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IAM Policy Map

AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess

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Summary

Provides access to AWS CloudFormation via the AWS Management Console. The AWS CloudFormation User Guide says it grants read-only access to CloudFormation resources and actions: describing stacks, listing resources and viewing templates, but not creating, updating or deleting stacks.

Permissions imported from the AWS Managed Policy Reference Guide; other sections reviewed against the listed AWS sources.

Identity

ARN
arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess
Default version
v7
Created
Last edited
Services
cloudformation

Control-plane actions (57)

By access level: 23 List, 34 Read.

Control-plane actions by service
ServiceGrantedAccess levels and limitsGranted by
CloudFormation57 of 10423 List, 34 Read; 0 restricted, 0 conditionalcloudformation:BatchDescribe*, cloudformation:Describe*, cloudformation:Detect*, cloudformation:EstimateTemplateCost, cloudformation:Get*, cloudformation:List*, cloudformation:ValidateTemplate
CloudFormation: 57 actions
  • cloudformation:BatchDescribeTypeConfigurations (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeAccountLimits (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeChangeSet (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeChangeSetHooks (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeEvents (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeGeneratedTemplate (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeOrganizationsAccess (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribePublisher (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeResourceScan (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackDriftDetectionStatus (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackEvents (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackInstance (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackRefactor (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackResource (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackResourceDrifts (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackResources (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackSet (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStackSetOperation (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeStacks (List)
  • cloudformation:DescribeType (Read)
  • cloudformation:DescribeTypeRegistration (Read)
  • cloudformation:DetectStackDrift (Read)
  • cloudformation:DetectStackResourceDrift (Read)
  • cloudformation:DetectStackSetDrift (Read)
  • cloudformation:EstimateTemplateCost (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetGeneratedTemplate (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetHookResult (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetResource (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetResourceRequestStatus (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetStackPolicy (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetTemplate (Read)
  • cloudformation:GetTemplateSummary (Read)
  • cloudformation:ListAllHookResults (List)
  • cloudformation:ListChangeSets (List)
  • cloudformation:ListExports (List)
  • cloudformation:ListGeneratedTemplates (List)
  • cloudformation:ListHookResults (List)
  • cloudformation:ListImports (List)
  • cloudformation:ListResourceRequests (Read)
  • cloudformation:ListResourceScanRelatedResources (List)
  • cloudformation:ListResourceScanResources (List)
  • cloudformation:ListResourceScans (List)
  • cloudformation:ListResources (Read)
  • cloudformation:ListStackInstanceResourceDrifts (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackInstances (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackRefactorActions (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackRefactors (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackResources (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackSetAutoDeploymentTargets (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackSetOperationResults (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackSetOperations (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStackSets (List)
  • cloudformation:ListStacks (List)
  • cloudformation:ListTypeRegistrations (List)
  • cloudformation:ListTypeVersions (List)
  • cloudformation:ListTypes (List)
  • cloudformation:ValidateTemplate (Read)

Data-plane actions (0)

By access level: none.

This policy grants no actions in this plane.

Excluded and conditional actions

No patterns are excluded by NotAction or Deny statements.

Resource scope and attachment

Resource scope across granted actions: all-resources.

Can be attached: Yes, to users, groups and roles.

Why this tier

  • Grants only List and Read actions.

Guidance

Practical scope

One Allow statement on Resource "*" with seven cloudformation: patterns: Describe*, BatchDescribe*, EstimateTemplateCost, Get*, List*, ValidateTemplate and Detect*.

Use cases

  • Give users read-only access to CloudFormation stacks, resources and templates without the ability to create, update or delete stacks.

Best practices

  • AWS managed policies don't grant least privilege permissions. The IAM User Guide suggests using IAM Access Analyzer to see which permissions principals actually use, then writing a custom policy or generating one with only the required permissions.
  • AWS managed policies might not grant least-privilege permissions for your specific use cases because they are available to all AWS customers. The AWS CloudFormation User Guide recommends reducing permissions further with customer managed policies specific to your use cases.

Security considerations

  • The policy allows only read-style cloudformation: actions, but on all resources, and the User Guide says principals can view templates.
  • You cannot change the permissions in an AWS managed policy. If AWS updates the policy, the update affects every user, group and role it is attached to.

Assignment guidance

You can attach this policy to your users, groups and roles. The reference page also links to guidance on creating a permission set using AWS managed policies in IAM Identity Center. It fits where read-only CloudFormation access is intended.

Related policies

Same service

Same domain

Frequently asked questions

When should I attach AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess?
The AWS CloudFormation User Guide says it grants read-only access to CloudFormation resources and actions, such as describing stacks, listing resources and viewing templates, without allowing stacks to be created, updated or deleted. Attach it to people who need to look but not change.
What does AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess grant?
It allows cloudformation:Describe*, BatchDescribe*, EstimateTemplateCost, Get*, List*, ValidateTemplate and Detect* on all resources.
What are the security risks of AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess?
The policy does not allow creating, updating or deleting stacks, but its Get* and List* wildcards apply to all resources and the User Guide says principals can view templates. AWS managed policies might not grant least-privilege permissions for your use case, and AWS updates to the policy affect every identity it is attached to.

Policy JSON

Download policy.json

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "cloudformation:Describe*",
        "cloudformation:BatchDescribe*",
        "cloudformation:EstimateTemplateCost",
        "cloudformation:Get*",
        "cloudformation:List*",
        "cloudformation:ValidateTemplate",
        "cloudformation:Detect*"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Version history

Current version v7, edited by AWS on 2026-02-12. Version history is recorded from 2026-11-11. Earlier versions are in the IAM console under Policy versions.

Attach snippets

AWS CLI

aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name ROLE_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name USER_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-group-policy --group-name GROUP_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess

CloudFormation

Resources:
  ExampleRole:
    Type: AWS::IAM::Role
    Properties:
      AssumeRolePolicyDocument: {}  # replace with your trust policy
      ManagedPolicyArns:
        - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess

Terraform

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "awscloudformationreadonlyaccess" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.example.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess"
}

CDK (TypeScript)

role.addManagedPolicy(
  iam.ManagedPolicy.fromAwsManagedPolicyName("AWSCloudFormationReadOnlyAccess"),
);

Sources