Detection rules › Kusto
AWSCloudTrail - Unauthorized EC2 Instance Setup Attempt
Detects an unauthorized attempt to launch an EC2 instance by a user without the necessary permissions. This may indicate an attempt to provision malicious infrastructure within the AWS subscription. Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.execution.ec2-launch-unusual-instances/
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Resource Development | T1583 Acquire Infrastructure |
Rules detecting the same action
Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.
Rule body kusto
id: f7210a45-12a4-4d02-b59e-f23476827a4b
name: AWSCloudTrail - Unauthorized EC2 Instance Setup Attempt
description: |
Detects an unauthorized attempt to launch an EC2 instance by a user without the necessary permissions. This may indicate an attempt to provision malicious infrastructure within the AWS subscription. Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.execution.ec2-launch-unusual-instances/
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
- connectorId: AWS
dataTypes:
- AWSCloudTrail
queryFrequency: 10m
queryPeriod: 10m
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
- ResourceDevelopment
relevantTechniques:
- T1583
query: |
AWSCloudTrail
| where EventName == "RunInstances"
| where ErrorCode == "Client.UnauthorizedOperation"
| project TimeGenerated, AwsEventId, EventTypeName, UserIdentityPrincipalid, UserIdentityType, UserIdentityAccountId, SessionMfaAuthenticated, SessionCreationDate, SessionIssuerUserName, SourceIpAddress, AWSRegion, UserAgent, RequestParameters, ErrorMessage
| extend UserName = substring(UserIdentityPrincipalid, indexof_regex(UserIdentityPrincipalid, ":") + 1)
| extend Name = split(UserName,'@')[0],UpnSuffix = split(UserName,'@')[1]
entityMappings:
- entityType: Account
fieldMappings:
- identifier: Name
columnName: Name
- identifier: UPNSuffix
columnName: UpnSuffix
- entityType: IP
fieldMappings:
- identifier: Address
columnName: SourceIpAddress
customDetails:
AWSRegion: AWSRegion
UserAgent: UserAgent
ErrorMessage: ErrorMessage
UserIdentityType: UserIdentityType
alertDetailsOverride:
alertDisplayNameFormat: Unauthorized EC2 instance launch attempt by {{UserIdentityPrincipalid}} in {{AWSRegion}}
alertDescriptionFormat: User {{UserIdentityPrincipalid}} (type {{UserIdentityType}}) attempted an unauthorized EC2 instance launch in region {{AWSRegion}}.
version: 1.0.1
kind: Scheduled
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: source
AWSCloudTrail
Stage 2: where
| where EventName == "RunInstances"
Stage 3: where
| where ErrorCode == "Client.UnauthorizedOperation"
Stage 4: project
| project TimeGenerated, AwsEventId, EventTypeName, UserIdentityPrincipalid, UserIdentityType, UserIdentityAccountId, SessionMfaAuthenticated, SessionCreationDate, SessionIssuerUserName, SourceIpAddress, AWSRegion, UserAgent, RequestParameters, ErrorMessage
Stage 5: extend
| extend UserName = substring(UserIdentityPrincipalid, indexof_regex(UserIdentityPrincipalid, ":") + 1)
Stage 6: extend
| extend Name = split(UserName,'@')[0],UpnSuffix = split(UserName,'@')[1]
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.
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.
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
AWSRegion | project |
AwsEventId | project |
ErrorMessage | project |
EventTypeName | project |
RequestParameters | project |
SessionCreationDate | project |
SessionIssuerUserName | project |
SessionMfaAuthenticated | project |
SourceIpAddress | project |
TimeGenerated | project |
UserAgent | project |
UserIdentityAccountId | project |
UserIdentityPrincipalid | project |
UserIdentityType | project |
UserName | extend |
Name | extend |
UpnSuffix | extend |