AWS.CloudTrail.UserAccessKeyAuth

Severity: informational
Entities: actor_ids, aws_account_ids, aws_arns, ip_addresses, trace_ids, usernames
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_cloudtrail_useraccesskeyauth.py
RuleID: "AWS.CloudTrail.UserAccessKeyAuth"
DisplayName: "AWS.CloudTrail.UserAccessKeyAuth"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
    - AWS.CloudTrail
Severity: Info
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
Threshold: 1
InlineFilters:
    - All: []
Tests:
    - Name: Access Key Action Failed
      ExpectedResult: false
      Log:
        awsRegion: us-east-1
        errorCode: AccessDenied
        errorMessage: 'User: arn:aws:iam::187901811700:user/exposed.user is not authorized to perform: lambda:ListFunctions on resource: * because no identity-based policy allows the lambda:ListFunctions action'
        eventCategory: Management
        eventID: 57b719ad-f2fa-4d18-bd84-29fee11799b1
        eventName: ListFunctions20150331
        eventSource: lambda.amazonaws.com
        eventTime: "2024-06-02 20:16:32.000000000"
        eventType: AwsApiCall
        eventVersion: "1.08"
        managementEvent: true
        p_any_actor_ids:
            - AIDASXP6SDP2AJQPWVFII
        p_any_aws_account_ids:
            - "187901811700"
        p_any_aws_arns:
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:user/exposed.user
        p_any_ip_addresses:
            - 73.252.165.138
        p_any_trace_ids:
            - AKIASXP6SDP2F3JQERZ2
        p_any_usernames:
            - exposed.user
        p_event_time: "2024-06-02 20:16:32.000000000"
        p_log_type: AWS.CloudTrail
        p_parse_time: "2024-06-02 20:25:54.290533382"
        p_row_id: f26228572e3f9acd88e0cadc1fcc8e0a
        p_schema_version: 0
        p_source_file:
            aws_s3_bucket: threat-research-trail-trail-bucket-0ipb5nzxam
            aws_s3_key: AWSLogs/187901811700/CloudTrail/us-east-1/2024/06/02/187901811700_CloudTrail_us-east-1_20240602T2020Z_12tLndRWeXi4IWKg.json.gz
        p_source_id: d0a1e235-6548-4e7f-952a-35063b304007
        p_source_label: threat-research-trail-us-east-1
        readOnly: true
        recipientAccountId: "187901811700"
        requestID: ea7dbdf9-6c03-421e-abf4-f201919f9f26
        sourceIPAddress: 73.252.165.138
        tlsDetails:
            cipherSuite: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
            clientProvidedHostHeader: lambda.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
            tlsVersion: TLSv1.3
        userAgent: aws-cli/2.15.59 md/awscrt#0.19.19 ua/2.0 os/macos#22.6.0 md/arch#arm64 lang/python#3.11.11 md/pyimpl#CPython cfg/retry-mode#standard md/installer#source md/prompt#off md/command#lambda.list-functions
        userIdentity:
            accessKeyId: AKIASXP6SDP2F3JQERZ2
            accountId: "187901811700"
            arn: arn:aws:iam::187901811700:user/exposed.user
            principalId: AIDASXP6SDP2AJQPWVFII
            type: IAMUser
            userName: exposed.user
    - Name: Access Key Action Success
      ExpectedResult: true
      Log:
        awsRegion: us-east-1
        eventCategory: Management
        eventID: 4c24450d-007e-4849-9e1b-4954622dbb08
        eventName: GetCallerIdentity
        eventSource: sts.amazonaws.com
        eventTime: "2024-06-02 20:16:22.000000000"
        eventType: AwsApiCall
        eventVersion: "1.08"
        managementEvent: true
        p_any_actor_ids:
            - AIDASXP6SDP2AJQPWVFII
        p_any_aws_account_ids:
            - "187901811700"
        p_any_aws_arns:
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:user/exposed.user
        p_any_ip_addresses:
            - 73.252.165.138
        p_any_trace_ids:
            - AKIASXP6SDP2F3JQERZ2
        p_any_usernames:
            - exposed.user
        p_event_time: "2024-06-02 20:16:22.000000000"
        p_log_type: AWS.CloudTrail
        p_parse_time: "2024-06-02 20:25:54.289981899"
        p_row_id: f26228572e3f9acd88e0cadc1fc88e0a
        p_schema_version: 0
