Fetch-url-http-3a-2f-2f169.254.169.254-2flatest-2fmeta Data-2fiam-2fsecurity Credentials-2f __top__ Site

The AWS Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) endpoint at http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/ allows EC2 instances to retrieve temporary, auto-rotated IAM security credentials, eliminating the need to hardcode long-term keys. While IMDSv1 is susceptible to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks, AWS strongly advises adopting IMDSv2 to enforce session-oriented authentication and mitigate credential theft risks. For official technical steps, refer to the AWS User Guide on retrieving credentials .

Conclusion

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Security Considerations

Pro-Tip

💡 : To protect your AWS instances, enforce IMDSv2 and set the "Metadata response hop limit" to 1. The AWS Instance Metadata Service (IMDS) endpoint at

The response from the metadata service might look similar to this: auto-rotated IAM security credentials