Bulk export job fails with 403 Forbidden on S3 bucket

General Discussion
1

My current config is completely failing… The bulk export job for legal discovery records initiates correctly but fails during the final upload phase.

  1. Trigger export via /v2/analytics/conversations/details/query API.
  2. Job status moves to processing then failed.
  3. Error log shows 403 Forbidden: Access Denied when writing to the configured AWS S3 bucket.

The IAM role has s3:PutObject permissions. Why is the Genesys Cloud service account being rejected?

2

Check your S3 bucket policy for explicit Deny statements that might override the IAM role’s Allow. Even if the role has s3:PutObject, a bucket policy with a condition like aws:SourceVpc or aws:PrincipalOrgID can block the request. Genesys Cloud executes these exports from specific AWS regions, often us-east-1, so ensure the bucket policy allows access from the Genesys Cloud principal ARN.

Verify the trust relationship on the IAM role. It must explicitly trust the Genesys Cloud execution role, not just your internal identity. Here is a minimal trust policy example:

{
 "Version": "2012-10-17",
 "Statement": [
 {
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Principal": {
 "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::[GC_ACCOUNT_ID]:role/[GC_ROLE_NAME]"
 },
 "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
 }
 ]
}

Also, confirm the bucket does not have Block Public Access enabled in a way that conflicts with the assumed role. If using a VPC endpoint, ensure the route table points correctly. The 403 usually stems from a mismatch between the assumed identity and the bucket’s allowed principals.

3

The simplest way to resolve this is to verify that the S3 bucket policy explicitly allows the specific IAM role assumed by Genesys Cloud’s export service, rather than just relying on the role’s permissions. A common oversight in multi-tenant integrations is configuring the IAM role with s3:PutObject but forgetting to update the bucket policy to trust that role. The bucket policy must include an Allow statement with the correct Principal ARN.

Ensure your bucket policy looks like this:

{
 "Version": "2012-10-17",
 "Statement": [
 {
 "Sid": "AllowGenesysCloudExport",
 "Effect": "Allow",
 "Principal": {
 "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GenesysCloudExportRole"
 },
 "Action": "s3:PutObject",
 "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*"
 }
 ]
}

Additionally, check if the bucket has Object Lock enabled or if there are any VPC endpoint policies restricting access. Genesys Cloud initiates these exports from us-east-1, so if your bucket policy restricts access by source VPC or region, it will block the upload. The 403 error often masks deeper permission issues like missing s3:ListBucket on the bucket itself, which is required for the service to verify the destination exists before writing.

  • Verify the IAM role trust relationship allows sts:AssumeRole from the Genesys Cloud service principal.
  • Check for conflicting bucket policies with explicit Deny statements.
  • Ensure the bucket region matches the export service region (us-east-1).
  • Confirm s3:ListBucket permission is granted on the bucket ARN.
4

The best way to fix this is to verify that the S3 bucket policy explicitly allows the specific IAM role assumed by Genesys Cloud’s export service, rather than just relying on the role’s permissions. A common oversight in multi-tenant integrations is configuring the IAM role with s3:PutObject but forgetting to update the bucket policy to trust that role. The bucket policy must include an Allow statement with the correct Principal ARN.

Ensure your bucket policy looks something like this:

{
“Version”: “2012-10-17”,
“Statement”: [
{
“Effect”: “Allow”,
“Principal”: {
“AWS”: “arn:aws:iam::GENESYS_ACCOUNT_ID:role/GenesysExportRole”
},
“Action”: “s3:PutObject”,
“Resource”: “arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*”
}
]
}

Also, check for any VPC endpoint policies or KMS encryption keys that might be blocking access. We often see this when the bucket is encrypted with a customer-managed key and the Genesys role lacks kms:Decrypt permissions.