        p_source_file:
            aws_s3_bucket: threat-research-trail-trail-bucket-0ipb5nzxam
            aws_s3_key: AWSLogs/187901811700/CloudTrail/us-east-1/2024/06/02/187901811700_CloudTrail_us-east-1_20240602T2020Z_12tLndRWeXi4IWKg.json.gz
        p_source_id: d0a1e235-6548-4e7f-952a-35063b304007
        p_source_label: threat-research-trail-us-east-1
        readOnly: true
        recipientAccountId: "187901811700"
        requestID: c77ed3ee-8480-41df-98cb-9cf52ce04a1c
        sourceIPAddress: 73.252.165.138
        tlsDetails:
            cipherSuite: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
            clientProvidedHostHeader: sts.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
            tlsVersion: TLSv1.3
        userAgent: aws-cli/2.15.59 md/awscrt#0.19.19 ua/2.0 os/macos#22.6.0 md/arch#arm64 lang/python#3.11.11 md/pyimpl#CPython cfg/retry-mode#standard md/installer#source md/prompt#off md/command#sts.get-caller-identity
        userIdentity:
            accessKeyId: AKIASXP6SDP2F3JQERZ2
            accountId: "187901811700"
            arn: arn:aws:iam::187901811700:user/exposed.user
            principalId: AIDASXP6SDP2AJQPWVFII
            type: IAMUser
            userName: exposed.user
    - Name: Console Login
      ExpectedResult: false
      Log:
        additionalEventData:
            MFAUsed: "No"
            MobileVersion: "No"
        awsRegion: us-west-2
        eventCategory: Management
        eventID: 364ad368-42bf-4e05-a500-971ddfe8ebff
        eventName: ConsoleLogin
        eventSource: signin.amazonaws.com
        eventTime: "2024-06-02 19:41:40.000000000"
        eventType: AwsConsoleSignIn
        eventVersion: "1.08"
        managementEvent: true
        p_any_actor_ids:
            - AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB
            - AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB:nicholas.hakmiller
        p_any_aws_account_ids:
            - "187901811700"
        p_any_aws_arns:
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
            - arn:aws:sts::187901811700:assumed-role/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6/nicholas.hakmiller
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/us-west-2/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
        p_any_ip_addresses:
            - 73.252.165.138
        p_any_trace_ids:
            - ASIASXP6SDP2HUZY3TOB
        p_any_usernames:
            - AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
            - nicholas.hakmiller
        p_event_time: "2024-06-02 19:41:40.000000000"
        p_log_type: AWS.CloudTrail
        p_parse_time: "2024-06-02 19:50:54.391407154"
        p_row_id: f26228572e3f9acd88e0cadc1f80a502
        p_schema_version: 0
        p_source_file:
            aws_s3_bucket: threat-research-trail-trail-bucket-xhh4yndpq5
            aws_s3_key: AWSLogs/187901811700/CloudTrail/us-west-2/2024/06/02/187901811700_CloudTrail_us-west-2_20240602T1945Z_ggfzMNc1AHPJypqR.json.gz
        p_source_id: 469edf86-a0c6-4d13-ba48-47c4060bb804
        p_source_label: threat-research-trail-us-west-2
        readOnly: false
        recipientAccountId: "187901811700"
        responseElements:
            ConsoleLogin: Success
        sourceIPAddress: 73.252.165.138
        tlsDetails:
            cipherSuite: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
            clientProvidedHostHeader: us-west-2.signin.aws.amazon.com
            tlsVersion: TLSv1.3
        userAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/125.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
        userIdentity:
            accessKeyId: ASIASXP6SDP2HUZY3TOB
            accountId: "187901811700"
            arn: arn:aws:sts::187901811700:assumed-role/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6/nicholas.hakmiller
            principalId: AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB:nicholas.hakmiller
            sessionContext:
                attributes:
                    creationDate: "2024-06-02T19:41:40Z"
