S3 MFA Delete Disabled

Severity: low
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS, Defense Evasion, Impact:Data Destruction
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/MultiFactorAuthenticationDelete.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when MFA Delete is disabled on an S3 bucket, removing an important security control that prevents accidental or malicious deletion of versioned objects and could indicate ransomware preparation activity.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1562` Impair Defenses
Impact	`T1485` Data Destruction

Rules detecting the same action

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

AWS S3 Bucket Versioning Disable (Sigma)
AWS S3 Object Versioning Suspended (Elastic)
AWS S3 Security Control Disabling (Panther)
S3 Bucket Versioning Suspended (Panther)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_s3_disable_mfa_delete.py
RuleID: "AWS.S3.DisableMfaDelete"
DisplayName: "S3 MFA Delete Disabled"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Defense Evasion
  - Impact:Data Destruction
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0005:T1562
    - TA0040:T1485
Severity: Low
Description: Detects when MFA Delete is disabled on an S3 bucket, removing an important security control that prevents accidental or malicious deletion of versioned objects and could indicate ransomware preparation activity.
Runbook: |
  1. Query CloudTrail for all S3 API calls by the userIdentity:arn on the requestParameters:bucketName in the 24 hours before and after MFA Delete was disabled
  2. Find any DeleteObject or DeleteObjects events on this bucket in the 6 hours after MFA Delete was disabled to check if bulk deletion occurred
  3. Search for other security control changes (DisableBucketLogging, SuspendVersioning, DeleteBucketEncryption) on the same bucket in the past 7 days to identify ransomware preparation patterns
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/MultiFactorAuthenticationDelete.html
SummaryAttributes:
  - sourceIpAddress
  - userAgent
  - recipientAccountId
  - p_any_aws_arns
Tests:
  - Name: MFA Delete Disabled Successfully
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "AssumedRole",
            "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:user_name",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-dreamy-yonath/sample-role-brave-yalow-role-intelligent-brahmagupta-role-beautiful-keldysh-role-happy-easley-role-bold-buck",
            "accountId": "111111111111",
            "accessKeyId": "ASIA-MOCKACCESSKEYID-1",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                    "creationDate": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "type": "Role",
                    "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::111111111111:role/sample-role-dreamy-yonath",
                    "accountId": "111111111111",
                    "userName": "AdminRole",
                  },
              },
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "s3.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "PutBucketVersioning",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "requestParameters":
          {
            "bucketName": "critical-data-bucket",
            "host": "sample-bucket-lucid-kowalevski.s3.amazonaws.com",
            "VersioningConfiguration":
              {
                "Status": "Enabled",
                "MfaDelete": "Disabled",
              },
          },
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-111111111111",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
        "vpcEndpointId": "vpce-1a2b3c4d",
      }
  - Name: MFA Delete Disabled - Failed
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "IAMUser",
            "principalId": "AIDAI23HXS4EXAMPLE",
            "arn": "arn:aws:iam::111111111111:user/testuser",
            "accountId": "111111111111",
            "accessKeyId": "AKIA-MOCKACCESSKEYID-1",
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "s3.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "PutBucketVersioning",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "errorCode": "AccessDenied",
        "errorMessage": "Access Denied",
        "requestParameters":
          {
            "bucketName": "critical-data-bucket",
            "host": "sample-bucket-lucid-kowalevski.s3.amazonaws.com",
            "VersioningConfiguration":
              {
                "Status": "Enabled",
                "MfaDelete": "Disabled",
              },
          },
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-111111111111",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
      }
  - Name: MFA Delete Enabled
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "AssumedRole",
            "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:user_name",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-dreamy-yonath/sample-role-brave-yalow-role-intelligent-brahmagupta-role-beautiful-keldysh-role-happy-easley-role-bold-buck",
            "accountId": "111111111111",
            "accessKeyId": "ASIA-MOCKACCESSKEYID-1",
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "s3.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "PutBucketVersioning",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "requestParameters":
          {
            "bucketName": "critical-data-bucket",
            "host": "sample-bucket-lucid-kowalevski.s3.amazonaws.com",
            "VersioningConfiguration":
              {
                "Status": "Enabled",
                "MfaDelete": "Enabled",
              },
          },
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-111111111111",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
      }
  - Name: Different S3 Event
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "AssumedRole",
            "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:user_name",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-dreamy-yonath/sample-role-brave-yalow-role-intelligent-brahmagupta-role-beautiful-keldysh-role-happy-easley-role-bold-buck",
            "accountId": "111111111111",
            "accessKeyId": "ASIA-MOCKACCESSKEYID-1",
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "s3.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "DeleteBucketEncryption",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "requestParameters":
          {
            "bucketName": "critical-data-bucket",
            "host": "sample-bucket-lucid-kowalevski.s3.amazonaws.com",
          },
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-111111111111",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
      }
  - Name: Non-S3 Event
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "AssumedRole",
            "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:user_name",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::111111111111:assumed-role/sample-role-dreamy-yonath/sample-role-brave-yalow-role-intelligent-brahmagupta-role-beautiful-keldysh-role-happy-easley-role-bold-buck",
            "accountId": "111111111111",
            "accessKeyId": "ASIA-MOCKACCESSKEYID-1",
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "ec2.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "PutBucketVersioning",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "requestParameters": {},
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-111111111111",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "111111111111",
      }
  - Name: MFA Delete Field Missing
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "eventVersion": "1.08",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "type": "AssumedRole",
            "principalId": "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA:user_name",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/AdminRole/user_name",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "accessKeyId": "ASIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE",
          },
        "eventTime": "2024-01-15T10:45:23Z",
        "eventSource": "s3.amazonaws.com",
        "eventName": "PutBucketVersioning",
        "awsRegion": "us-east-1",
        "sourceIPAddress": "203.0.113.42",
        "userAgent": "aws-cli/2.13.0 Python/3.11.4 Linux/5.10.0-1234-aws exe/x86_64.ubuntu.22",
        "requestParameters":
          {
            "bucketName": "critical-data-bucket",
            "host": "critical-data-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com",
            "VersioningConfiguration":
              {
                "Status": "Enabled",
              },
          },
        "responseElements": null,
        "requestID": "ABC123DEF456",
        "eventID": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012",
        "readOnly": false,
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "managementEvent": true,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
      }

Detection logic

Condition

not (errorCode is_not_null or errorMessage is_not_null)
eventSource eq "s3.amazonaws.com"
eventName eq "PutBucketVersioning"
requestParameters.VersioningConfiguration.MfaDelete eq "Disabled"

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
`eventName`	eq	`PutBucketVersioning`
`eventSource`	eq	`s3.amazonaws.com`
`requestParameters.VersioningConfiguration.MfaDelete`	eq	`Disabled`

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`
`actor_user`
`bucketName`	`requestParameters.bucketName`

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