AWS RDS Snapshot Exported to S3

Status: Experimental
Severity: high
Group by: awsRegion, recipientAccountId
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS, Exfiltration, Transfer Data to Cloud Account, RDS
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_ExportSnapshot.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when an RDS snapshot is exported to S3 using StartExportTask. Attackers use this to exfiltrate database contents by exporting snapshots to buckets they control. While snapshot exports are legitimate for analytics, they provide complete database access.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Exfiltration	`T1537` Transfer Data to Cloud Account

Rules detecting the same action

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

AWS RDS Snapshot Export (Elastic)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_rds_snapshot_export.py
RuleID: "AWS.RDS.SnapshotExport"
DisplayName: "AWS RDS Snapshot Exported to S3"
Enabled: true
Status: Experimental
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Exfiltration
  - Transfer Data to Cloud Account
  - RDS
Severity: High
Description: >
  Detects when an RDS snapshot is exported to S3 using StartExportTask. Attackers use this
  to exfiltrate database contents by exporting snapshots to buckets they control. While
  snapshot exports are legitimate for analytics, they provide complete database access.
Runbook: |
  1. Find all API calls by the user ARN in the 24 hours before the alert to establish normal behavior
  2. Check if the S3 bucket in requestParameters:s3BucketName has been accessed by this user in the past 90 days
  3. Look for other StartExportTask events or snapshot operations from this user in the past 7 days
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_ExportSnapshot.html
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0010:T1537  # Exfiltration: Transfer Data to Cloud Account
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
SummaryAttributes:
  - eventName
  - userIdentity:principalId
  - requestParameters:s3BucketName
  - requestParameters:sourceArn
  - p_any_aws_account_ids
Threshold: 1
Tests:
  - Name: RDS Snapshot Export Started
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: AssumedRole
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE:user"
        arn: "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Admin/user"
        accountId: "123456789012"
        accessKeyId: "ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      eventTime: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: StartExportTask
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "1.2.3.4"
      userAgent: "aws-cli/2.13.0"
      requestParameters:
        sourceArn: "arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:snapshot:my-db-snapshot"
        s3BucketName: "my-export-bucket"
        s3Prefix: "exports/2024-01-15/"
        iamRoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDSExportRole"
        kmsKeyId: "arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab"
        exportOnly:
          - "schema1.table1"
          - "schema1.table2"
      responseElements:
        exportTaskIdentifier: "export-snapshot-2024-01-15-103000"
        sourceArn: "arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:snapshot:my-db-snapshot"
        snapshotTime: "2024-01-14T00:00:00Z"
        taskStartTime: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
        s3Bucket: "my-export-bucket"
        s3Prefix: "exports/2024-01-15/"
        iamRoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDSExportRole"
        kmsKeyId: "arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab"
        status: "STARTING"
        percentProgress: 0
        totalExtractedDataInGB: 0
      requestID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      eventID: "f1e2d3c4-b5a6-7890-1234-567890abcdef"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

  - Name: RDS Snapshot Export to Suspicious Bucket
    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: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: StartExportTask
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "203.0.113.45"
      userAgent: "aws-cli/2.13.0"
      requestParameters:
        sourceArn: "arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:snapshot:production-db-snapshot"
        s3BucketName: "temp-export-external-bucket"
        s3Prefix: "tmp/"
        iamRoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDSExportRole"
        kmsKeyId: "arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab"
      responseElements:
        exportTaskIdentifier: "export-snapshot-2024-01-15-103000"
        sourceArn: "arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:snapshot:production-db-snapshot"
        s3Bucket: "temp-export-external-bucket"
        status: "STARTING"
      requestID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      eventID: "f1e2d3c4-b5a6-7890-1234-567890abcdef"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

  - Name: RDS Snapshot Export Failed
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      eventVersion: "1.08"
      userIdentity:
        type: AssumedRole
        principalId: "AIDAI23HXS3EXAMPLE:user"
        arn: "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/Admin/user"
        accountId: "123456789012"
        accessKeyId: "ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
      eventTime: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: StartExportTask
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "1.2.3.4"
      userAgent: "aws-cli/2.13.0"
      requestParameters:
        sourceArn: "arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:snapshot:my-db-snapshot"
        s3BucketName: "my-export-bucket"
        iamRoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/RDSExportRole"
      errorCode: AccessDenied
      errorMessage: "User is not authorized to perform: rds:StartExportTask"
      requestID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      eventID: "f1e2d3c4-b5a6-7890-1234-567890abcdef"
      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: "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"
      eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
      eventName: CreateDBSnapshot
      awsRegion: us-east-1
      sourceIPAddress: "1.2.3.4"
      requestParameters:
        dBSnapshotIdentifier: "my-snapshot"
        dBInstanceIdentifier: "my-db-instance"
      requestID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      eventID: "f1e2d3c4-b5a6-7890-1234-567890abcdef"
      readOnly: false
      eventType: AwsApiCall
      managementEvent: true
      recipientAccountId: "123456789012"
      eventCategory: Management

Detection logic

Condition

eventSource eq "rds.amazonaws.com"
eventName eq "StartExportTask"
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`	eq	`StartExportTask`
`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`
`s3BucketName`	`requestParameters.s3BucketName`
`userName`	`userIdentity.userName`

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`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
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`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
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`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
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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)