This record as markdown: /tools/aws/get-user-policy.md
What get_user_policy does on AWS
AI agents call get_user_policy to retrieve information from AWS without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
Why get_user_policy is rated Low
The 'get' prefix strongly suggests a read operation that retrieves user policy data without modification. In AWS IAM context, retrieving policies is a read operation with no side effects.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_user_policy' indicates retrieval of policy information. No description provided, but sibling tools like 'attach_user_policy' and 'attach_group_policy' suggest this server manages AWS IAM operations.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs get_user_policy safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and AWS, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For get_user_policy, this is the rule to start with:
get_user_policy is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect AWS, apply this rule, and every get_user_policy call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about get_user_policy
get_user_policy is a read tool on the AWS MCP server. It is categorised as a Read tool in the AWS MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the AWS MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_user_policy: 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.
get_user_policy is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_user_policy 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 get_user_policy. 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.
get_user_policy 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.
More on AWS, and thousands of servers like it.
This server
Across the catalogue