RDS clusters should have deletion protection enabled¶

This control checks whether RDS clusters have deletion protection enabled. This control is intended for RDS DB instances. However, it can also generate findings for Aurora DB instances, Neptune DB instances, and AWS DocumentDB clusters. If these findings are not useful,then you can suppress them.

How to fix¶

Attribute deletion_protection of aws_rds_cluster must be true.

Implementation options¶

Choose the option that matches how you manage Terraform. All options satisfy this control.

Option 1: Compliance.tf module (recommended)¶

Use the compliance.tf registry module to get this control enforced by default. This control is mapped to the frameworks shown in the tabs above. To begin, see get started with compliance.tf.

module "rds_aurora" {
  source  = "nistcsfv11.compliance.tf/terraform-aws-modules/rds-aurora/aws"
  version = ">=10.0.0,<11.0.0"

  engine         = "aurora-postgresql"
  engine_version = "16.1"
  instances = {
    one = {
      instance_class = "db.r6g.large"
    }
  }
  master_username = "root"
  name            = "abc123"
  subnets         = []
  vpc_id          = ""
}

module "rds_aurora" {
  source  = "nistcsf.compliance.tf/terraform-aws-modules/rds-aurora/aws"
  version = ">=10.0.0,<11.0.0"

  engine         = "aurora-postgresql"
  engine_version = "16.1"
  instances = {
    one = {
      instance_class = "db.r6g.large"
    }
  }
  master_username = "root"
  name            = "abc123"
  subnets         = []
  vpc_id          = ""
}

Option 2: Open source module (terraform-aws-modules)¶

If you use terraform-aws-modules/rds-aurora/aws, configure the required module inputs to satisfy this control. You can later migrate to the compliance.tf module with minimal changes because it is compatible by design.

module "rds_aurora" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/rds-aurora/aws"
  version = ">=10.0.0,<11.0.0"

  engine         = "aurora-postgresql"
  engine_version = "16.1"
  instances = {
    one = {
      instance_class = "db.r6g.large"
    }
  }
  master_username = "root"
  name            = "abc123"
  subnets         = []
  vpc_id          = ""

  deletion_protection = true
}

Option 3: Terraform AWS provider resources¶

If you manage resources directly, configure the relevant Terraform AWS provider resources to meet this control. See docs for the resources involved: aws_rds_cluster.

resource "aws_rds_cluster" "this" {
  backtrack_window                = 72
  cluster_identifier              = "pofix-example-cluster"
  enabled_cloudwatch_logs_exports = ["audit", "postgresql"]
  engine                          = "aurora-mysql"
  master_password                 = "ChangeMe123!"
  master_username                 = "dbadmin"

  deletion_protection = true
}

Tool mappings¶

Use these identifiers to cross-reference this control across tools, reports, and evidence.

• Compliance.tf (CTF) Control: rds_db_cluster_deletion_protection_enabled

• AWS Config Managed Rule: RDS_CLUSTER_DELETION_PROTECTION_ENABLED

• Checkov Check: CKV_AWS_139

• Powerpipe Control: aws_compliance.control.rds_db_cluster_deletion_protection_enabled