The client then includes that token in a custom HTTP header for all subsequent GET requests.
: This is a special IP address known as the link-local address or more specifically in cloud computing, it's used for accessing instance metadata. This IP address is not routable and can only be accessed from within the instance. The client then includes that token in a
: The server receives the IAM credentials and displays them back to the attacker in the HTTP response. : The server receives the IAM credentials and
This is a link-local address used by AWS EC2 instances to access the Instance Metadata Service. It is only accessible from within the instance itself. The Path ( /latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ The client then includes that token in a
: Because the request originates from inside the cloud environment, the metadata service trusts it.
The URL http://169.254.169 is the specific path used to retrieve temporary security credentials (access keys, secret keys, and session tokens) for the IAM role assigned to an EC2 instance.
: First, an EC2 instance is launched with an IAM role attached. This IAM role defines the permissions the instance has to access AWS resources.