Detection rules › Kusto

AWSCloudTrail - Creation of Lambda policy and then privilege escalation

Status
available
Severity
medium
Time window
1d
Group by
AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, EventName, EventSource, PolicyName, RecipientAccountId, SourceIpAddress, UserIdentityArn, UserIdentityType
Source
github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies creation of IAM policies that grant broad AWS Lambda permissions followed by attachment to a user, role, or group. This sequence can indicate an attempt to add execution capabilities that support privilege escalation.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

Rule body kusto

id: 796a45ee-220b-42be-8415-c8c933cf3b6d
name: AWSCloudTrail - Creation of Lambda policy and then privilege escalation
description: |
  Identifies creation of IAM policies that grant broad AWS Lambda permissions followed by attachment to a user, role, or group. This sequence can indicate an attempt to add execution capabilities that support privilege escalation.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AWS
    dataTypes:
      - AWSCloudTrail
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - DefenseEvasion
  - PrivilegeEscalation
  - Persistence
relevantTechniques:
  - T1484
  - T1098.003
query: |
  let EventNameList = dynamic(["AttachUserPolicy","AttachRolePolicy","AttachGroupPolicy"]);
  let createPolicy =  dynamic(["CreatePolicy", "CreatePolicyVersion"]);
  let timeframe = 1d;
  let lookback = 14d;
  // Creating Master table with all the events to use with materialize for better performance
  let EventInfo = materialize(AWSCloudTrail
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(lookback)
  | where EventName in (EventNameList) or EventName in (createPolicy)
  | extend UserIdentityArn = iif(isempty(UserIdentityArn), tostring(parse_json(Resources)[0].ARN), UserIdentityArn)
  | extend UserName = tostring(split(UserIdentityArn, '/')[-1])
  | extend AccountName = case( UserIdentityPrincipalid == "Anonymous", "Anonymous", isempty(UserIdentityUserName), UserName, UserIdentityUserName)
  | extend AccountName = iif(AccountName contains "@", tostring(split(AccountName, '@', 0)[0]), AccountName),
    AccountUPNSuffix = iif(AccountName contains "@", tostring(split(AccountName, '@', 1)[0]), ""));
  //Checking for Policy creation event with Full Admin Privileges since lookback period.
  let FullAdminPolicyEvents =  EventInfo
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(lookback)
  | where EventName in (createPolicy)
  | extend PolicyName = tostring(parse_json(RequestParameters).policyName)
  | extend Statement = parse_json(tostring((parse_json(RequestParameters).policyDocument))).Statement
  | mvexpand Statement
  | extend Action = parse_json(Statement).Action , Effect = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Effect), Resource = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Resource), Condition = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Condition)
  | extend Action = tostring(Action)
  | where Effect =~ "Allow" and ((((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:*") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:CreateFunction" and Action contains "lambda:InvokeFunction") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:Create*" and Action contains "lambda:Invoke*")) or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:*" and Action contains "dynamodb:*") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:CreateFunction" and Action contains "lambda:CreateEventSourceMapping" and Action contains "dynamodb:PutItem" and Action contains "dynamodb:CreateTable") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:Create*" and Action contains "dynamodb:Put*" and Action contains "dynamodb:Create*")) and Resource == "*" and Condition == ""
  | distinct TimeGenerated, EventName, PolicyName, SourceIpAddress, UserIdentityArn, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix
  | project-rename StartTime = TimeGenerated;
  let PolicyAttach = EventInfo
  | where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
  | where EventName in (EventNameList) and isempty(ErrorCode) and isempty(ErrorMessage)
  | extend PolicyName = tostring(split(tostring(parse_json(RequestParameters).policyArn),"/")[1])
  | summarize AttachEventCount=count(), StartTime = min(TimeGenerated), EndTime = max(TimeGenerated) by EventSource, EventName,   UserIdentityType , UserIdentityArn, SourceIpAddress, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix,  PolicyName
  | extend AttachEvent = pack("StartTime", StartTime, "EndTime", EndTime, "EventName", EventName, "UserIdentityType",   UserIdentityType, "SourceIpAddress", SourceIpAddress, "AccountName", AccountName, "AccountUPNSuffix", AccountUPNSuffix, "RecipientAccountId", RecipientAccountId, "UserIdentityArn", UserIdentityArn)
  | project EventSource, PolicyName, AttachEvent, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, AttachEventCount;
  // Joining the list of PolicyNames and checking if it has been attached to any Roles/Users/Groups.
  // These Roles/Users/Groups will be Privileged and can be used by adversaries as pivot point for privilege escalation via multiple ways.
  FullAdminPolicyEvents
  | join kind=leftouter
  (
      PolicyAttach
  )
  on PolicyName
  | project-away PolicyName1
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix
      - identifier: CloudAppAccountId
        columnName: RecipientAccountId
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: SourceIpAddress
customDetails:
  PolicyName: PolicyName
  EventName: EventName
  RecipientAccountId: RecipientAccountId
  UserIdentityArn: UserIdentityArn
alertDetailsOverride:
  alertDisplayNameFormat: 'AWS Lambda privilege escalation policy activity: {{PolicyName}} by {{AccountName}}'
  alertDescriptionFormat: 'Detected {{EventName}} for policy {{PolicyName}} in account {{RecipientAccountId}}.'
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let EventNameList = dynamic(["AttachUserPolicy","AttachRolePolicy","AttachGroupPolicy"]);
let createPolicy = dynamic(["CreatePolicy", "CreatePolicyVersion"]);
let timeframe = 1d;
let lookback = 14d;

