| name | configuring-aws-verified-access-for-ztna |
| description | Configure AWS Verified Access to provide VPN-less zero trust network access to internal applications using identity and device posture verification with Cedar policy language. |
| domain | cybersecurity |
| subdomain | zero-trust-architecture |
| tags | - zero-trust - aws - verified-access - ztna - cedar-policy - vpn-less - identity-verification - device-posture - aws-ram |
| version | '1.0' |
| author | mahipal |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| nist_csf | - PR.AA-01 - PR.AA-05 - PR.IR-01 - GV.PO-01 |
Configuring AWS Verified Access for ZTNA
Overview
AWS Verified Access is a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) service that provides secure, VPN-less access to corporate applications hosted in AWS. It evaluates each access request in real-time against granular conditional access policies written in the Cedar policy language, ensuring access is granted per-application only when specific security requirements such as user identity and device security posture are met and maintained. Verified Access integrates with AWS IAM Identity Center, third-party identity providers (Okta, CrowdStrike, JumpCloud, Jamf), and device management solutions. For multi-account deployments, AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) enables sharing Verified Access groups across organizational units.
When to Use
- When deploying or configuring configuring aws verified access for ztna capabilities in your environment
- When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
- When building or improving security architecture for this domain
- When conducting security assessments that require this implementation
Prerequisites
- AWS account with appropriate IAM permissions
- Identity provider (AWS IAM Identity Center, Okta, or OIDC-compatible)
- Device trust provider (CrowdStrike, Jamf, JumpCloud, or AWS Verified Access native)
- Internal Application Load Balancer (ALB) or network interface endpoint
- Understanding of Cedar policy language
- VPC with application workloads to protect
Architecture
End User (Browser)
|
| HTTPS
v
+------+--------+
| Verified |
| Access |
| Endpoint |
| (Public DNS) |
+------+--------+
|
+------+--------+
| Verified | <-- Cedar Access Policies
| Access | <-- Identity Provider Signals
| Instance | <-- Device Trust Signals
| (Policy |
| Evaluation) |
+------+--------+
|
+------+--------+
| Verified |
| Access Group |
| (App Group) |
+------+--------+
|
+------+--------+
| Internal ALB |
| or ENI Target |
+------+--------+
|
+------+--------+
| Application |
| (Private VPC) |
+--------------+
Core Components
Verified Access Instance
The regional entity that evaluates access requests against policies.
aws ec2 create-verified-access-instance \
--description "Production Zero Trust Instance" \
--tag-specifications 'ResourceType=verified-access-instance,Tags=[{Key=Environment,Value=production}]'
Trust Providers
Identity Trust Provider (AWS IAM Identity Center)
aws ec2 create-verified-access-trust-provider \
--trust-provider-type user \
--user-trust-provider-type iam-identity-center \
--policy-reference-name "idc" \
--description "IAM Identity Center trust provider" \
--tag-specifications 'ResourceType=verified-access-trust-provider,Tags=[{Key=Type,Value=identity}]'
Identity Trust Provider (OIDC - Okta)
aws ec2 create-verified-access-trust-provider \
--trust-provider-type user \
--user-trust-provider-type oidc \
--oidc-options '{
"Issuer": "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default",
"AuthorizationEndpoint": "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/authorize",
"TokenEndpoint": "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/token",
"UserInfoEndpoint": "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/userinfo",
"ClientId": "0oa1234567890",
"ClientSecret": "client-secret-here",
"Scope": "openid profile groups"
}' \
--policy-reference-name "okta" \
--description "Okta OIDC trust provider"
Device Trust Provider (CrowdStrike)
aws ec2 create-verified-access-trust-provider \
--trust-provider-type device \
--device-trust-provider-type crowdstrike \
--device-options '{
"TenantId": "crowdstrike-tenant-id",
"PublicSigningKeyUrl": "https://api.crowdstrike.com/zero-trust/v2/certificates"
}' \
--policy-reference-name "crowdstrike" \
--description "CrowdStrike device trust provider"
Attach Trust Providers to Instance
aws ec2 attach-verified-access-trust-provider \
--verified-access-instance-id vai-0123456789abcdef \
--verified-access-trust-provider-id vatp-0123456789abcdef
aws ec2 attach-verified-access-trust-provider \
--verified-access-instance-id vai-0123456789abcdef \
--verified-access-trust-provider-id vatp-device123456
Verified Access Groups
aws ec2 create-verified-access-group \
--verified-access-instance-id vai-0123456789abcdef \
--description "Production Web Applications" \
--policy-document 'permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("production-access") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 50
};' \
--tag-specifications 'ResourceType=verified-access-group,Tags=[{Key=Tier,Value=web}]'
Verified Access Endpoints
aws ec2 create-verified-access-endpoint \
--verified-access-group-id vag-0123456789abcdef \
--endpoint-type load-balancer \
--attachment-type vpc \
--domain-certificate-arn arn:aws:acm:us-east-1:123456789012:certificate/xxxx \
--application-domain app.internal.company.com \
--endpoint-domain-prefix myapp \
--load-balancer-options '{
"LoadBalancerArn": "arn:aws:elasticloadbalancing:us-east-1:123456789012:loadbalancer/app/internal-alb/xxxx",
"Port": 443,
"Protocol": "https",
"SubnetIds": ["subnet-abc123", "subnet-def456"]
}' \
--security-group-ids sg-0123456789abcdef \
--description "Internal HR Application"
Cedar Policy Language
Policy Basics
// Allow access for users in the engineering group with compliant devices
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("engineering") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 70 &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.sensor_config.status == "active"
};
// Deny access from unmanaged devices
forbid(principal, action, resource)
when {
!context.crowdstrike.assessment.sensor_config.status == "active"
};
Advanced Policy Examples
// Time-based access - only during business hours (UTC)
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("contractors") &&
context.http_request.http_method == "GET" &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 80
