February 12, 2025
Comprehensive Guide to Cloud Penetration Testing Tools for AWS, Azure, and GCP
Hossam Ahmed
Cloud penetration testing is a critical cybersecurity practice for securing cloud environments by identifying security misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and access control flaws before cyber attackers exploit them. Whether assessing AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), or other cloud platforms, having the right cloud pentesting tools is essential for a comprehensive security audit.
Below, we highlight some of the best cloud penetration testing tools, their key features, and real-world applications.
Pacu is an open-source AWS exploitation framework designed for simulating real-world attacks on AWS environments. It helps security professionals identify privilege escalation paths, misconfigurations, and insecure storage buckets.
✅ Enumeration of AWS services, IAM roles, and policies
✅ Privilege escalation testing for excessive permissions
✅ Persistence methods to analyze attacker footholds
✅ Exploitation modules for AWS misconfiguration detection
✅ Lightweight and modular, supporting attack-specific plugins
Used in red teaming engagements for AWS, helping testers simulate cyberattacks without disrupting production environments.
CloudBrute helps discover publicly exposed cloud assets, such as storage buckets, APIs, and web applications, by brute-forcing cloud resources.
✅ Supports AWS, Azure, and GCP
✅ Fast enumeration of cloud storage, APIs, and subdomains
✅ Helps detect publicly accessible cloud services
✅ Uses wordlists for subdomain and storage discovery
Commonly used in cloud reconnaissance to identify misconfigurations and potential attack entry points.
ScoutSuite is a multi-cloud security auditing tool that detects misconfigurations across AWS, Azure, and GCP to improve cloud security postures.
✅ Agentless scanning for non-intrusive cloud security assessment
✅ Generates detailed security reports
✅ Identifies excessive permissions and IAM access gaps
✅ Checks for publicly exposed cloud resources
Security teams use ScoutSuite for compliance auditing and cloud security risk assessments.
CloudSploit is an automated cloud security scanning tool that detects security misconfigurations in AWS, Azure, and GCP environments.
✅ Identifies security risks, including open S3 buckets and weak IAM policies
✅ Provides continuous cloud security monitoring
✅ Sends real-time security alerts
✅ Customizable scans for specific security concerns
Used for ongoing cloud security assessments to ensure compliance with CIS benchmarks, GDPR, and other security standards.
Prowler is an AWS security assessment tool that checks cloud environments against security frameworks like CIS benchmarks, GDPR, and HIPAA.
✅ Performs CIS compliance checks
✅ Conducts IAM security audits
✅ Customizable scans for in-depth AWS security reviews
✅ Supports automation with CI/CD pipelines
Enterprises use Prowler to validate AWS security compliance before external audits.
This tool allows security professionals to test AWS IAM policies, detecting privilege escalation risks and over-permissive access rights.
✅ Simulates IAM policy actions to assess security risks
✅ Identifies overly permissive IAM policies
✅ Detects privilege escalation paths within AWS
Used to assess IAM configurations and prevent privilege escalation attacks.
G-Scout is a Google Cloud security scanner designed to detect misconfigurations and permission issues in GCP environments.
✅ Automated security scanning for Google Cloud
✅ Analyzes IAM policies and access configurations
✅ Generates detailed cloud security assessment reports
Used to secure Google Cloud Platform environments and prevent unauthorized access.
AzureHound is an Azure security tool that maps Azure Active Directory (AD) relationships to identify privilege escalation paths and security weaknesses.
✅ Maps Azure AD relationships to detect attack paths
✅ Identifies privilege escalation risks
✅ Supports lateral movement analysis
Used by penetration testers to detect security gaps in Azure Active Directory environments.
S3Scanner is a specialized AWS penetration testing tool designed for discovering and enumerating misconfigured AWS S3 buckets that may be publicly accessible or vulnerable to exploitation.
✅ Fast enumeration of S3 buckets using common wordlists
✅ Checks for publicly accessible and open-write permissions
✅ Identifies misconfigured S3 buckets that could leak sensitive data
✅ Provides detailed output for further analysis
✅ Useful for bug bounty hunting and red team assessments
S3Scanner is commonly used in cloud security audits and penetration testing to identify publicly exposed AWS S3 buckets that might store sensitive corporate data, credentials, or personally identifiable information (PII).
ROADtools is a penetration testing framework designed for assessing Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) security. It allows security professionals to enumerate, analyze, and manipulate Azure AD objects to identify security weaknesses.
✅ Extracts and analyzes Azure AD data for security assessments
✅ Supports offline analysis of Azure AD objects and permissions
✅ Helps identify misconfigurations and excessive privileges
✅ Works with Azure AD authentication flows to test security controls
✅ Useful for red teaming and cloud security investigations
ROADtools is widely used for Azure Active Directory security audits to detect privilege escalation paths, misconfigurations, and potential attack vectors within cloud identity infrastructures.
Cloud penetration testing is the process of identifying vulnerabilities and security weaknesses in cloud environments using ethical hacking techniques.
It helps organizations detect misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and exposed assets before malicious hackers exploit them.
Yes! Tools like Prowler, ScoutSuite, and CloudSploit help ensure compliance with CIS, GDPR, and HIPAA security frameworks.
Pacu, Prowler, and CloudSploit are among the top choices for AWS cloud security assessments.
Use a combination of security tools, automated scanning, penetration testing, and continuous monitoring to protect your cloud environment.