AWS DynamoDB Table Autoscaling

Severity: low
Tags: AWS, Availability
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/AutoScaling.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

DynamoDB Auto Scaling can dynamically adjust provisioned throughput capacity in response to traffic patterns. This enables a table to increase its provisioned read and write capacity to handle sudden increases in traffic

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: policy
Filename: aws_dynamodb_autoscaling.py
PolicyID: "AWS.DynamoDB.Autoscaling"
DisplayName: "AWS DynamoDB Table Autoscaling"
Enabled: true
ResourceTypes:
  - AWS.DynamoDB.Table
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Availability
Severity: Low
Description: >
  DynamoDB Auto Scaling can dynamically adjust provisioned throughput capacity in response to
  traffic patterns. This enables a table to increase its provisioned read and write capacity
  to handle sudden increases in traffic
Runbook: >
  https://docs.runpanther.io/alert-runbooks/built-in-policies/aws-dynamodb-table-has-autoscaling-enabled
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/AutoScaling.html
Tests:
  - Name: AutoScaling Enabled
    ExpectedResult: true
    Resource:
      {
        "AutoScalingDescriptions":
          [
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:ReadCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:WriteCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:ReadCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:WriteCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
          ],
        "AttributeDefinitions":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "AttributeType": "S" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "AttributeType": "S" },
          ],
        "BillingModeSummary":
          {
            "BillingMode": "PROVISIONED",
            "LastUpdateToPayPerRequestDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
          },
        "CreationDateTime": "2019-01-01T100:00:00Z",
        "GlobalSecondaryIndexes":
          [
            {
              "Backfilling": null,
              "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/panther-internal-poller-test-table/index/high_score-index",
              "IndexName": "example-index",
              "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
              "IndexStatus": "ACTIVE",
              "ItemCount": 0,
              "KeySchema":
                [{ "AttributeName": "high_score", "KeyType": "HASH" }],
              "Projection":
                { "NonKeyAttributes": null, "ProjectionType": "ALL" },
              "ProvisionedThroughput":
                {
                  "LastDecreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "LastIncreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
                  "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
                  "WriteCapacityUnits": 5,
                },
            },
          ],
        "ItemCount": 42,
        "KeySchema":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "KeyType": "HASH" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "KeyType": "RANGE" },
          ],
        "LatestStreamArn": null,
        "LatestStreamLabel": null,
        "LocalSecondaryIndexes": null,
        "ProvisionedThroughput":
          {
            "LastDecreaseDateTime": null,
            "LastIncreaseDateTime": null,
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 0,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 0,
          },
        "RestoreSummary": null,
        "SSEDescription":
          {
            "KMSMasterKeyArn": "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789012:key/111222333",
            "SSEType": "KMS",
            "Status": "ENABLED",
          },
        "StreamSpecification": null,
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/example-table",
        "TableId": "aaaaaaaa-bbbb-1111-2222-1111222233334444",
        "Name": "example-table",
        "TableSizeBytes": 20000,
        "TableStatus": "ACTIVE",
      }
  - Name: AutoScaling Never Configured
    ExpectedResult: false
    Resource:
      {
        "AutoScalingDescriptions": null,
        "AttributeDefinitions":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "AttributeType": "S" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "AttributeType": "S" },
          ],
        "BillingModeSummary": null,
        "CreationDateTime": "2019-01-01T100:00:00Z",
        "GlobalSecondaryIndexes":
          [
            {
              "Backfilling": null,
              "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/panther-internal-poller-test-table/index/high_score-index",
              "IndexName": "example-index",
              "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
              "IndexStatus": "ACTIVE",
              "ItemCount": 0,
              "KeySchema":
                [{ "AttributeName": "high_score", "KeyType": "HASH" }],
              "Projection":
                { "NonKeyAttributes": null, "ProjectionType": "ALL" },
              "ProvisionedThroughput":
                {
                  "LastDecreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "LastIncreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
                  "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
                  "WriteCapacityUnits": 5,
                },
            },
          ],
        "ItemCount": 42,
        "KeySchema":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "KeyType": "HASH" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "KeyType": "RANGE" },
          ],
        "LatestStreamArn": null,
        "LatestStreamLabel": null,
        "LocalSecondaryIndexes": null,
        "ProvisionedThroughput":
          {
            "LastDecreaseDateTime": null,
            "LastIncreaseDateTime": null,
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 0,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 0,
          },
        "RestoreSummary": null,
        "SSEDescription":
          {
            "KMSMasterKeyArn": "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789012:key/111222333",
            "SSEType": "KMS",
            "Status": "ENABLED",
          },
        "StreamSpecification": null,
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/example-table",
        "TableId": "aaaaaaaa-bbbb-1111-2222-1111222233334444",
        "Name": "example-table",
        "TableSizeBytes": 20000,
        "TableStatus": "ACTIVE",
      }
  - Name: AutoScaling Not Enabled For Table
    ExpectedResult: false
    Resource:
      {
        "AutoScalingDescriptions":
          [
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:ReadCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:WriteCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