};
// Restrict admin access to specific user group with high device trust
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.idc.groups.contains("admins") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 90 &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.os_version.startswith("Windows 11") ||
context.crowdstrike.assessment.os_version.startswith("macOS 14")
};
// Allow read-only access for lower trust levels
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("read-only") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 30 &&
context.http_request.http_method == "GET"
};
Group-Level vs Endpoint-Level Policies
// Group-level policy (applies to all endpoints in the group)
// Set on the Verified Access Group
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("employees") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 50
};
// Endpoint-level policy (additional restrictions for specific app)
// Set on the Verified Access Endpoint
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("hr-team") &&
context.okta.email.endsWith("@company.com")
};
Terraform Configuration
terraform {
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = "~> 5.0"
}
}
}
# Verified Access Instance
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_instance" "main" {
description = "Production Zero Trust Access"
tags = {
Environment = "production"
}
}
# Identity Trust Provider (OIDC)
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_trust_provider" "okta" {
policy_reference_name = "okta"
trust_provider_type = "user"
user_trust_provider_type = "oidc"
description = "Okta identity provider"
oidc_options {
authorization_endpoint = "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/authorize"
client_id = var.okta_client_id
client_secret = var.okta_client_secret
issuer = "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default"
scope = "openid profile groups"
token_endpoint = "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/token"
user_info_endpoint = "https://company.okta.com/oauth2/default/v1/userinfo"
}
}
# Device Trust Provider (CrowdStrike)
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_trust_provider" "crowdstrike" {
policy_reference_name = "crowdstrike"
trust_provider_type = "device"
device_trust_provider_type = "crowdstrike"
description = "CrowdStrike device trust"
device_options {
tenant_id = var.crowdstrike_tenant_id
}
}
# Attach providers to instance
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_instance_trust_provider_attachment" "okta" {
verifiedaccess_instance_id = aws_verifiedaccess_instance.main.id
verifiedaccess_trust_provider_id = aws_verifiedaccess_trust_provider.okta.id
}
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_instance_trust_provider_attachment" "crowdstrike" {
verifiedaccess_instance_id = aws_verifiedaccess_instance.main.id
verifiedaccess_trust_provider_id = aws_verifiedaccess_trust_provider.crowdstrike.id
}
# Verified Access Group
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_group" "web_apps" {
verifiedaccess_instance_id = aws_verifiedaccess_instance.main.id
description = "Production Web Applications"
policy_document = <<-CEDAR
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("production-access") &&
context.crowdstrike.assessment.overall > 50
};
CEDAR
tags = {
Tier = "web"
}
}
# Verified Access Endpoint
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_endpoint" "internal_app" {
verified_access_group_id = aws_verifiedaccess_group.web_apps.id
endpoint_type = "load-balancer"
attachment_type = "vpc"
domain_certificate_arn = aws_acm_certificate.app.arn
application_domain = "app.internal.company.com"
endpoint_domain_prefix = "myapp"
description = "Internal Application"
load_balancer_options {
load_balancer_arn = aws_lb.internal.arn
port = 443
protocol = "https"
subnet_ids = var.private_subnet_ids
}
security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.verified_access.id]
policy_document = <<-CEDAR
permit(principal, action, resource)
when {
context.okta.groups.contains("app-users")
};
CEDAR
}
# Logging configuration
resource "aws_verifiedaccess_instance_logging_configuration" "main" {
verifiedaccess_instance_id = aws_verifiedaccess_instance.main.id
access_logs {
cloudwatch_logs {
enabled = true
log_group = aws_cloudwatch_log_group.verified_access.name
}
s3 {
enabled = true
bucket_name = aws_s3_bucket.access_logs.id
prefix = "verified-access/"
}
}
}
resource "aws_cloudwatch_log_group" "verified_access" {
name = "/aws/verified-access/production"
retention_in_days = 90
}
Multi-Account Deployment with AWS RAM
# Share Verified Access Group across accounts via RAM
resource "aws_ram_resource_share" "verified_access" {
name = "verified-access-share"
allow_external_principals = false
}
resource "aws_ram_resource_association" "group_share" {
resource_arn = aws_verifiedaccess_group.web_apps.verified_access_group_arn
resource_share_arn = aws_ram_resource_share.verified_access.arn
}
resource "aws_ram_principal_association" "workload_ou" {
principal = "arn:aws:organizations::123456789012:ou/o-xxxx/ou-xxxx-xxxxxxxx"
resource_share_arn = aws_ram_resource_share.verified_access.arn
}
Monitoring and Logging
aws logs filter-log-events \
--log-group-name /aws/verified-access/production \
--filter-pattern '{ $.status_code = "403" }' \
--start-time $(date -d '1 hour ago' +%s000)
aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm \
--alarm-name "VerifiedAccess-HighDenialRate" \
--metric-name "AccessDenied" \
--namespace "AWS/VerifiedAccess" \
--statistic Sum \
--period 300 \
--threshold 100 \
--comparison-operator GreaterThanThreshold \
--evaluation-periods 2 \
--alarm-actions arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:security-alerts
Security Best Practices
- Layer policies: Use group-level policies for broad controls and endpoint-level for app-specific restrictions
- Require device trust: Always include device posture checks in Cedar policies
- Enable access logging: Send to both CloudWatch and S3 for real-time monitoring and long-term retention
- Use RAM for multi-account: Share groups across OUs instead of duplicating configuration
- Rotate OIDC secrets: Automate client secret rotation via Secrets Manager
- Test policies in non-production: Validate Cedar policies before production deployment
- Set high device trust thresholds: Require overall score above 70 for production access
- Monitor for policy drift: Use AWS Config rules to detect unauthorized changes
References
