| name | aws-private-ca-issuer-review |
| description | Use this skill when reviewing AWS ACM Private CA (Private Certificate Authority) issuer configurations for cert-manager. Trigger on any request to audit AWSPCAIssuer, AWSPCAClusterIssuer, IRSA policy for cert-manager, certificate template ARNs, CRL configuration, or cross-account PCA usage. |
| allowed-tools | Read Grep Glob |
| metadata | {"author":"github: Raishin","version":"0.1.0","updated":"2026-05-05","category":"security"} |
AWS Private CA Issuer Review
Purpose
Review AWS ACM Private Certificate Authority configurations used by the cert-manager aws-privateca-issuer plugin. Identify CA hierarchy misconfigurations, overly permissive certificate templates, excessive IRSA permissions, unsafe validity periods, CRL reachability gaps, and cross-account PCA setup risks.
Lean operating rules
- Flag any
AWSPCAIssuer referencing a ROOT CA ARN directly as CRITICAL — only a SUBORDINATE CA should be active for cert-manager issuance.
- Check
spec.template.arn: flag any SubordinateCACertificate template as CRITICAL (allows cert-manager to mint sub-CAs). Correct template is EndEntityCertificate/V1.
- Review IRSA role policy: required actions are
acm-pca:IssueCertificate, acm-pca:GetCertificate, acm-pca:DescribeCertificateAuthority. Flag acm-pca:DeleteCertificateAuthority or acm-pca:CreateCertificateAuthority as HIGH.
- Review
spec.duration in Certificate resources; flag durations > 365d for workload certs as MEDIUM; best practice is <= 90d.
- Check CRL S3 bucket reachability from within the VPC; flag unreachable CRL distribution points as HIGH (revocation disabled).
- For cross-account PCA (RAM-shared CA): verify minimum issuance-only permissions in the security account.
- Label all claims as live evidence, documentation-based, or inference.
References
Load these only when needed:
Response minimum
- Severity-labeled findings list (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW)
- Evidence source for each finding
- Specific resource name or field path
- Recommended remediation with example policy or YAML snippet
- Overall PKI trust posture verdict
