Detection rules › YARA-L
AWS EC2 User Data Modified
Detect modifications to user data script on an EC2 instance.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Privilege Escalation | T1037 Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts |
Event coverage
| Provider | Event |
|---|---|
| AWS-ec2 | ModifyInstanceAttribute |
Rule body yaral
/*
* Copyright 2023 Google LLC
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
rule aws_ec2_user_data_modified {
meta:
author = "Google Cloud Security"
description = "Detect modifications to user data script on an EC2 instance."
rule_id = "mr_3167a29e-abbb-4d72-9f33-93df151d0224"
rule_name = "AWS EC2 User Data Modified"
mitre_attack_tactic = "Privilege Escalation"
mitre_attack_technique = "Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts"
mitre_attack_url = "https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1037/"
mitre_attack_version = "v13.1"
type = "Alert"
data_source = "AWS CloudTrail"
platform = "AWS"
severity = "High"
priority = "High"
events:
$cloudtrail.metadata.vendor_name = "AMAZON"
$cloudtrail.metadata.product_name = "AWS CloudTrail"
$cloudtrail.metadata.product_event_type = "ModifyInstanceAttribute"
$cloudtrail.target.resource.attribute.labels["Request Parameters User Data"] != ""
$cloudtrail.security_result.action = "ALLOW"
$cloudtrail.target.resource_ancestors.product_object_id = $instanceId
match:
$instanceId over 1h
outcome:
$risk_score = max(75)
$mitre_attack_tactic = "Privilege Escalation"
$mitre_attack_technique = "Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts"
$mitre_attack_technique_id = "T1037"
$event_count = count_distinct($cloudtrail.metadata.id)
$network_http_user_agent = array_distinct($cloudtrail.network.http.user_agent)
$principal_ip = array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip)
$principal_ip_country = array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region)
$principal_ip_state = array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.state)
$principal_user_display_name = array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.user.user_display_name)
$recipient_aws_account_id = array_distinct($cloudtrail.additional.fields["recipientAccountId"])
$aws_region = array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.location.name)
$target_resource_name = array_distinct($cloudtrail.target.resource.name)
$target_resource_product_object_id = array_distinct($cloudtrail.target.resource.product_object_id)
condition:
$cloudtrail
}
Detection logic
Fires when at least one $cloudtrail event in the 1h window.
Events
$cloudtrail
metadata.product_event_type = "ModifyInstanceAttribute"target.resource.attribute.labels["Request Parameters User Data"] is not nullsecurity_result.action = "ALLOW"
Correlation
Outcome
Fields the detection emits on a match. $risk_score drives alerting; Chronicle surfaces the rest on the detection.
| Field | Expression |
|---|---|
risk_score | max(75) |
event_count | count_distinct($cloudtrail.metadata.id) |
network_http_user_agent | array_distinct($cloudtrail.network.http.user_agent) |
principal_ip | array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip) |
principal_ip_country | array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region) |
principal_ip_state | array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.state) |
principal_user_display_name | array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.user.user_display_name) |
recipient_aws_account_id | array_distinct($cloudtrail.additional.fields["recipientAccountId"]) |
aws_region | array_distinct($cloudtrail.principal.location.name) |
target_resource_name | array_distinct($cloudtrail.target.resource.name) |
target_resource_product_object_id | array_distinct($cloudtrail.target.resource.product_object_id) |