SSL not enforced via RDS parameter group
- Severity
- Medium
- Service
- RDS
- Check ID
- RDS_NO_SSL_ENFORCEMENT
What this check finds
This RDS instance does not enforce SSL/TLS connections. Without enforcement, clients can connect over unencrypted connections exposing credentials and data in transit.
Passing looks like: RDS enforces SSL via parameter group.
How to fix it
Set require_secure_transport=ON (MySQL/Aurora) or rds.force_ssl=1 (PostgreSQL) in the parameter group and reboot the instance.
AWS console
RDS → Parameter groups → Edit.
Compliance controls it is evidence for
A failing result counts against these controls in KloudLytics; a passing one is evidence towards them. How compliance mapping works
| Framework | Controls |
|---|---|
| PCI-DSS v4.0.1 |
|
| NIST SP 800-53 Rev5 (Moderate) |
|
| NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 |
|
| ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A |
|
Checked on every scan
KloudLytics runs this check each time it scans a connected AWS account, through a read-only role, and lists every affected resource with its region. On Pro and Business a fix is written for the specific resource rather than the general case above. The exact access it needs
More RDS checks
- HighAurora/RDS cluster storage is not encrypted at rest
- HighRDS automated backups are disabled
- HighRDS instance does not have automatic minor version upgrades enabled
- HighRDS instance has zero database connections for 7 days
- HighRDS instance storage is not encrypted at rest
- HighRDS security group allows broad CIDR ingress (broader than /16)
- HighRDS snapshot is public
- MediumAurora/RDS cluster has automated backups disabled