securing-serverless-functions

---
name: securing-serverless-functions
description: Hardens serverless compute platforms (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google
license: Apache-2.0
---

# Securing Serverless Functions

## When to Use

- When deploying Lambda functions or Azure Functions with access to sensitive data or cloud APIs
- When auditing existing serverless workloads for overly permissive IAM roles
- When integrating serverless functions into a DevSecOps pipeline with automated security scanning
- When hardcoded secrets or vulnerable dependencies are discovered in function code
- When establishing runtime monitoring for serverless workloads to detect injection or credential theft

**Do not use** for container-based compute security (see securing-kubernetes-on-cloud), for API Gateway configuration (see implementing-cloud-waf-rules), or for serverless architecture design decisions.

## Prerequisites

- AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, or GCP Cloud Functions with deployment access
- CI/CD pipeline with dependency scanning tools (npm audit, Snyk, Dependabot)
- AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or HashiCorp Vault for secrets management
- CloudWatch, Application Insights, or Cloud Logging for function monitoring

## Workflow

### Step 1: Enforce Least Privilege IAM Roles

Assign each Lambda function a dedicated IAM role with permissions scoped to only the specific resources it accesses. Never share IAM roles across functions.

```bash
# Create a least-privilege role for a specific Lambda function
aws iam create-role \
  --role-name order-processor-lambda-role \
  --assume-role-policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "lambda.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }]
  }'

# Attach a scoped policy (not AmazonDynamoDBFullAccess)
aws iam put-role-policy \
  --role-name order-processor-lambda-role \
  --policy-name order-processor-policy \
  --policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
      {
        "Effect": "Allow",
        "Action": ["dynamodb:PutItem", "dynamodb:GetItem"],
        "Resource": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789012:table/Orders"
      },
      {
        "Effect": "Allow",
        "Action": ["logs:CreateLogGroup", "logs:CreateLogStream", "logs:PutLogEvents"],
        "Resource": "arn:aws:logs:us-east-1:123456789012:log-group:/aws/lambda/order-processor:*"
      },
      {
        "Effect": "Allow",
        "Action": ["secretsmanager:GetSecretValue"],
        "Resource": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-east-1:123456789012:secret:order-api-key-*"
      }
    ]
  }'
```

### Step 2: Eliminate Hardcoded Secrets

Replace plaintext credentials in environment variables with references to secrets management services. Use Lambda extensions or SDK calls to retrieve secrets at runtime.

```python
# INSECURE: Hardcoded credentials in environment variable
# DB_PASSWORD = os.environ['DB_PASSWORD']  # Stored as plaintext in Lambda config

# SECURE: Retrieve from AWS Secrets Manager with caching
import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
import json

_secret_cache = {}

def get_secret(secret_name):
    if secret_name in _secret_cache:
        return _secret_cache[secret_name]

    client = boto3.client('secretsmanager')
    response = client.get_secret_value(SecretId=secret_name)
    secret = json.loads(response['SecretString'])
    _secret_cache[secret_name] = secret
    return secret

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    db_creds = get_secret('production/database/credentials')
    db_host = db_creds['host']
    db_password = db_creds['password']
    # Use credentials securely
```

```bash
# Enable encryption at rest for Lambda environment variables
aws lambda update-function-configuration \
  --function-name order-processor \
  --kms-key-arn arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/key-id
```

### Step 3: Scan Dependencies for Vulnerabilities

Integrate automated dependency scanning into the CI/CD pipeline to catch vulnerable packages before deployment.

```bash
# npm audit for Node.js Lambda functions
cd lambda-function/
npm audit --audit-level=high
npm audit fix

# Snyk scanning in CI/CD pipeline
snyk test --severity-threshold=high
snyk monitor --project-name=order-processor-lambda

# pip-audit for Python Lambda functions
pip-audit -r requirements.txt --desc on --fix

# Scan Lambda deployment package with Trivy
trivy fs --severity HIGH,CRITICAL ./lambda-package/
```

```yaml
# GitHub Actions CI/CD security scanning
name: Lambda Security Scan
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  security:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Run npm audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high
      - name: Snyk vulnerability scan
        uses: snyk/actions/node@master
        env:
          SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }}
      - name: Scan with Semgrep for code vulnerabilities
        uses: returntocorp/semgrep-action@v1
        with:
          config: p/owasp-top-ten
```

### Step 4: Implement Input Validation

Validate and sanitize all event input data to prevent injection attacks including SQL injection, command injection, and NoSQL injection through Lambda event sources.

```python
import re
import json
from jsonschema import validate, ValidationError

# Define expected input schema
ORDER_SCHEMA = {
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
        "orderId": {"type": "string", "pattern": "^[a-zA-Z0-9-]{1,36}$"},
        "customerId": {"type": "string", "pattern": "^[a-zA-Z0-9]{1,20}$"},
        "amount": {"type": "number", "minimum": 0.01, "maximum": 999999.99},
        "currency": {"type": "string", "enum": ["USD", "EUR", "GBP"]}
    },
    "required": ["orderId", "customerId", "amount", "currency"],
    "additionalProperties": False
}

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    # Validate API Gateway event body
    try:
        body = json.loads(event.get('body', '{}'))
        validate(instance=body, schema=ORDER_SCHEMA)
    except (json.JSONDecodeError, ValidationError) as e:
        return {
            'statusCode': 400,
            'body': json.dumps({'error': 'Invalid input', 'details': str(e)})
        }

    # Safe to proceed with validated input
    order_id = body['orderId']
    # Use parameterized queries for database operations
```

