Skip to main content
IAM Policy Map

AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess

OperatorAWS managedActiveReviewedShow on mapCompare

Summary

Provides access to retrieve and describe secrets from Secrets Manager, and allows decrypting KMS keys for Secrets Manager secrets. The AWS Secrets Manager guide describes it as read-only access to secrets for client applications: retrieving secret values individually or in batches, listing secrets and describing secret metadata.

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

Identity

ARN
arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess
Default version
v4
Created
Last edited
Services
kms, secretsmanager

Control-plane actions (5)

By access level: 1 List, 3 Read, 1 Write.

Control-plane actions by service
ServiceGrantedAccess levels and limitsGranted by
KMS1 of 581 Write; 1 restricted, 1 conditionalkms:Decrypt
Secrets Manager4 of 271 List, 3 Read; 2 restricted, 0 conditionalsecretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue, secretsmanager:DescribeSecret, secretsmanager:GetSecretValue, secretsmanager:ListSecrets
KMS: 1 actions
  • kms:Decrypt (Write)
Secrets Manager: 4 actions
  • secretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue (Read)
  • secretsmanager:DescribeSecret (Read)
  • secretsmanager:GetSecretValue (Read)
  • secretsmanager:ListSecrets (List)

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: mixed.

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

Three statements. SecretsManagerGetAndDescribeSecret allows secretsmanager:GetSecretValue and secretsmanager:DescribeSecret on ARNs matching arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:*. SecretsManagerBatchGetSecrets allows secretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue and secretsmanager:ListSecrets on Resource "*". KMSDecryptKey allows kms:Decrypt on ARNs matching arn:aws:kms:*:*:key/*, with a StringLike condition on kms:EncryptionContext:SecretARN (arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:*) and on kms:ViaService (secretsmanager.*.amazonaws.com).

Use cases

  • Give client applications, and the users or roles they run as, read access to retrieve secret values, list secrets and describe secret metadata in AWS Secrets Manager.

Best practices

  • AWS managed policies don't grant least privilege permissions. The IAM User Guide says to consider the security risk of granting principals more permissions than they need, and suggests using Access Analyzer to see which permissions principals use, then writing a custom policy or generating one with only the required permissions.

Security considerations

  • Despite the ReadOnly name it allows secretsmanager:GetSecretValue and secretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue, so a principal can read secret values, not only metadata. The secret ARN pattern uses wildcards for the Region and account segments.
  • It also allows kms:Decrypt on key ARNs matching arn:aws:kms:*:*:key/*. The conditions on kms:ViaService and kms:EncryptionContext:SecretARN tie the call to Secrets Manager.
  • The Secrets Manager guide's update table says the policy was updated on June 02, 2026 (v4) to add BatchGetSecretValue and ListSecrets so client applications can retrieve multiple secrets in a single call.
  • 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 Secrets Manager guide describes it as read-only access to secrets for client applications.

Related policies

Same service

Same domain

Frequently asked questions

When should I attach AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess?
The reference page says you can attach AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess to your users, groups and roles, and describes it as: provides access to retrieve and describe secrets from Secrets Manager. Attach it where reading secret values from Secrets Manager is the intended scope.
What does AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess grant?
It allows secretsmanager:GetSecretValue and secretsmanager:DescribeSecret on ARNs matching arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:*, secretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue and secretsmanager:ListSecrets on all resources, and kms:Decrypt on key ARNs matching arn:aws:kms:*:*:key/* under conditions on kms:ViaService and kms:EncryptionContext:SecretARN.
What are the security risks of AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess?
It is read only by name, but it can return secret values (GetSecretValue and BatchGetSecretValue) and decrypt with KMS keys under the stated conditions. 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": "SecretsManagerGetAndDescribeSecret",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "secretsmanager:GetSecretValue",
        "secretsmanager:DescribeSecret"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:*"
    },
    {
      "Sid": "SecretsManagerBatchGetSecrets",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "secretsmanager:BatchGetSecretValue",
        "secretsmanager:ListSecrets"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    },
    {
      "Sid": "KMSDecryptKey",
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "kms:Decrypt"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:kms:*:*:key/*",
      "Condition": {
        "StringLike": {
          "kms:EncryptionContext:SecretARN": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:*:*:secret:*",
          "kms:ViaService": "secretsmanager.*.amazonaws.com"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Version history

Current version v4, edited by AWS on 2026-06-02. 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/AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-user-policy --user-name USER_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess
aws iam attach-group-policy --group-name GROUP_NAME --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AWSSecretsManagerClientReadOnlyAccess

CloudFormation

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

Terraform

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

CDK (TypeScript)

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

Sources