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IAM Policy Map

AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess

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Summary

Provides read-only access to AWS Directory Service Data. The Directory Service Administration Guide says it lets principals view and search Active Directory objects within managed directories.

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

Identity

ARN
arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess
Default version
v1
Created
Last edited
Services
ds, ds-data

Control-plane actions (9)

By access level: 4 List, 1 Permissions management, 4 Read.

Control-plane actions by service
ServiceGrantedAccess levels and limitsGranted by
Directory Service1 of 911 Permissions management; 1 restricted, 0 conditionalds:AccessDSData
Directory Service Data8 of 174 List, 4 Read; 8 restricted, 0 conditionalds-data:DescribeGroup, ds-data:DescribeUser, ds-data:ListGroupMembers, ds-data:ListGroups, ds-data:ListGroupsForMember, ds-data:ListUsers, ds-data:SearchGroups, ds-data:SearchUsers
Directory Service: 1 actions
  • ds:AccessDSData (Permissions management)
Directory Service Data: 8 actions
  • ds-data:DescribeGroup (Read)
  • ds-data:DescribeUser (Read)
  • ds-data:ListGroupMembers (List)
  • ds-data:ListGroups (List)
  • ds-data:ListGroupsForMember (List)
  • ds-data:ListUsers (List)
  • ds-data:SearchGroups (Read)
  • ds-data:SearchUsers (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: scoped.

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

Why this tier

  • Grants 1 write, tagging or permissions-management action, short of full control of any service.

Guidance

Practical scope

The policy has one statement, DSDataReadOnlyAccess, on Resource "arn:aws:ds:*:*:directory/*". It allows ds:AccessDSData, ds-data:DescribeGroup, ds-data:DescribeUser, ds-data:ListGroupMembers, ds-data:ListGroups, ds-data:ListGroupsForMember, ds-data:ListUsers, ds-data:SearchGroups and ds-data:SearchUsers. It has no create, update or delete actions.

Use cases

  • Let a user or group view and search Active Directory users, groups and group memberships in managed directories without changing them.

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.

Security considerations

  • The Directory Service Administration Guide says principals cannot make any updates to users, groups or group memberships. Principals can still search for users and groups, view user and group details and list group memberships across all directories matching arn:aws:ds:*:*:directory/*.
  • 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. The Directory Service Administration Guide says you can attach it to your IAM identities. It fits where read-only access to directory users and groups is intended.

Related policies

Same service

Same domain

Frequently asked questions

When should I attach AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess?
The Directory Service Administration Guide says you can attach it to your IAM identities, and that it allows a user or group to view and search Active Directory users, members and groups. Attach it where read-only access to directory objects is the intended scope.
What does AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess grant?
It allows ds:AccessDSData and the read actions ds-data:DescribeGroup, DescribeUser, ListGroupMembers, ListGroups, ListGroupsForMember, ListUsers, SearchGroups and SearchUsers on directory ARNs (arn:aws:ds:*:*:directory/*). Principals cannot create, modify or delete users, groups or group memberships.
What are the security risks of AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess?
It lets principals search and read user and group details and group memberships across directories matching arn:aws:ds:*:*:directory/*, and the Directory Service Administration Guide says they cannot update any of them. AWS managed policies don't grant least privilege permissions, and you must consider the security risk of granting principals more permissions than they need. AWS updates to the policy affect every identity it is attached to.

Policy JSON

Download policy.json

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Sid": "DSDataReadOnlyAccess",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "ds:AccessDSData",
        "ds-data:DescribeGroup",
        "ds-data:DescribeUser",
        "ds-data:ListGroupMembers",
        "ds-data:ListGroups",
        "ds-data:ListGroupsForMember",
        "ds-data:ListUsers",
        "ds-data:SearchGroups",
        "ds-data:SearchUsers"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:ds:*:*:directory/*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Version history

Current version v1, edited by AWS on 2024-09-18. 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/AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name USER_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-group-policy --group-name GROUP_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSDirectoryServiceDataReadOnlyAccess

CloudFormation

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

Terraform

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

CDK (TypeScript)

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

Sources