### Step 5: Configure Function URL and API Gateway Authentication

Secure function invocation endpoints with proper authentication. Never expose Lambda function URLs without IAM or Cognito authentication.

```bash
# Secure Lambda function URL with IAM auth (not NONE)
aws lambda create-function-url-config \
  --function-name order-processor \
  --auth-type AWS_IAM \
  --cors '{
    "AllowOrigins": ["https://app.company.com"],
    "AllowMethods": ["POST"],
    "AllowHeaders": ["Content-Type", "Authorization"],
    "MaxAge": 3600
  }'

# API Gateway with Cognito authorizer
aws apigateway create-authorizer \
  --rest-api-id abc123 \
  --name CognitoAuth \
  --type COGNITO_USER_POOLS \
  --provider-arns "arn:aws:cognito-idp:us-east-1:123456789012:userpool/us-east-1_EXAMPLE"
```

### Step 6: Enable Runtime Monitoring and Logging

Configure GuardDuty Lambda Network Activity Monitoring and CloudWatch structured logging to detect anomalous function behavior.

```bash
# Enable GuardDuty Lambda protection
aws guardduty update-detector \
  --detector-id <detector-id> \
  --features '[{"Name": "LAMBDA_NETWORK_ACTIVITY_LOGS", "Status": "ENABLED"}]'

# Configure Lambda to use structured logging
aws lambda update-function-configuration \
  --function-name order-processor \
  --logging-config '{"LogFormat": "JSON", "ApplicationLogLevel": "INFO", "SystemLogLevel": "WARN"}'
```

## Key Concepts

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| Cold Start | Initial function invocation that includes container provisioning, increasing latency and creating a window where cached secrets may not be available |
| Event Injection | Attack where malicious input is embedded in Lambda event data from API Gateway, S3, SQS, or other event sources to exploit the function |
| Execution Role | IAM role assumed by Lambda during execution, defining all cloud API permissions the function can use |
| Function URL | Direct HTTPS endpoint for Lambda functions that can be configured with IAM or no authentication (NONE is insecure) |
| Layer | Lambda deployment package containing shared code or dependencies that should be scanned for vulnerabilities independently |
| Reserved Concurrency | Maximum number of concurrent executions for a function, useful for preventing resource exhaustion attacks |
| Provisioned Concurrency | Pre-initialized function instances that reduce cold start latency and ensure secrets are cached |

## Tools & Systems

- **AWS Lambda Power Tuning**: Open-source tool for optimizing Lambda memory and timeout settings to balance security with performance
- **Snyk**: SCA tool scanning Lambda dependencies for known vulnerabilities with automatic fix suggestions
- **Semgrep**: SAST tool with serverless-specific rules detecting injection vulnerabilities, hardcoded secrets, and insecure configurations
- **GuardDuty Lambda Protection**: AWS service monitoring Lambda network activity for connections to malicious endpoints
- **AWS X-Ray**: Distributed tracing service for detecting suspicious external connections and latency anomalies in Lambda invocations

## Common Scenarios

### Scenario: SQL Injection via API Gateway to Lambda to RDS

**Context**: A Lambda function receives user input from API Gateway and constructs SQL queries by string concatenation against an RDS PostgreSQL database. An attacker injects SQL payloads through the API.

**Approach**:
1. Audit the Lambda function code for string concatenation in SQL queries
2. Replace all string-formatted queries with parameterized queries using the database driver
3. Implement input validation using JSON Schema before any database operation
4. Add a WAF rule on API Gateway to block common SQL injection patterns
5. Deploy Semgrep in the CI/CD pipeline with the `python.django.security.injection.sql` rule set
6. Enable GuardDuty Lambda protection to detect anomalous database connection patterns

**Pitfalls**: Relying solely on WAF rules without fixing the underlying code vulnerability allows attackers to bypass with encoding tricks. Using ORM methods incorrectly (raw queries) still allows injection.

## Output Format

```
Serverless Security Assessment Report
=======================================
Account: 123456789012
Functions Assessed: 47
Assessment Date: 2025-02-23

CRITICAL FINDINGS:
  [SLS-001] order-processor: SQL injection via string concatenation
    Language: Python 3.12 | Runtime: Lambda
    Vulnerable Code: f"SELECT * FROM orders WHERE id = '{order_id}'"
    Remediation: Use parameterized queries with psycopg2

  [SLS-002] payment-handler: Hardcoded Stripe API key in environment variable
    Key: sk_live_XXXX... (unencrypted)
    Remediation: Migrate to AWS Secrets Manager with KMS encryption

HIGH FINDINGS:
  [SLS-003] 12 functions share the same IAM execution role with s3:*
  [SLS-004] 8 functions have function URLs with AuthType: NONE
  [SLS-005] 23 functions have dependencies with known HIGH CVEs

DEPENDENCY VULNERABILITIES:
  axios@0.21.1:         CVE-2023-45857 (HIGH) - 5 functions affected
  jsonwebtoken@8.5.1:   CVE-2022-23529 (CRITICAL) - 3 functions affected
  lodash@4.17.15:       CVE-2021-23337 (HIGH) - 11 functions affected

SUMMARY:
  Critical: 2 | High: 5 | Medium: 12 | Low: 8
  Functions with Least Privilege: 14/47 (30%)
  Functions with Secrets Manager: 19/47 (40%)
  Functions with Input Validation: 22/47 (47%)
```