AWS SAML Integration Guide

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Prerequisites

  • Administrator access to the AWS Management Console with IAM permissions
  • A SplitSecure Identity Provider created and approved
  • IAM permissions to create identity providers and roles (iam:CreateSAMLProvider, iam:CreateRole)
  • A separate browser or browser profile with SplitSecure configured (for testing)

AWS IAM Configuration

1 Download SplitSecure Metadata

Before configuring AWS, download the SAML metadata from SplitSecure:

  1. In SplitSecure, go to Secure Accounts → SAML2 Identity Providers
  2. Click Details on the desired identity provider
  3. Click Download Metadata to save the XML file

2 Create a SAML Identity Provider in IAM

  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console
  2. In the navigation pane, choose Identity providers
  3. Click Add provider
  4. Configure the provider:
Field Value
Provider type SSO only
Provider name (e.g., SplitSecure IdP)
Metadata document Upload the XML file downloaded from SplitSecure
  1. Click Add provider

3 Create an IAM Role for SAML Federation

  1. You can either:
  • (If you are still in your Identity Provider’s page) at the top right of the page, click Assign role
  • In the IAM console navigation pane, choose Roles. Then at the top right of the page, click Create role
  1. Fill the form like so:

Select trusted entity

Field Value
Trusted entity type SAML 2.0 federation
SAML 2.0–based provider Select the provider you created (e.g., “SplitSecure”)
Access to be allowed Allow programmatic and AWS Management Console access
Sign-in endpoint type Non-Regional endpoint
Sign-in URLs to include unique identifiers With unique identifiers
  1. Click Next

Add permissions

Permissions — Configure permissions in AWS for SAML federated principals
  1. Select the permissions policies for federated users (e.g., AdministratorAccess, ReadOnlyAccess, PowerUserAccess)
  2. Click Next

Name, review, and create

  1. Enter a Role name (e.g., SplitSecure-SAML-Role)
  2. (Optional) Enter a description
  3. Click Create Role
  4. Note the Role ARN for SplitSecure configuration (e.g., arn:aws:iam::<account-id>:role/SplitSecure-SAML-Role)

SplitSecure Configuration

1 Download AWS SAML Metadata

  1. In SplitSecure, navigate to Secure Accounts → Create Account → AWS
  2. Enter a name for your account
  3. Select the Identity Provider used from which you took the metadata file
  4. Enter the sign-in URL and the IAM Identity Provider ARN (which can be found at AWS Management Console IAM → Identity providers → Your IdP)
  5. (Optional) In the default Role ARN field you can put the ARN found in the console at IAM → Roles → Your Role in the top corner
arn:aws:iam::111111111111:role/MyRole
  1. Click Create Account

Test Authentication

1 Test IdP-Initiated Sign-In

  1. In SplitSecure, navigate to Secure Accounts
  2. Locate your AWS account and click Authenticate
  3. Choose your role, session name and session duration
  4. Click Request Access
  5. Complete the authentication flow

Troubleshooting

Issue Possible Cause Solution
Response signature invalid Certificate mismatch Re-download metadata from SplitSecure and update the IAM provider
Not authorized to perform sts:AssumeRoleWithSAML Trust policy misconfigured Verify the Principal ARN matches your SAML provider exactly
Invalid SAML response Metadata parsing error Ensure metadata is UTF-8 encoded without BOM
RoleSessionName is required Missing SAML attribute Configure SplitSecure to send the RoleSessionName attribute
User redirected to wrong account Multiple AWS accounts Verify the correct Role ARN is configured in SplitSecure
Access denied after successful auth Insufficient role permissions Review and update the IAM role’s permissions policy
Session expires too quickly Default session duration Add SessionDuration attribute (up to 43200 seconds)
SAML assertion audience mismatch Wrong ACS URL Ensure SAML:aud matches https://signin.aws.amazon.com/saml or regional equivalent

External Resources