During a penetration test, an analyst discovers a publicly readable cloud storage bucket belonging to the client. The client's IT contact states that the bucket is only used for public-facing marketing materials and poses no risk. What is the analyst's MOST appropriate next step?
Attempt to write or delete files to test for further misconfigurations.
Independently enumerate and inspect the bucket's contents for sensitive data.
Assume the bucket contains sensitive data and immediately attempt privilege escalation.
Report the finding as low-risk based on the client's statement.
The correct action is to independently verify the contents of the storage bucket. A penetration tester should operate on a "trust but verify" principle. While the client may believe the bucket only contains non-sensitive data, accidental uploads of sensitive information are a common issue. Before reporting, the tester must confirm the actual contents to accurately assess the risk. Attempting to write to the bucket is out of scope and potentially destructive. Reporting it as low-risk without verification is negligent. Escalating privileges is unlikely to be possible from simple read access and is a premature step without first understanding the contents.
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