AWS CloudTrail Management Events Enabled

Severity: high
Compliance: CIS 2.1; PCI 10.5.4
Tags: AWS, Security Control, Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awscloudtrail/latest/userguide/cloudtrail-user-guide.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

This policy ensures that at least one CloudTrail has management (control plane) operations logged.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1562` Impair Defenses

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: policy
Filename: aws_cloudtrail_enabled.py
PolicyID: "AWS.CloudTrail.Enabled"
DisplayName: "AWS CloudTrail Management Events Enabled"
Enabled: true
ResourceTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail.Meta
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Security Control
  - Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses
Reports:
  CIS:
    - 2.1
  PCI:
    - 10.5.4
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0005:T1562
Severity: High
Description: >
  This policy ensures that at least one CloudTrail has
  management (control plane) operations logged.
Runbook: >
  https://docs.runpanther.io/alert-runbooks/built-in-policies/aws-cloudtrail-enabled-in-all-regions
Reference: >
  https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awscloudtrail/latest/userguide/cloudtrail-user-guide.html
Tests:
  - Name: Global CloudTrail Is Enabled
    ExpectedResult: true
    Resource:
      {
        "GlobalEventSelectors":
          [
            {
              "DataResources": null,
              "IncludeManagementEvents": true,
              "ReadWriteType": "All",
            },
            {
              "DataResources":
                [{ "Type": "AWS::S3::Object", "Values": ["arn:aws:s3"] }],
              "IncludeManagementEvents": true,
              "ReadWriteType": "All",
            },
          ],
        "Trails": ["trail1"],
      }
  - Name: CloudTrail Enabled with ReadOnly Management Events
    ExpectedResult: false
    Resource:
      {
        "GlobalEventSelectors":
          [
            {
              "DataResources": null,
              "IncludeManagementEvents": true,
              "ReadWriteType": "Read",
            },
          ],
        "Trails": ["trail1"],
      }
  - Name: No Global CloudTrail Enabled
    ExpectedResult: false
    Resource: { "GlobalEventSelectors": null, "Trails": [] }
  - Name: Advanced Selector With Management
    ExpectedResult: true
    Resource:
      {
        "Trails":
          ["arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-1:123456789012:trail/write_to_bucket"],
        "GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors":
          [
            {
              "Name": "Management events selector",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [{ "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Management"] }],
            },
            {
              "Name": "LambdaDataEvents",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] },
                  {
                    "Field": "resources.type",
                    "Equals": ["AWS::Lambda::Function"],
                  },
                ],
            },
            {
              "Name": "S3DataEvents",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] },
                  {
                    "Field": "eventName",
                    "NotEquals": ["HeadObject", "UploadPart"],
                  },
                  { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::S3::Object"] },
                ],
            },
          ],
      }
  - Name: Advanced Selector With Management and readOnly
    ExpectedResult: false
    Resource:
      {
        "Trails":
          ["arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-1:123456789012:trail/write_to_bucket"],
        "GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors":
          [
            {
              "Name": "Management events selector",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Management"] },
                  { "Field": "readOnly", "Equals": ["true"] },
                ],
            },
            {
              "Name": "LambdaDataEvents",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] },
                  {
                    "Field": "resources.type",
                    "Equals": ["AWS::Lambda::Function"],
                  },
                ],
            },
            {
              "Name": "S3DataEvents",
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  { "Field": "eventCategory", "Equals": ["Data"] },
                  {
                    "Field": "eventName",
                    "NotEquals": ["HeadObject", "UploadPart"],
                  },
                  { "Field": "resources.type", "Equals": ["AWS::S3::Object"] },
                ],
            },
          ],
      }
  - Name: None Global Selector, Valid Advanced Selector
    ExpectedResult: true
    Resource:
      {
        "AccountId": "123456789012",
        "GlobalEventSelectors": null,
        "GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors":
          [
            {
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": ["Data"],
                    "Field": "eventCategory",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": null,
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": null,
                    "Field": "eventName",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": ["UploadPart", "HeadObject"],
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": ["AWS::S3::Object"],
                    "Field": "resources.type",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": null,
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                ],
              "Name": "S3DataEvents",
            },
            {
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": ["Data"],
                    "Field": "eventCategory",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": null,
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": ["AWS::Lambda::Function"],
                    "Field": "resources.type",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": null,
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                ],
              "Name": "LambdaDataEvents",
            },
            {
              "FieldSelectors":
                [
                  {
                    "EndsWith": null,
                    "Equals": ["Management"],
                    "Field": "eventCategory",
                    "NotEndsWith": null,
                    "NotEquals": null,
                    "NotStartsWith": null,
                    "StartsWith": null,
                  },
                ],
              "Name": "Management events selector",
            },
          ],
        "Name": "AWS.CloudTrail.Meta",
        "Region": "global",
        "ResourceId": "123456789012::AWS.CloudTrail.Meta",
        "ResourceType": "AWS.CloudTrail.Meta",
        "Trails": ["arn:aws:cloudtrail:us-east-1:123456789012/bucket"],
      }

Detection logic

Condition

not (Trails is_not_null and (GlobalEventSelectors is_not_null or GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors is_not_null) and ((GlobalEventSelectors is_not_null and GlobalEventSelectors array_any) or GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors is_not_null))

This rule also runs imperative logic the parser cannot express as a filter; the conditions above are the structured part it could extract.

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`GlobalEventSelectors`	array_any	(no value, null check)
`GlobalEventSelectors`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`GlobalAdvancedEventSelectors`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`GlobalEventSelectors`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`Trails`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)