AWS SSO & Federated Access Audit Evidence
Clear, defensible evidence for federated identity and role-based access in AWS. Single Sign-On and federated access fundamentally change how authentication and authorization work—and are commonly under-audited.
Why Federated Access Is Missed in AWS Audits
Traditional audit approaches often assume:
- Users authenticate directly to AWS
- IAM users represent all access
- Permissions can be reviewed statically
These assumptions break down in modern AWS environments. In reality:
- Access is frequently federated from corporate identity providers
- Permissions are granted through assumed roles
- Trust relationships determine who can become who
Without tooling, auditors often miss federated access entirely—or misunderstand its impact.
What Auditors Must Be Able to Answer
A defensible federated access review must clearly show:
- Whether AWS SSO or external identity providers are in use
- Which users and groups can federate into AWS
- Which IAM roles can be assumed through federation
- What permissions those roles grant in practice
- Whether external identities or accounts have access
Blackbox Auditor is built to answer these questions directly.
Federated Access Audit Evidence Domains
AWS SSO and Identity Provider Detection
Blackbox Auditor identifies when federated access is in use.
- AWS SSO enabled or disabled
- External identity providers configured
- Federation mechanisms in use
- Indicators when additional audit procedures are required
Federated Users, Groups, and Role Mapping
Federated identities do not exist as IAM users. Blackbox Auditor maps:
- Federated users and groups from identity providers
- The IAM roles they are permitted to assume
- The permissions associated with those roles
Clear lineage from identity → role → effective permissions.
Role-Based Permissions and Effective Access
Permissions in federated models are entirely role-driven.
- Policies attached to federated roles
- Aggregated effective permissions
- Identification of administrative or high-risk roles
- Privilege overlap across roles
Clearly identify where elevated access exists.
Cross-Account and External Trust
Federation often extends beyond a single AWS account.
- Cross-account role trust relationships
- External AWS accounts trusted for access
- Roles assumable by external principals
- Clear visibility into lateral access paths
Prevents blind spots in multi-account environments.
What the Evidence Looks Like
Human-readable, auditor-friendly tables with timestamped and reproducible evidence outputs.
Evidence Table Coming Soon
We're preparing sanitized evidence output for this product. Request access to be notified when it's available, or schedule a demo to see live evidence today.
Evidence is designed to withstand peer review and inspection.
Who This Page Is For
- External auditors reviewing AWS SSO and federated identity
- Internal GRC teams validating access paths
- Security teams supporting audit evidence requests
Not Intended For
- Identity governance lifecycle management
- Continuous identity threat detection
- SSO provisioning workflows
Evaluate Federated Access the Way Auditors Do
See what defensible federated access evidence actually looks like.