S3 Bucket Recon: Finding Exposed AWS Buckets Like a Pro!

A Step-by-Step Guide to Identifying and Exploiting Misconfigured AWS Buckets

Introduction

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is one of the most widely used cloud storage solutions, but misconfigurations can lead to serious security vulnerabilities. In this guide we’ll explore how to audit S3 environments, uncover exposed buckets, analyze permissions and mitigate security risks. Using AWS tools and open-source scanners you’ll learn to identify vulnerabilities before they become threats.

What is S3 Bucket Reconnaissance?

S3 bucket reconnaissance refers to the process of identifying and investigating publicly accessible or misconfigured AWS S3 buckets that may expose sensitive data. Developer or Security professional can use these techniques to help organizations to secure their cloud storage.

Table of Contents

1. Understanding AWS S3 Buckets
2. Manual Methods for Identifying S3 Buckets 
3. Google Dorking for AWS S3 Buckets
4. Automating Google Dorking with DorkEye
5. Using S3Misconfig tool for Fast Bucket Enumeration
6. Finding S3 Buckets with HTTPX and Nuclei
7. Extracting S3 URLs from JavaScript Files
8. Using java2s3 tool to…