AWS EC2 Many Password Read Attempts

Severity: informational
Group by: actor_user
Compliance: Stratus Red Team aws.credential-access.ec2-get-password-data
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS, CloudTrail, EC2, Credential Access:Credentials from Password Stores, Credential Access, Credentials from Password Stores
Reference: https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.credential-access.ec2-get-password-data/
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

An actor in AWS has made many attempts to retrieve EC2 passwords. It is typically not necessary to retrieve EC2 passwords more than a few times an hour.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1555` Credentials from Password Stores

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

AWS Credential Access GetPasswordData (Splunk)
AWS EC2 Unauthorized Admin Credential Fetch via Assumed Role (Elastic)
EC2 Password Data Retrieved (Sigma)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_ec2_many_passwors_read_attempts.py
RuleID: "AWS.EC2.ManyPasswordReadAttempts"
DisplayName: "AWS EC2 Many Password Read Attempts"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Severity: Info
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0006:T1555 # Credential Access: Credentials from Password Stores
  Stratus Red Team:
    - aws.credential-access.ec2-get-password-data
Description: >
  An actor in AWS has made many attempts to retrieve EC2 passwords. It is typically
  not necessary to retrieve EC2 passwords more than a few times an hour.
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
Threshold: 30
Reference: 
  https://stratus-red-team.cloud/attack-techniques/AWS/aws.credential-access.ec2-get-password-data/
Runbook: Identify the actor and the EC2 instances for which the credential access
  attempts were made. Determine if the attempts have a valid reason.
Tags:
  - AWS
  - CloudTrail
  - EC2
  - Credential Access:Credentials from Password Stores
  - Credential Access
  - Credentials from Password Stores
Tests:
  - Name: Unsuccessful Attempt
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "p_event_time": "2024-12-11 21:45:56.000000000",
        "p_log_type": "AWS.CloudTrail",
        "p_parse_time": "2024-12-11 21:50:54.495464364",
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "errorCode": "Client.UnauthorizedOperation",
        "errorMessage": "You are not authorized to perform this operation. User: arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-nostalgic-merkle/sample-role-quizzical-goldstine.jenkins is not authorized to perform: ec2:GetPasswordData on resource: arn:aws:ec2:us-west-2:111111111111:instance/* because no identity-based policy allows the ec2:GetPasswordData action. Encoded authorization failure message: VbdJrM7j1Czq6HEj1lZpnU-AWGICaaPZQs1K_-9U3hQcFpXimBHYHwvg4SOc36ACu0GUYqWoSeX6_wI7ke3QxC0d1_Wv2XYLI96rYdMY2aWzdzwkIp__hUQQi-XqaHmp-QHOHiiJ31xqEkDZvyZXaO0BHhCpf8m7mIMeMaAB2CPtKhPj5NPGGkPc1f6rNFx0grhDkKZ3MrWBo65U4nRjzJrThuyK3146B1k1tWuQfI2_H-QMCuOl_aTIZ93xIeWFoIqKUWnD6-F68V8hhxHHXl0EhiFL9p7LAGvYTPXtJ1wEH1ve8iOW1S9ptI8CuFVP-Q7E7-NS45tIaheVJusaq3JtS03XAnKYC2NuVXnXBwbPNbNiQWH8LfSdgl43MZ5Q9Kin-tqCoA_Yskz0F_JNokjmIB2PKegJ5kANzHcb09u9sSqvgqKqpVHpfIDtjcI8LPzWjZyUNExaymEWOkE4HhtF19t1zyBvuoO6xgZtCyAx-6fsDSO8jpBZbLz9MsPmjhJLfp_yQPOF9ROIrBhvNCY_2tC7hyDDwdl11iNzHQvBaCjiLjE5PcoEchYWTHqlVHZ-yMA3",
        "eventCategory": "Management",
        "eventID": "9e2b3bf0-8f58-4d50-83af-b3175b68c2f8",
        "eventName": "GetPasswordData",
        "eventSource": "ec2.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2024-12-11 21:45:56.000000000",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.10",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "readOnly": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
        "requestID": "b22ce7ac-297f-41b4-a92e-f4aa38668c6d",
        "requestParameters": {
          "instanceId": "i-abcdef1234567890"
        },
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "tlsDetails": {
          "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
          "clientProvidedHostHeader": "ec2.us-west-2.amazonaws.com",
          "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3"
        },
        "userAgent": "SampleUserAgent",
        "userIdentity": {
          "accessKeyId": "SAMPLE_ACCESS_KEY",
          "accountId": "111111111111",
          "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-nostalgic-merkle/sample-role-quizzical-goldstine.jenkins",
          "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID:leroy.jenkins",
