GCP Cloud Penetration Testing
GCP's IAM binding model creates unique privilege escalation paths that AWS and Azure testers miss. Our CREST-accredited testers exploit overpermissive IAM bindings, service account impersonation chains, GKE workload identity abuse, and VPC Service Controls bypass paths to demonstrate real-world exploitability in your Google Cloud environment.
GCP-Specific Attack Chains.
Not Generic Cloud Tests.
GCP's binding inheritance model, Workload Identity federation, and VPC Service Controls create attack surfaces that differ fundamentally from AWS and Azure.
IAM Bindings and Impersonation
GCP's binding model differs fundamentally from AWS policies. We enumerate all roles/iam.serviceAccountTokenCreator and roles/iam.serviceAccountUser bindings, chain service account impersonation paths across projects, test Organisation Policy bypass vectors, and review custom role definitions for permission overgrant. Privilege escalation to project Owner is our success condition.
Cloud Storage Security
We test for IAM vs ACL policy conflicts that expose data despite correct bucket-level permissions, validate Public Access Prevention enforcement, review lifecycle policies for unintended data retention, and check backup buckets for inherited overpermission.
Compute Engine and Metadata
The GCE metadata endpoint at 169.254.169.254 remains the primary lateral movement vector. We test OS Login configuration, audit project-wide SSH key exposure, verify instance service account scope restriction, and check for IMDS token exfiltration paths from misconfigured workloads.
Cloud Functions and Serverless
Cloud Functions inherit the default Compute Engine service account unless explicitly restricted, granting Editor on the project by default. We audit IAM bindings on functions, review trigger authentication requirements, identify secrets stored in environment variables rather than Secret Manager, and test event source injection via Pub/Sub and Cloud Storage trigger misconfiguration.
GKE and Container Security
GKE introduces a Kubernetes RBAC layer on top of GCP IAM. We test Workload Identity bindings for overpermissive service account associations, pod security admission enforcement, cluster-admin role grants, privileged container escape paths, and Binary Authorization policy bypass via unsigned image deployment.
Security Command Center and Detection
We contextualise Security Command Center findings against our live exploitation evidence, identify logging gaps in Cloud Audit Logs that our attack chains exploited without triggering, and review Cloud Armor policy effectiveness and WAF rule coverage.
GCP Exposure at Scale
GCP's default service account permissions and binding inheritance create systemic overpermission that organisations underestimate. These are the numbers our testers encounter on real engagements.
Valid Account Abuse
Of successful GCP compromises originate from valid account or service account credential abuse rather than software vulnerabilities.
Service Account Overpermission
Of GCP projects we test contain at least one overpermissive service account with project-level primitive role assignment.
Industry Benchmark Mapping
Every finding is mapped to industry standard security benchmarks for GCP, formatted for direct auditor submission.
Controls
What We Find That SCC Misses.
Anonymised examples from recent GCP penetration testing engagements. Security Command Center flags misconfigurations. Our testers demonstrate full attack chains that culminate in project-level compromise.
GKE Workload Identity Container Escape
A GKE workload identity binding granted a pod's service account the roles/editor role at project level. Container escape via a privileged pod allowed access to the underlying node metadata endpoint, yielding a service account token with project-wide permissions. The escape chain required no CVE exploitation.
Service Account Key Exfiltration via Cloud Functions
A Cloud Function using the default Compute Engine service account held project-level roles/editor. Environment variables contained a service account key JSON file used for inter-service authentication. Exfiltrating this key via the function's execution context provided persistent access to the entire project outside any audit trail.
GCP Services in Scope
Our standard GCP penetration test covers the eight services responsible for the majority of cloud compromise paths. Scope is confirmed during a 30-minute scoping call.
Cloud IAM
Bindings, impersonation, custom roles
Cloud Storage
ACL conflicts, public access, lifecycle
Compute Engine
Metadata endpoint, OS Login, SSH keys
GKE
RBAC, workload identity, pod security
Cloud Functions
IAM, triggers, env var secrets
Cloud Run
Service identity, ingress controls
VPC Service Controls
Perimeter bypass, access policy
Secret Manager
Access policy, version exposure
When Do Organisations Commission This Test?
GCP penetration testing is typically commissioned in one of these six scenarios. If any apply, you are in the right place.
Pre-Production Launch Gate
New GCP project or service approaching production cutover and your engineering team requires independent security sign-off before go-live.
Compliance Audit Requirement
Your ISO 27001, SOC 2, or DORA audit has identified cloud infrastructure penetration testing as an outstanding control gap.
Enterprise Customer Mandate
A strategic customer or partner procurement process requires evidence of third-party cloud penetration testing against your GCP environment.
SCC Finding Verification
Security Command Center has flagged findings in your environment and you require human validation of real exploitability before committing remediation resource.
Post-Incident Review
A cloud security incident or near-miss has prompted a structured post-event penetration assessment of the affected GCP project or organisation.
Cyber Insurance Renewal
Your cyber insurer requires evidence of penetration testing activity against your cloud infrastructure as a condition of renewal or premium reduction.
Mapped directly to your cloud compliance controls.
Every GCP finding is cross-referenced to the specific framework clause your auditor requires. The report is formatted for direct QSA, ISO auditor, or SOC 2 assessor submission without rework.
Industry Benchmarks
Complete industry standard benchmark mapping across IAM, logging, networking, and compute controls
ISO 27001:2022
Management of technical vulnerabilities in cloud-hosted systems and infrastructure
SOC 2 Type II
Detection of security events and management of logical access controls
DORA
ICT advanced penetration testing requirements for financial entities using cloud infrastructure
NIST CSF 2.0
Risk assessment and identity management controls for cloud workloads
CREST Accredited. GCP Certified.
