implementing-aws-config-rules-for-compliance

What this skill does

# Implementing AWS Config Rules for Compliance

## When to Use

- When establishing continuous compliance monitoring for AWS resources against regulatory standards
- When implementing automated detection and remediation of configuration drift
- When building a compliance dashboard across multiple AWS accounts using AWS Organizations
- When audit teams require evidence of continuous compliance rather than point-in-time assessments
- When deploying guardrails that detect non-compliant resources within minutes of creation

**Do not use** for real-time threat detection (use GuardDuty), for application vulnerability scanning (use Inspector), or for one-time compliance assessments (use Prowler for faster ad-hoc audits).

## Prerequisites

- AWS Config recording enabled in all target accounts and regions
- IAM role with `config:*`, `ssm:*`, and `lambda:*` permissions for rule management
- AWS Organizations with delegated administrator for Config aggregation
- S3 bucket for Config delivery channel and SNS topic for notifications
- CloudFormation StackSets or Terraform for multi-account rule deployment

## Workflow

### Step 1: Enable AWS Config Recording

Set up the Config recorder and delivery channel in each target account.

```bash
# Create S3 bucket for Config data
aws s3api create-bucket \
  --bucket config-compliance-data-ACCOUNT_ID \
  --region us-east-1

# Create Config service role
aws iam create-service-linked-role --aws-service-name config.amazonaws.com

# Start the Config recorder
aws configservice put-configuration-recorder \
  --configuration-recorder name=default,roleARN=arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT:role/aws-service-role/config.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForConfig \
  --recording-group allSupported=true,includeGlobalResourceTypes=true

# Set up delivery channel
aws configservice put-delivery-channel \
  --delivery-channel '{
    "name": "default",
    "s3BucketName": "config-compliance-data-ACCOUNT_ID",
    "snsTopicARN": "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:ACCOUNT:config-notifications",
    "configSnapshotDeliveryProperties": {"deliveryFrequency": "TwentyFour_Hours"}
  }'

# Start recording
aws configservice start-configuration-recorder --configuration-recorder-name default
```

### Step 2: Deploy Managed Config Rules for CIS Compliance

Enable AWS-managed Config rules that map to CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark controls.

```bash
# S3 bucket security rules
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "s3-bucket-public-read-prohibited",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "S3_BUCKET_PUBLIC_READ_PROHIBITED"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "S3_BUCKET_SERVER_SIDE_ENCRYPTION_ENABLED"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "s3-bucket-ssl-requests-only",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "S3_BUCKET_SSL_REQUESTS_ONLY"}
}'

# IAM security rules
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "iam-root-access-key-check",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "IAM_ROOT_ACCESS_KEY_CHECK"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "mfa-enabled-for-iam-console-access",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "MFA_ENABLED_FOR_IAM_CONSOLE_ACCESS"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "iam-password-policy",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "IAM_PASSWORD_POLICY"},
  "InputParameters": "{\"RequireUppercaseCharacters\":\"true\",\"RequireLowercaseCharacters\":\"true\",\"RequireSymbols\":\"true\",\"RequireNumbers\":\"true\",\"MinimumPasswordLength\":\"14\"}"
}'

# Network security rules
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "restricted-ssh",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "INCOMING_SSH_DISABLED"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "vpc-flow-logs-enabled",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "VPC_FLOW_LOGS_ENABLED"}
}'

# Encryption rules
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "rds-storage-encrypted",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "RDS_STORAGE_ENCRYPTED"}
}'

aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "encrypted-volumes",
  "Source": {"Owner": "AWS", "SourceIdentifier": "ENCRYPTED_VOLUMES"}
}'
```

### Step 3: Create Custom Config Rules with Lambda

Build custom rules for organization-specific compliance requirements.

```python
# custom_config_rule.py - Ensure EC2 instances have required tags
import json
import boto3

config = boto3.client('config')

REQUIRED_TAGS = ['Environment', 'Owner', 'CostCenter', 'Project']

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    invoking_event = json.loads(event['invokingEvent'])
    configuration_item = invoking_event.get('configurationItem', {})

    if configuration_item['resourceType'] != 'AWS::EC2::Instance':
        return

    tags = {t['key']: t['value'] for t in configuration_item.get('tags', [])}
    missing_tags = [tag for tag in REQUIRED_TAGS if tag not in tags]

    if missing_tags:
        compliance = 'NON_COMPLIANT'
        annotation = f"Missing required tags: {', '.join(missing_tags)}"
    else:
        compliance = 'COMPLIANT'
        annotation = 'All required tags present'

    config.put_evaluations(
        Evaluations=[{
            'ComplianceResourceType': configuration_item['resourceType'],
            'ComplianceResourceId': configuration_item['resourceId'],
            'ComplianceType': compliance,
            'Annotation': annotation,
            'OrderingTimestamp': configuration_item['configurationItemCaptureTime']
        }],
        ResultToken=event['resultToken']
    )
```

```bash
# Deploy the custom rule
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "ec2-required-tags",
  "Source": {
    "Owner": "CUSTOM_LAMBDA",
    "SourceIdentifier": "arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:ACCOUNT:function:config-required-tags",
    "SourceDetails": [{
      "EventSource": "aws.config",
      "MessageType": "ConfigurationItemChangeNotification"
    }]
  },
  "Scope": {"ComplianceResourceTypes": ["AWS::EC2::Instance"]}
}'
```

### Step 4: Configure Automatic Remediation

Set up SSM Automation documents for automatic remediation of non-compliant resources.

```bash
# Auto-remediate public S3 buckets
aws configservice put-remediation-configurations --remediation-configurations '[{
  "ConfigRuleName": "s3-bucket-public-read-prohibited",
  "TargetType": "SSM_DOCUMENT",
  "TargetId": "AWS-DisableS3BucketPublicReadWrite",
  "Parameters": {
    "S3BucketName": {"ResourceValue": {"Value": "RESOURCE_ID"}},
    "AutomationAssumeRole": {"StaticValue": {"Values": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT:role/ConfigRemediationRole"]}}
  },
  "Automatic": true,
  "MaximumAutomaticAttempts": 3,
  "RetryAttemptSeconds": 60
}]'

# Auto-remediate unencrypted EBS volumes
aws configservice put-remediation-configurations --remediation-configurations '[{
  "ConfigRuleName": "encrypted-volumes",
  "TargetType": "SSM_DOCUMENT",
  "TargetId": "AWS-EnableEBSEncryptionByDefault",
  "Parameters": {
    "AutomationAssumeRole": {"StaticValue": {"Values": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT:role/ConfigRemediationRole"]}}
  },
  "Automatic": true,
  "MaximumAutomaticAttempts": 1,
  "RetryAttemptSeconds": 300
}]'

# Auto-remediate security groups allowing SSH from 0.0.0.0/0
aws configservice put-remediation-configurations --remediation-configurations '[{
  "ConfigRuleName": "restricted-ssh",
  "TargetType": "SSM_DOCUMENT",
  "TargetId": "AWS-DisablePublicAccessForSecurityGroup",
  "Parameters": {
    "GroupId": {"ResourceValue": {"Value": "RESOURCE_ID"}},
    "AutomationAssumeRole": {"StaticValue": {"Values": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT:role/ConfigRemediationRole"]}}
  },
  "Automatic": true,
  "MaximumAutomaticAttempts": 3,
  "RetryAttemptSeconds": 60
}]'
``