Secure AWS Access from EKS — Best Practices for IAM and Workload Identity

Read full article here: https://blog.gitguardian.com/securely-access-aws-from-your-eks-cluster/?utm_source=nhimg.org

Accessing AWS resources from within Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is a common operational need for modern cloud applications. Workloads running in EKS often require permissions to interact with AWS services — such as uploading backups to S3, deploying workloads to EC2, or managing infrastructure pipelines. However, using long-term access keys remains one of the most critical security mistakes in DevSecOps today. This article provides a step-by-step guide to securely granting AWS access from EKS Pods without compromising credentials or increasing attack surfaces.

The article begins by revisiting traditional authentication methods with the AWS CLI, highlighting why access keys are obsolete and insecure in 2025. Instead, it recommends adopting short-term credentials issued through AWS IAM Identity Center, which provide time-limited tokens that align with Zero Trust principles. These temporary tokens significantly reduce the risk of credential exposure and limit the impact of potential compromises.

Next, the article explains how to set up an EKS cluster using eksctl, followed by a comprehensive overview of EKS Pod Identity — the modern and secure approach to workload authentication. Unlike manually managing OIDC providers and IAM trust relationships, EKS Pod Identity Associations automate role assignment and eliminate OIDC overhead, enabling organizations to manage identities and permissions seamlessly across multiple clusters.

Readers are guided through enabling the eks-pod-identity-agent addon, creating Pod Identity Associations, and assigning specific IAM permissions ,such as S3 read-only access, to Pods securely. Practical CLI and YAML examples illustrate how a Pod can automatically assume an IAM role and access AWS services without embedding secrets or managing IAM keys manually.

The article also examines a critical security dimension — the risks associated with ServiceAccounts. It demonstrates how a compromised Pod with admin-level permissions can expose the entire cluster by leaking tokens and certificates. Through a real-world simulation, readers learn how attackers could exploit such misconfigurations to gain full Kubernetes API access, emphasizing the importance of hardening cluster configurations.

To counter these risks, the guide concludes with a detailed section on Kubernetes security hardening best practices, including:

• Restricting shell binaries and kubectl exec access through RBAC.
• Reducing service account token lifespans and limiting EKS API endpoint exposure.
• Enforcing Pod Security Standards (PSS) using the “Restricted” profile.
• Enabling EKS audit logging and continuous monitoring.
• Integrating runtime detection tools like Falco for anomaly detection.

By combining EKS Pod Identity, short-lived credentials, and cluster hardening strategies, this article delivers a practical blueprint for securely connecting EKS workloads to AWS services in line with modern Zero Trust and least privilege principles.

This comprehensive guide is essential reading for DevOps, cloud security engineers, and platform teams seeking to eliminate secret sprawl, automate identity management, and enhance the overall security posture of Kubernetes deployments in AWS environments.