All testing is conducted by CREST-certified testers holding GCP Professional Cloud Security Engineer certification.
Engagement Workflow
From scoping call to remediated findings. Structured to minimise cloud engineering friction and maximise the value of the testing window.
Scoping and Access
Agree project and resource scope. You provision a dedicated service account with Viewer and Security Reviewer roles. No production impact. Fixed-price quote issued within 24 hours.
IAM Enumeration
Full enumeration of IAM bindings, service account relationships, Organisation Policy constraints, and resource hierarchy. Attack paths mapped before exploitation begins.
Active Exploitation
Manual exploitation of privilege escalation chains, storage exposure, container breakout, and detection gap validation. Critical findings reported immediately via encrypted channel.
Report and Retest
Executive summary, CVSS-scored technical findings, Terraform HCL remediation snippets, and industry standard benchmark mapping. Free retest of all critical findings within the assessment window.
What You Get
Every GCP penetration test includes these deliverables, formatted for cloud engineering teams, security leads, and non-technical stakeholders alike.
Reports are delivered via our real-time penetration testing portal with role-based access. Also available in PDF and DOCX formats.
Close the Loop.
After the Test.
Your GCP penetration test identifies what is exploitable today. We feed those exact findings into our 24/7 Cloud Security Monitoring service and EdgeProtect attack surface management, building custom detection rules tuned to your GCP environment's specific attack surface.
Explore Defensive ServicesCloud Security Monitoring
24/7 detection rules tuned to your GCP environment and the specific findings from this assessment.
AWS Penetration Testing
Extend your cloud security posture to your AWS estate with CREST-accredited AWS penetration testing.
Azure Penetration Testing
Entra ID, Azure Resource Manager, and AKS penetration testing for multi-cloud environments.
Cloud Penetration Testing Hub
Full cloud security testing services across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Microsoft 365.
Full Penetration Testing Catalogue
Comprehensive penetration testing services tailored to your environment.
Internal Testing
Post-perimeter assessments targeting Active Directory, lateral movement, privilege escalation, and segmentation validation from inside your network.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this service, methodologies, and deliverables.
No. Google does not require pre-approval for penetration testing against your own GCP resources. Google's acceptable use policy permits security testing of your own infrastructure, including load testing, vulnerability scanning, and penetration testing, provided you do not test Google's shared infrastructure, interfere with other customers, or use automated tooling against resources outside your own project boundary. You do not need to notify Google before testing. You do however need written authorisation from the asset owner (your organisation), which we formalise in our rules of engagement agreement before any testing begins.
A standard GCP penetration test covers: Cloud IAM (bindings, service account impersonation, custom role analysis, Organisation Policy bypass), Cloud Storage (IAM vs ACL conflicts, Public Access Prevention, lifecycle policies, backup exposure), Compute Engine (metadata endpoint exploitation, OS Login configuration, project-wide SSH keys, service account scope), GKE (RBAC misconfiguration, workload identity bindings, pod security, Binary Authorization), Cloud Functions and Cloud Run (IAM policies, trigger authentication, secrets in environment variables), VPC Service Controls (perimeter configuration and bypass testing), Secret Manager (access policy review, version exposure), and Cloud Audit Logs (logging coverage gaps, Cloud Armor effectiveness). Additional services can be included based on your specific architecture during scoping.
For a grey-box GCP penetration test (our recommended approach), we require a dedicated service account with the following roles at project level: roles/viewer (read access to resource configurations), roles/iam.securityReviewer (read access to IAM policies and bindings), and roles/cloudasset.viewer (access to Cloud Asset Inventory for enumeration). We do not require Owner, Editor, or any write permissions. The service account is created specifically for the engagement and deleted upon completion. For organisation-level testing covering multiple projects, equivalent permissions are granted at the organisation or folder level. We provide step-by-step provisioning instructions for your cloud team.
GCP penetration testing typically costs between £3,750 and £7,000 for a single project assessment, depending on the number of services in scope, project complexity, and whether GKE cluster testing is included. A standard single-project test covering IAM, storage, compute, and serverless functions averages £5,000 for 3-4 days of testing. Engagements covering multiple projects, GKE clusters, or organisation-wide IAM policy review typically cost £6,000 to £8,000. All pricing is fixed-quote after a 30-minute scoping call. There are no day-rate surprises.
AWS IAM uses identity-based and resource-based policies attached to specific principals. GCP IAM uses a binding model where a principal is granted a role on a specific resource, and these bindings can be inherited down the resource hierarchy from organisation to folder to project to resource level. This binding model creates unique privilege escalation paths: a tester with the roles/iam.serviceAccountTokenCreator binding on a high-privileged service account can impersonate that account without ever modifying its IAM policy, leaving minimal audit trail. The GCP primitive roles (Owner, Editor, Viewer) also grant significantly broader permissions than most teams realise, particularly roles/editor which grants write access to nearly every GCP API. These structural differences mean AWS-focused testers miss GCP-specific privilege escalation chains entirely.
Yes. VPC Service Controls testing is included in our standard GCP penetration test scope. We verify that your access policy correctly restricts data exfiltration paths between your secured perimeter and external resources, test for bypass paths via misconfigured access levels (device policy, IP ranges, service account conditions), and review the coverage of your service perimeter to confirm all sensitive services are correctly included. We also verify that Cloud Audit Logs generate alerts when VPC Service Controls violations occur, rather than silently dropping the request. For organisations relying on VPC Service Controls as their primary data exfiltration prevention control, this testing is particularly valuable.