IAM Role Added to RDS Instance or Cluster

Severity: medium
Group by: awsRegion, recipientAccountId, requestParameters.dBInstanceIdentifier
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, Additional Cloud Credentials, RDS
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_PostgreSQL.S3Import.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when IAM roles are added to RDS instances or clusters. While legitimate for features like S3 import/export, attackers may add overly permissive roles to maintain access or escalate privileges for data exfiltration.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts, `T1098.001` Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials
Privilege Escalation	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts, `T1098.001` Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_rds_iam_role_added.py
RuleID: "AWS.RDS.IAMRoleAdded"
DisplayName: "IAM Role Added to RDS Instance or Cluster"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Persistence
  - Privilege Escalation
  - Additional Cloud Credentials
  - RDS
Severity: Medium
Description: >
  Detects when IAM roles are added to RDS instances or clusters. While legitimate for features
  like S3 import/export, attackers may add overly permissive roles to maintain access or
  escalate privileges for data exfiltration.
Runbook: |
  1. Find all IAM role additions by the user ARN in the past 24 hours
  2. Check if this user has added IAM roles to databases in the past 90 days to determine if this is normal behavior
  3. Look for data export or modification operations from this database in the 48 hours after the role was added
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_PostgreSQL.S3Import.html
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0003:T1098.001  # Additional Cloud Credentials
    - TA0004:T1078.004  # Cloud Accounts
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
SummaryAttributes:
  - eventName
  - userIdentity:principalId
  - requestParameters:dBInstanceIdentifier
  - requestParameters:dBClusterIdentifier
  - requestParameters:roleArn
  - p_any_aws_account_ids
Threshold: 1
Tests:
  - Name: Role Added to DB Instance
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: AssumedRole
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE:user"
        arn: "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/DBARole/user"
        accountId: "123456789012"
        accessKeyId: "ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      eventTime: "2024-01-17T13:00:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: AddRoleToDBInstance
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "10.0.1.100"
      userAgent: "aws-cli/2.13.0"
      requestParameters:
        dBInstanceIdentifier: "production-postgres"
        roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDS-S3-Import-Role"
        featureName: "s3Import"
      responseElements:
        dBInstanceIdentifier: "production-postgres"
        associatedRoles:
          - roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDS-S3-Import-Role"
            featureName: "s3Import"
            status: "PENDING"
      requestID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      eventID: "f1e2d3c4-b5a6-7890-1234-567890abcdef"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

  - Name: Role Added to DB Cluster
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: IAMUser
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE"
        arn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/developer"
        accountId: "123456789012"
        accessKeyId: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
        userName: developer
      eventTime: "2024-01-17T13:00:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: AddRoleToDBCluster
      awsRegion: us-west-2
      sourceIPAddress: "203.0.113.75"
      userAgent: "Boto3/1.26.0"
      requestParameters:
        dBClusterIdentifier: "aurora-cluster-prod"
        roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDS-Lambda-Access"
        featureName: "Lambda"
      responseElements:
        dBClusterIdentifier: "aurora-cluster-prod"
        associatedRoles:
          - roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDS-Lambda-Access"
            featureName: "Lambda"
            status: "PENDING"
      requestID: "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f1234567890a"
      eventID: "g2f3e4d5-c6b7-8901-2345-678901bcdefg"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

  - Name: Role Addition Failed
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: IAMUser
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE"
        arn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:user/contractor"
        accountId: "123456789012"
        accessKeyId: "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
        userName: contractor
      eventTime: "2024-01-17T13:00:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: AddRoleToDBInstance
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "198.51.100.50"
      userAgent: "aws-cli/2.13.0"
      requestParameters:
        dBInstanceIdentifier: "production-db"
        roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/Admin-Role"
      errorCode: AccessDenied
      errorMessage: "User is not authorized to perform: rds:AddRoleToDBInstance"
      requestID: "c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-1234567890ab"
      eventID: "h3g4f5e6-d7c8-9012-3456-789012cdefgh"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

  - Name: Different RDS Event
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: AssumedRole
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE:user"
        arn: "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Admin/user"
        accountId: "123456789012"
      eventTime: "2024-01-17T13:00:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: RemoveRoleFromDBInstance
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "10.0.1.100"
      requestParameters:
        dBInstanceIdentifier: "production-db"
        roleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/OldRole"
      requestID: "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-0123-def0-1234567890bc"
      eventID: "i4h5g6f7-e8d9-0123-4567-890123defghi"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

Detection logic

Condition

eventSource eq "rds.amazonaws.com"
eventName in ["AddRoleToDBInstance", "AddRoleToDBCluster"]
errorCode is_null

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
`errorCode`	is_null	(no value, null check)
`eventName`	in	`AddRoleToDBCluster` `AddRoleToDBInstance`
`eventSource`	eq	`rds.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	Source
`eventName`
`eventSource`
`awsRegion`
`recipientAccountId`
`sourceIPAddress`
`userAgent`
`userIdentity`
`dBInstanceIdentifier`	`requestParameters.dBInstanceIdentifier`
`roleArn`	`requestParameters.roleArn`
`userName`	`userIdentity.userName`

`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
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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)