Fetch-url-http-3a-2f-2fmetadata.google.internal-2fcomputemetadata-2fv1-2finstance-2fservice Accounts-2f Jun 2026

This is the . Every Virtual Machine (VM) on Google Compute Engine has access to this internal HTTP endpoint. It is not accessible from the public internet; it only exists inside the Google Cloud network.

: Ensure that your applications only make requests to the metadata server when absolutely necessary and that they do not expose raw metadata responses to users.

Now let’s actually fetch the URL http://metadata.google.internal/computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/ using different tools. All examples assume you are running inside a GCP resource (e.g., a Compute Engine VM with curl installed). This is the

From a GCE VM, using curl:

Zero's initial attempt failed because they didn't know about the header. But the attempt was logged. : Ensure that your applications only make requests

The Google Cloud Metadata Server is a specialized service accessible only from within a running Compute Engine instance or a Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) node. It acts as a local data repository for that specific instance. When an application queries this server, it can retrieve vital information such as the instance’s project ID, zone, and custom metadata.

However, the string you provided ( fetch-url-http-3A-2F-2Fmetadata... ) appears to be URL-encoded. Here’s what’s happening: From a GCE VM, using curl: Zero's initial

This returns a massive JSON tree, including all service account information.

This is the . Every Virtual Machine (VM) on Google Compute Engine has access to this internal HTTP endpoint. It is not accessible from the public internet; it only exists inside the Google Cloud network.

: Ensure that your applications only make requests to the metadata server when absolutely necessary and that they do not expose raw metadata responses to users.

Now let’s actually fetch the URL http://metadata.google.internal/computeMetadata/v1/instance/service-accounts/ using different tools. All examples assume you are running inside a GCP resource (e.g., a Compute Engine VM with curl installed).

From a GCE VM, using curl:

Zero's initial attempt failed because they didn't know about the header. But the attempt was logged.

The Google Cloud Metadata Server is a specialized service accessible only from within a running Compute Engine instance or a Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) node. It acts as a local data repository for that specific instance. When an application queries this server, it can retrieve vital information such as the instance’s project ID, zone, and custom metadata.

However, the string you provided ( fetch-url-http-3A-2F-2Fmetadata... ) appears to be URL-encoded. Here’s what’s happening:

This returns a massive JSON tree, including all service account information.