S3 BucketPolicy Self-Lockout

What this rule checks

Detects AWS::S3::BucketPolicy resources containing a Deny statement on s3:DeleteBucket, s3:*, or * with a broad Principal and no NotPrincipal or aws:PrincipalArn carveout for the account root or admin role. Such a policy locks the account out of its own bucket — recovery requires breaking glass on the account root credentials, since AWS Support typically declines to intervene where customers have a self-service path via root.

How to fix it

1. 1Add a NotPrincipal exemption for the account root (arn:aws:iam::<account>:root) or admin role(s)
2. 2Or use a Condition with StringNotEquals on aws:PrincipalArn to exempt admin role ARNs
3. 3If the Deny is intended for transport security, scope it with aws:SecureTransport rather than a blanket Deny on Principal: '*'

import { aws_s3 as s3, aws_iam as iam } from 'aws-cdk-lib';

const bucket = new s3.Bucket(this, 'Bucket');
bucket.addToResourcePolicy(new iam.PolicyStatement({
  sid: 'DenyAll',
  effect: iam.Effect.DENY,
  principals: [new iam.AnyPrincipal()],
  actions: ['s3:DeleteBucket', 's3:PutBucketPolicy'],
  resources: [bucket.bucketArn],
}));

import { aws_s3 as s3, aws_iam as iam } from 'aws-cdk-lib';

const bucket = new s3.Bucket(this, 'Bucket');
bucket.addToResourcePolicy(new iam.PolicyStatement({
  sid: 'DenyAll',
  effect: iam.Effect.DENY,
  notPrincipals: [new iam.AccountRootPrincipal()],
  actions: ['s3:DeleteBucket', 's3:PutBucketPolicy'],
  resources: [bucket.bucketArn],
}));

CDK Insights pinpoints the exact file and line in your CDK source for every finding, so you can jump straight to the fix.

Affected resource types

Intentional? Suppress this finding

Sometimes a flag is deliberate — a genuinely public endpoint, say. You can dismiss s3-bucket-policy-self-lockout and the reason is kept in the report, not silently hidden.

In .cdk-insights.json:

{
  "ignoreRules": [
    { "id": "s3-bucket-policy-self-lockout", "reason": "Why this is intentional" }
  ]
}

Or inline in your CDK code:

Validations.of(scope).acknowledge({
  id: 'cdk-insights::s3-bucket-policy-self-lockout',
  reason: 'Why this is intentional',
});

Use the rule ID s3-bucket-policy-self-lockout shown above — not the CDK-* ID from SARIF / GitHub code scanning. To dismiss every finding on one construct instead, use ignorePaths. Suppression docs →

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