                    mfaAuthenticated: "false"
                sessionIssuer:
                    accountId: "187901811700"
                    arn: arn:aws:iam::187901811700:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/us-west-2/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
                    principalId: AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB
                    type: Role
                    userName: AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
                webIdFederationData: {}
            type: AssumedRole
    - Name: No Access Key
      ExpectedResult: false
      Log:
        additionalEventData:
            MFAUsed: "No"
            MobileVersion: "No"
        awsRegion: us-west-2
        eventCategory: Management
        eventID: 364ad368-42bf-4e05-a500-971ddfe8ebff
        eventName: AssumeRole
        eventSource: signin.amazonaws.com
        eventTime: "2024-06-02 19:41:40.000000000"
        eventType: AwsConsoleSignIn
        eventVersion: "1.08"
        managementEvent: true
        p_any_actor_ids:
            - AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB
            - AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB:nicholas.hakmiller
        p_any_aws_account_ids:
            - "187901811700"
        p_any_aws_arns:
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
            - arn:aws:sts::187901811700:assumed-role/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6/nicholas.hakmiller
            - arn:aws:iam::187901811700:role/aws-reserved/sso.amazonaws.com/us-west-2/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6
        p_any_ip_addresses:
            - 73.252.165.138
        p_any_trace_ids:
            - ASIASXP6SDP2HUZY3TOB
        p_any_usernames:
            - nicholas.hakmiller
        p_event_time: "2024-06-02 19:41:40.000000000"
        p_log_type: AWS.CloudTrail
        p_parse_time: "2024-06-02 19:50:54.391407154"
        p_row_id: f26228572e3f9acd88e0cadc1f80a502
        p_schema_version: 0
        p_source_file:
            aws_s3_bucket: threat-research-trail-trail-bucket-xhh4yndpq5
            aws_s3_key: AWSLogs/187901811700/CloudTrail/us-west-2/2024/06/02/187901811700_CloudTrail_us-west-2_20240602T1945Z_ggfzMNc1AHPJypqR.json.gz
        p_source_id: 469edf86-a0c6-4d13-ba48-47c4060bb804
        p_source_label: threat-research-trail-us-west-2
        readOnly: false
        recipientAccountId: "187901811700"
        responseElements:
            ConsoleLogin: Success
        sourceIPAddress: 73.252.165.138
        tlsDetails:
            cipherSuite: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
            clientProvidedHostHeader: us-west-2.signin.aws.amazon.com
            tlsVersion: TLSv1.3
        userAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/125.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
        userIdentity:
            accountId: "187901811700"
            arn: arn:aws:sts::187901811700:assumed-role/AWSReservedSSO_DevAdmin_635426549a280cc6/nicholas.hakmiller
            principalId: AROASXP6SDP2F4WLQVARB:nicholas.hakmiller
            sessionContext:
                attributes:
                    creationDate: "2024-06-02T19:41:40Z"
                    mfaAuthenticated: "false"
                sessionIssuer:
                    type: lambda
                webIdFederationData: {}
            type: AssumedRole
CreateAlert: false

Detection logic

Condition

not (errorCode is_not_null or errorMessage is_not_null)
userIdentity.accessKeyId starts_with "AKIA"

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`errorCode`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`errorMessage`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)

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
`userIdentity.accessKeyId`	starts_with	`AKIA`

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
`arn`	`userIdentity.arn`
`accessKeyId`	`userIdentity.accessKeyId`

`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)