          "sessionContext": {
            "attributes": {
              "creationDate": "2024-12-11T21:45:52Z",
              "mfaAuthenticated": "false"
            },
            "sessionIssuer": {
              "accountId": "111111111111",
              "arn": "arn:aws:iam::111111111111:role/sample-role-nostalgic-merkle",
              "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID",
              "type": "Role",
              "userName": "SampleRole"
            }
          },
          "type": "AssumedRole"
        }
      }
  - Name: Successful Attempt
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
      "p_event_time": "2024-11-21 22:46:18.000000000",
      "p_log_type": "AWS.CloudTrail",
      "p_parse_time": "2024-11-21 22:50:54.241713629",
      "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
      "eventCategory": "Management",
      "eventID": "73076737-1a1e-418b-94fd-cbde95a5859d",
      "eventName": "GetPasswordData",
      "eventSource": "ec2.amazonaws.com",
      "eventTime": "2024-11-21 22:46:18.000000000",
      "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
      "eventVersion": "1.10",
      "managementEvent": true,
      "readOnly": true,
      "recipientAccountId": "111122223333",
      "requestID": "6ed17b60-a576-4b71-91d3-b59a37b3c6f9",
      "requestParameters": {
        "instanceId": "i-abcdef1234567890"
      },
      "sessionCredentialFromConsole": true,
      "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
      "tlsDetails": {
        "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
        "clientProvidedHostHeader": "ec2.us-west-2.amazonaws.com",
        "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3"
      },
      "userAgent": "SampleUserAgent",
      "userIdentity": {
        "accessKeyId": "SAMPLE_ACCESS_KEY",
        "accountId": "111122223333",
        "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111122223333:assumed-role/SampleRole/leroy.jenkins",
        "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID:leroy.jenkins",
        "sessionContext": {
          "attributes": {
            "creationDate": "2024-11-21T22:42:44Z",
            "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"
      }
    }
  - Name: Unrelated Event
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "eventCategory": "Management",
        "eventID": "044e210e-6c5e-3f3e-8f04-2311a826f287",
        "eventName": "AssumeRole",
        "eventSource": "sts.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2024-12-12 16:04:32.000000000",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "managementEvent": "True",
        "readOnly": "True",
        "recipientAccountId": "111122223333",
        "requestID": "82c13187-0cc9-445e-9862-65d3ee2c6b7d",
        "requestParameters": {
          "durationSeconds": "900",
          "roleArn": "arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/SampleRole",
          "roleSessionName": "SampleSession"
        },
        "resources": [
          "{'accountId': '111122223333', 'arn': 'arn:aws:iam::111122223333:role/SampleRole', 'type': 'AWS::IAM::Role'}"
        ],
        "responseElements": {
          "assumedRoleUser": {
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111122223333:assumed-role/SampleRole/SampleSession",
            "assumedRoleId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID:SampleSession"
          },
          "credentials": {
            "accessKeyId": "SAMPLE_ACCESS_KEY",
            "expiration": "Dec 12, 2024, 4:19:32 PM",
            "sessionToken": "SampleSessionToken"
          }
        },
        "sharedEventID": "fe4784a8-b3b8-4dac-a763-0476f4bef6e3",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "tlsDetails": {
          "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256",
          "clientProvidedHostHeader": "sts.us-east-1.amazonaws.com",
          "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3"
        },
        "userAgent": "SampleUserAgent",
        "userIdentity": {
          "accountId": "111122223333",
          "principalId": "SAMPLE_PRINCIPAL_ID:lambda-name",
          "type": "AWSAccount"
        }
      }

Detection logic

Condition

eventName eq "GetPasswordData"
eventSource eq "ec2.amazonaws.com"

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	`GetPasswordData`
`eventSource`	eq	`ec2.amazonaws.com`

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`
`actor_user`

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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)