Pacu for AWS IAM Enumeration (Hands-On Practice in Cybr Lab + Hack Smarter Labs)

Cloud security gets real the moment you stop reading about IAM and start testing what credentials can actually see and do.

Recently, I’ve been using Pacu, an open-source AWS exploitation framework (often compared to “Metasploit for AWS”) to practice AWS IAM enumeration and understand how misconfigurations can lead to real security risks.

Pacu is especially useful in post-credential scenarios: once any AWS keys/role creds exist, it helps identify what can be enumerated, what’s restricted, and what paths could lead to escalation.

What I used Pacu for

• Enumerating IAM users, roles, and groups
• Reviewing role trust policies (who can assume what, and under which conditions)
• Validating effective permissions for an IAM identity
• Seeing exactly where AWS blocks enumeration due to missing permissions (useful for attacker- and defender-mindset learning)

What I did in Cybr Lab (AWS enumeration practice)

Using Pacu’s IAM enumeration module:

Ran: iam__enum_users_roles_policies_groups
Found 4 users
Found 21 roles
Found 2 groups
0 policies enumerated

Module reported: FAILURE: MISSING NEEDED PERMISSIONS (policy enumeration was blocked)

Then I ran permission confirmation:

Ran: iam__enum_permissions
Confirmed 20 permissions for user: introduction-to-aws-iam-enumeration-...-Joel

This was a great example of what real AWS enumeration looks like: you often get partial visibility, and the gaps tell you a lot about the permission model and how the environment is secured (or where it’s misconfigured).

Why this matters

Tools like Pacu help connect the dots between:

• IAM design choices (policies, groups, roles, trust relationships)
• Real-world outcomes (what a compromised identity can enumerate or assume)
• Security posture validation (least privilege, segmentation, and role trust hardening)

All of these exercises were completed through Hack Smarter Labs, and the hands-on structure made it easy to practice realistic IAM enumeration workflows end-to-end.

Shout-out to Tyler Ramsbey (founder of HackSmarter and creator of the labs) for building training that’s practical and grounded in real cloud security scenarios.

If you’re learning AWS security, IAM hardening, or cloud threat modeling, hands-on enumeration labs like this are one of the fastest ways to turn theory into real skill.