Let binding: PolicyAttach

let PolicyAttach = EventInfo
| where TimeGenerated >= ago(timeframe)
| where EventName in (EventNameList) and isempty(ErrorCode) and isempty(ErrorMessage)
| extend PolicyName = tostring(split(tostring(parse_json(RequestParameters).policyArn),"/")[1])
| summarize AttachEventCount=count(), StartTime = min(TimeGenerated), EndTime = max(TimeGenerated) by EventSource, EventName,   UserIdentityType , UserIdentityArn, SourceIpAddress, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix,  PolicyName
| extend AttachEvent = pack("StartTime", StartTime, "EndTime", EndTime, "EventName", EventName, "UserIdentityType",   UserIdentityType, "SourceIpAddress", SourceIpAddress, "AccountName", AccountName, "AccountUPNSuffix", AccountUPNSuffix, "RecipientAccountId", RecipientAccountId, "UserIdentityArn", UserIdentityArn)
| project EventSource, PolicyName, AttachEvent, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, AttachEventCount;

Derived from EventNameList, timeframe, EventInfo.

The stages below define let FullAdminPolicyEvents (the rule's main pipeline source).

Stage 1: source

AWSCloudTrail

Stage 2: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(lookback)

Stage 3: where

| where EventName in (EventNameList) or EventName in (createPolicy)

Stage 4: extend (4 consecutive steps)

| extend UserIdentityArn = iif(isempty(UserIdentityArn), tostring(parse_json(Resources)[0].ARN), UserIdentityArn)
| extend UserName = tostring(split(UserIdentityArn, '/')[-1])
| extend AccountName = case( UserIdentityPrincipalid == "Anonymous", "Anonymous", isempty(UserIdentityUserName), UserName, UserIdentityUserName)
| extend AccountName = iif(AccountName contains "@", tostring(split(AccountName, '@', 0)[0]), AccountName),
  AccountUPNSuffix = iif(AccountName contains "@", tostring(split(AccountName, '@', 1)[0]), "")

Stage 5: where

| where TimeGenerated >= ago(lookback)

Stage 6: where

| where EventName in (createPolicy)

Stage 7: extend

| extend PolicyName = tostring(parse_json(RequestParameters).policyName)

Stage 8: extend

| extend Statement = parse_json(tostring((parse_json(RequestParameters).policyDocument))).Statement

Stage 9: mv-expand

| mvexpand Statement

Stage 10: extend

| extend Action = parse_json(Statement).Action , Effect = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Effect), Resource = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Resource), Condition = tostring(parse_json(Statement).Condition)

Stage 11: extend

| extend Action = tostring(Action)

Stage 12: where

| where Effect =~ "Allow" and ((((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:*") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:CreateFunction" and Action contains "lambda:InvokeFunction") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:Create*" and Action contains "lambda:Invoke*")) or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:*" and Action contains "dynamodb:*") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:CreateFunction" and Action contains "lambda:CreateEventSourceMapping" and Action contains "dynamodb:PutItem" and Action contains "dynamodb:CreateTable") or ((Action contains "iam:*" or Action contains "iam:PassRole") and Action contains "lambda:Create*" and Action contains "dynamodb:Put*" and Action contains "dynamodb:Create*")) and Resource == "*" and Condition == ""

Stage 13: distinct

| distinct TimeGenerated, EventName, PolicyName, SourceIpAddress, UserIdentityArn, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix

Stage 14: project-rename

| project-rename StartTime = TimeGenerated

The stages below run on FullAdminPolicyEvents (the outer pipeline).

Stage 15: join

FullAdminPolicyEvents
| join kind=leftouter
(
    PolicyAttach
)
on PolicyName

Stage 16: project-away

| project-away PolicyName1

Stage 17: summarize

summarize by EventSource, EventName, UserIdentityType, UserIdentityArn, SourceIpAddress, RecipientAccountId, AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, PolicyName

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

FieldKindValues
Actioncontains
  • dynamodb:*
  • dynamodb:Create*
  • dynamodb:CreateTable
  • dynamodb:Put*
  • dynamodb:PutItem
  • iam:*
  • iam:PassRole
  • lambda:*
  • lambda:Create*
  • lambda:CreateEventSourceMapping
  • lambda:CreateFunction
  • lambda:Invoke*
  • lambda:InvokeFunction
Effecteq
  • Allow
ErrorCodeis_null
  • (no value, null check)
ErrorMessageis_null
  • (no value, null check)
EventNamein
  • AttachGroupPolicy transforms: cased
  • AttachRolePolicy transforms: cased
  • AttachUserPolicy transforms: cased
  • CreatePolicy transforms: cased
  • CreatePolicyVersion transforms: cased
Resourceeq
  • * transforms: cased

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

FieldSource
AccountNamesummarize
AccountUPNSuffixsummarize
EventNamesummarize
EventSourcesummarize
PolicyNamesummarize
RecipientAccountIdsummarize
SourceIpAddresssummarize
UserIdentityArnsummarize
UserIdentityTypesummarize