Findings
AWS Load Balancer missing deletion protection
Updated: June 19, 2025
Description
The Application, Gateway, or Network Load Balancer currently has deletion protection disabled.
Deletion protection is a critical safeguard that prevents accidental or unauthorized deletion of the load balancer, which could disrupt traffic routing and result in downtime for connected services. Without deletion protection enabled, a load balancer can be inadvertently removed, leading to service outages, potential data loss, or disrupted communication between users and backend services.
Example Attack
An administrator mistakenly deletes a load balancer during routine maintenance without realizing its importance. This results in:
- Immediate disruption of all traffic routing through the load balancer.
- Downtime for services relying on the load balancer to connect users with backend resources.
- Loss of user sessions and potential revenue impact for critical services.
Remediation
Enable deletion protection on the Application, Gateway, or Network Load Balancer to prevent accidental or malicious deletion. This can typically be done via the load balancer settings in your cloud provider's management console or using the corresponding API/CLI commands.
Security Frameworks
Perform security and privacy compliance checks on constituent system components prior to the establishment of the internal connection.
- Develop, document, and maintain under configuration control, a current baseline configuration of the system; and
- Review and update the baseline configuration of the system:
- [Assignment: organization-defined frequency];
- When required due to [Assignment: organization-defined circumstances]; and
- When system components are installed or upgraded.
Maintain the currency, completeness, accuracy, and availability of the baseline configuration of the system using [Assignment: organization-defined automated mechanisms].
- Determine and document the types of changes to the system that are configuration-controlled;
- Review proposed configuration-controlled changes to the system and approve or disapprove such changes with explicit consideration for security and privacy impact analyses;
- Document configuration change decisions associated with the system;
- Implement approved configuration-controlled changes to the system;
- Retain records of configuration-controlled changes to the system for [Assignment: organization-defined time period];
- Monitor and review activities associated with configuration-controlled changes to the system; and
- Coordinate and provide oversight for configuration change control activities through [Assignment: organization-defined configuration change control element] that convenes [Selection (one or more): [Assignment: organization-defined frequency]; when [Assignment: organization-defined configuration change conditions]].
Manage capacity, bandwidth, or other redundancy to limit the effects of information flooding denial-of-service attacks.