUser",
                "iam:ListAttachedUserPolicies",
                "iam:ListUserPolicies",
                "iam:GetUser"
            ],
            "Resource": ["arn:aws:iam::*:user/${aws:username}"]
        },
        {
            "Sid": "NavigateInConsole",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "iam:GetGroupPolicy",
                "iam:GetPolicyVersion",
                "iam:GetPolicy",
                "iam:ListAttachedGroupPolicies",
                "iam:ListGroupPolicies",
                "iam:ListPolicyVersions",
                "iam:ListPolicies",
                "iam:ListUsers"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

Viewing AWS IoT resources based on tags

You can use conditions in your identity-based policy to control access to AWS IoT resources based on tags. This example shows how you might create a policy that allows viewing a thing. However, permission is granted only if the thing tag Owner has the value of that user's user name. This policy also grants the permissions necessary to complete this action on the console.

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "ListBillingGroupsInConsole",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "iot:ListBillingGroups",
            "Resource": "*"
        },
        {
            "Sid": "ViewBillingGroupsIfOwner",
            "Effect": "Allow",
           "Action": "iot:DescribeBillingGroup",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:iot:*:*:billinggroup/*",
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {"aws:ResourceTag/Owner": "${aws:username}"}
            }
        }
    ]
}

You can attach this policy to the IAM users in your account. If a user named richard-roe attempts to view an AWS IoT billing group, the billing group must be tagged Owner=richard-roe or owner=richard-roe. Otherwise, he is denied access. The condition tag key Owner matches both Owner and owner because condition key names are not case-sensitive. For more information, see IAM JSON Policy Elements: Condition in the IAM User Guide.

Viewing AWS IoT Device Advisor resources based on tags

You can use conditions in your identity-based policy to control access to AWS IoT Device Advisor resources based on tags. The following example shows how you can create a policy that allows viewing a particular suite definition. However, permission is granted only if the suite definition tag has SuiteType set to the value of MQTT. This policy also grants the permissions necessary to complete this action on the console.

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "ViewSuiteDefinition",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "iotdeviceadvisor:GetSuiteDefinition",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:iotdeviceadvisor:*:*:suitedefinition/*",
            "Condition": {
                "StringEquals": {"aws:ResourceTag/SuiteType": "MQTT"}
            }
        }
    ]
}