🚨 OpenTofu Error: 'Error loading state: AccessDenied' — Cause, Fix, and Troubleshooting Guide

What this error means

Before any operation, OpenTofu reads the state object from your backend. If the identity running tofu lacks permission to read the bucket/object (or the KMS key that encrypts it), the backend returns AccessDenied and OpenTofu cannot load state:

Error: Error loading state:
    AccessDenied: User: arn:aws:iam::111122223333:user/ci-deployer is not
    authorized to perform: s3:GetObject on resource:
    "arn:aws:s3:::example-tofu-state/prod/terraform.tfstate"
    status code: 403, request id: 8F3...

Where it surfaces

• tofu init/plan/apply fails with Error loading state: and a 403 AccessDenied.
• The message names the principal, the action (s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject), and the resource.
• Works with one profile/role but not another (CI vs local).
• May reference KMS (kms:Decrypt) if the state bucket uses SSE-KMS.

Identity and permission causes

• Missing IAM permissions on the state bucket/object or DynamoDB lock table.
• Wrong credentials/account — the identity can’t see the bucket.
• Expired or unassumed role in CI (OIDC/STS not configured).
• Wrong bucket or region in the backend config.
• KMS denial — no kms:Decrypt/kms:GenerateDataKey on the state encryption key.

Tracing the failed authorization

Confirm who you are and whether you can reach the bucket:

aws sts get-caller-identity
aws s3 ls s3://example-tofu-state/prod/ --region us-east-1

Read the exact denied action/resource from the error, then check the backend target:

grep -A8 'backend "s3"' *.tf

Test the specific object and the lock table:

aws s3api head-object --bucket example-tofu-state --key prod/terraform.tfstate
aws dynamodb describe-table --table-name tofu-locks >/dev/null && echo lock-ok

Resolution

Grant the required permissions to the principal (bucket read/write, lock table, KMS if used):

{
  "Effect": "Allow",
  "Action": ["s3:GetObject", "s3:PutObject", "s3:ListBucket"],
  "Resource": [
    "arn:aws:s3:::example-tofu-state",
    "arn:aws:s3:::example-tofu-state/*"
  ]
}

Add lock-table and KMS permissions where applicable:

{ "Effect": "Allow",
  "Action": ["dynamodb:GetItem","dynamodb:PutItem","dynamodb:DeleteItem"],
  "Resource": "arn:aws:dynamodb:*:*:table/tofu-locks" }

Assume the right role / refresh credentials before running:

export AWS_PROFILE=deployer
aws sts get-caller-identity   # confirm the expected account

Correct the backend target if bucket or region is wrong:

backend "s3" {
  bucket = "example-tofu-state"
  key    = "prod/terraform.tfstate"
  region = "us-east-1"
}

Hardening access

• Read the denied action in the message — GetObject, PutObject, ListBucket, and kms:Decrypt need distinct grants.
• CI usually fails here because OIDC/role assumption is misconfigured, not because the config is wrong.
• SSE-KMS state buckets require KMS key permissions in addition to S3 permissions.
• A wrong region silently points at a non-existent object and looks like a permission error.

Related identity errors

• OpenTofu Error: ‘Error acquiring the state lock’ — Cause, Fix, and Troubleshooting Guide
• OpenTofu Error: ‘decryption failed’ — Cause, Fix, and Troubleshooting Guide
• OpenTofu Error: ‘Backend configuration changed’ — Cause, Fix, and Troubleshooting Guide