Directory CybersecurityCloud Security & CSPMPacu

Pacu

Open Source

About Pacu

Pacu is an open-source framework designed specifically for offensive security testing within Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments. It enables security professionals, particularly penetration testers, to identify and exploit configuration vulnerabilities in AWS accounts. By leveraging modular functionality, Pacu supports a wide range of attack simulations such as privilege escalation, IAM user backdooring, and exploitation of vulnerable Lambda functions. This makes it a valuable tool for organizations aiming to assess and strengthen their cloud security posture.

The framework is maintained by Rhino Security Labs and is intended for enterprise security teams and consultants focused on cloud security posture management. Its lightweight design requires only Python 3.7+ and pip for installation, with options for Docker deployment to facilitate integration into existing security workflows. Pacu’s extensible module system allows users to expand its capabilities, ensuring adaptability to evolving cloud security challenges. As an open-source tool, it provides transparency and flexibility for organizations committed to rigorous cloud security assessments.

How to evaluate Cloud Security & CSPM

This is how the CIOPages Research Team evaluates this category. It is not an assessment of Pacu. It comes from our Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) buyer guide.

25%

Risk Prioritization & Attack-Path Analysis

Context graph that correlates misconfiguration, internet reachability, identity/permissions, vulnerabilities, secrets, and data sensitivity into ranked attack paths to crown-jewel assets; toxic-combination detection; quality of the “fix these 10” output versus raw finding volume; false-positive rate in your own accounts

20%

Coverage Model: Agentless Breadth vs. Runtime Depth

Agentless snapshot/API scanning for fast 100%-estate visibility versus agent/eBPF runtime for in-production threat detection (CDR); container, serverless, and Kubernetes (KSPM) coverage; how the two models combine without double-counting; performance impact and deployment friction

20%

Multi-Cloud & Platform Consolidation (CNAPP)

Depth and parity across AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, and Kubernetes from one console; how many of CSPM, CIEM, CWPP, DSPM, KSPM, and code/IaC security are genuinely unified on one data model versus bolted-on acquisitions; single policy and one risk score across domains

15%

Identity & Entitlements (CIEM)

Effective-permission analysis across human and machine identities, cross-account and federated role mapping, detection of unused and over-privileged entitlements, least-privilege right-sizing recommendations, and privilege escalation / lateral-movement path discovery

10%

Remediation, Automation & Developer Workflow

Guided and auto-remediation, IaC and pull-request fixes (shift-left to code), guardrails that prevent drift, ticketing/SOAR integration, ownership routing to the right team, and API/Terraform coverage for security-as-code

10%

Compliance, Reporting & SOC Integration

Out-of-the-box frameworks (CIS, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2, FedRAMP, NIST) with custom policy authoring, audit-ready evidence and drift history, RBAC/SSO on the console, and clean export of correlated cloud risk into the SIEM/SOC rather than a siloed dashboard

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