AI agents use create_group to create or update resources in AWS — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your AWS environment.
Creating an IAM group is a reversible Write operation that modifies identity and access control configuration. It does not delete data (Destructive), move money (Financial), or execute arbitrary code (Execute). However, it creates security principals that could be abused to grant permissions, warranting medium severity.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'create_group' and sibling tools 'add_user_to_group', 'attach_group_policy', 'attach_user_policy' indicate AWS IAM group management. 'create_group' creates a new IAM group resource.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access create_group gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and AWS, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for create_group:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"create_group": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "create_group_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 30,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}create_group stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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create_group. It is categorised as a Write tool in the AWS MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
Register the AWS MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for create_group: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches AWS. Nothing to install.
create_group is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the create_group rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for create_group. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
create_group is provided by the AWS MCP server (@awslabs/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from AWS, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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300 AWS tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.