AWS CloudTrail SES Check SES Sending Enabled

Severity: informational
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS CloudTrail, SES
Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.discovery.ses-enumerate/
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detect when a user inquires whether SES Sending is enabled.

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_cloudtrail_ses_check_ses_sending_enabled.py
RuleID: "AWS.CloudTrail.SES.CheckSESSendingEnabled"
DisplayName: AWS CloudTrail SES Check SES Sending Enabled
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Severity: Info
CreateAlert: false
Description: >
  Detect when a user inquires whether SES Sending is enabled.
Reference: >
  https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.discovery.ses-enumerate/
Tags:
  - AWS CloudTrail
  - SES
Tests:
  - Name: CheckSendingEnabled Event
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "p_event_time": "2025-01-20 16:52:14.000000000",
        "p_log_type": "AWS.CloudTrail",
        "p_parse_time": "2025-01-20 17:00:54.143061055",
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "eventCategory": "Management",
        "eventID": "910326f5-5c2c-49b4-a963-702280f29208",
        "eventName": "GetAccountSendingEnabled",
        "eventSource": "ses.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2025-01-20 16:52:14.000000000",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "readOnly": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111122223333",
        "requestID": "b88b794d-b419-47b0-9805-5af1de78a1e7",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "tlsDetails": {
          "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
          "clientProvidedHostHeader": "email.us-west-2.amazonaws.com",
          "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3"
        },
        "userAgent": "example-user-agent",
        "userIdentity": {
          "accessKeyId": "SAMPLE_ACCESS_KEY",
          "accountId": "111122223333",
          "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111122223333:assumed-role/SampleRole/bobson.dugnutt",
          "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID:bobson.dugnutt",
          "sessionContext": {
            "attributes": {
              "creationDate": "2025-01-20T15:58:59Z",
              "mfaAuthenticated": "false"
            },
            "sessionIssuer": {
              "accountId": "111122223333",
              "arn": "arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/us-west-2/SampleRole",
              "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID",
              "type": "Role",
              "userName": "SampleRole"
            }
          },
          "type": "AssumedRole"
        }
      }

Detection logic

Condition

eventName eq "GetAccountSendingEnabled"

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.

Field	Kind	Values
`eventName`	eq	`GetAccountSendingEnabled`

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
`eventName`
`eventSource`
`awsRegion`
`recipientAccountId`
`sourceIPAddress`
`userAgent`
`userIdentity`

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`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
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`Enter`	Open highlighted result
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`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)