          ],
        "AttributeDefinitions":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "AttributeType": "S" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "AttributeType": "S" },
          ],
        "BillingModeSummary":
          {
            "BillingMode": "PROVISIONED",
            "LastUpdateToPayPerRequestDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
          },
        "CreationDateTime": "2019-01-01T100:00:00Z",
        "GlobalSecondaryIndexes":
          [
            {
              "Backfilling": null,
              "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/panther-internal-poller-test-table/index/high_score-index",
              "IndexName": "example-index",
              "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
              "IndexStatus": "ACTIVE",
              "ItemCount": 0,
              "KeySchema":
                [{ "AttributeName": "high_score", "KeyType": "HASH" }],
              "Projection":
                { "NonKeyAttributes": null, "ProjectionType": "ALL" },
              "ProvisionedThroughput":
                {
                  "LastDecreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "LastIncreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
                  "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
                  "WriteCapacityUnits": 5,
                },
            },
          ],
        "ItemCount": 42,
        "KeySchema":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "KeyType": "HASH" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "KeyType": "RANGE" },
          ],
        "LatestStreamArn": null,
        "LatestStreamLabel": null,
        "LocalSecondaryIndexes": null,
        "ProvisionedThroughput":
          {
            "LastDecreaseDateTime": null,
            "LastIncreaseDateTime": null,
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 0,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 0,
          },
        "RestoreSummary": null,
        "SSEDescription":
          {
            "KMSMasterKeyArn": "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789012:key/111222333",
            "SSEType": "KMS",
            "Status": "ENABLED",
          },
        "StreamSpecification": null,
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/example-table",
        "TableId": "aaaaaaaa-bbbb-1111-2222-1111222233334444",
        "Name": "example-table",
        "TableSizeBytes": 20000,
        "TableStatus": "ACTIVE",
      }
  - Name: Billing Mode Pay Per Request
    ExpectedResult: true
    Resource:
      {
        "AutoScalingDescriptions":
          [
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:ReadCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:table:WriteCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:ReadCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
            {
              "CreationTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
              "MaxCapacity": 40000,
              "MinCapacity": 5,
              "ResourceId": "table/example-table/index/example-index",
              "RoleARN": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/aws-service-role/dynamodb.application-autoscaling.amazonaws.com/AWSServiceRoleForApplicationAutoScaling_DynamoDBTable",
              "ScalableDimension": "dynamodb:index:WriteCapacityUnits",
              "ServiceNamespace": "dynamodb",
            },
          ],
        "AttributeDefinitions":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "AttributeType": "S" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "AttributeType": "S" },
          ],
        "BillingModeSummary":
          {
            "BillingMode": "PAY-PER-REQUEST",
            "LastUpdateToPayPerRequestDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
          },
        "CreationDateTime": "2019-01-01T100:00:00Z",
        "GlobalSecondaryIndexes":
          [
            {
              "Backfilling": null,
              "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/panther-internal-poller-test-table/index/high_score-index",
              "IndexName": "example-index",
              "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
              "IndexStatus": "ACTIVE",
              "ItemCount": 0,
              "KeySchema":
                [{ "AttributeName": "high_score", "KeyType": "HASH" }],
              "Projection":
                { "NonKeyAttributes": null, "ProjectionType": "ALL" },
              "ProvisionedThroughput":
                {
                  "LastDecreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "LastIncreaseDateTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                  "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
                  "ReadCapacityUnits": 5,
                  "WriteCapacityUnits": 5,
                },
            },
          ],
        "ItemCount": 42,
        "KeySchema":
          [
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_one", "KeyType": "HASH" },
            { "AttributeName": "attribute_two", "KeyType": "RANGE" },
          ],
        "LatestStreamArn": null,
        "LatestStreamLabel": null,
        "LocalSecondaryIndexes": null,
        "ProvisionedThroughput":
          {
            "LastDecreaseDateTime": null,
            "LastIncreaseDateTime": null,
            "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
            "ReadCapacityUnits": 0,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": 0,
          },
        "RestoreSummary": null,
        "SSEDescription":
          {
            "KMSMasterKeyArn": "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789012:key/111222333",
            "SSEType": "KMS",
            "Status": "ENABLED",
          },
        "StreamSpecification": null,
        "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-west-2:123456789012:table/example-table",
        "TableId": "aaaaaaaa-bbbb-1111-2222-1111222233334444",
        "Name": "example-table",
        "TableSizeBytes": 20000,
        "TableStatus": "ACTIVE",
      }

Detection logic

Condition

not (not (BillingModeSummary is_null and AutoScalingDescriptions is_null) and AutoScalingDescriptions is_not_null and BillingModeSummary.BillingMode ne "PROVISIONED")

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
`AutoScalingDescriptions`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`BillingModeSummary`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`BillingModeSummary.BillingMode`	ne	`PROVISIONED`
`AutoScalingDescriptions`	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
`AutoScalingDescriptions`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`BillingModeSummary`	is_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)