Account Security Configuration Changed

Severity: medium
Compliance: Stratus Red Team aws.defense-evasion.cloudtrail-delete, aws.defense-evasion.cloudtrail-stop, aws.defense-evasion.vpc-remove-flow-logs
Log types: AWS.CloudTrail
Tags: AWS, Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/aws-startup-security-baseline/controls-acct.html
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

An account wide security configuration was changed.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1562` Impair Defenses

Rules detecting the same action

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

ASL AWS Defense Evasion Delete Cloudtrail (Splunk)
ASL AWS Defense Evasion Stop Logging Cloudtrail (Splunk)
AWS Config Service Disabled (Panther)
AWS Lateral Movement from Kubernetes SA via AssumeRoleWithWebIdentity (Elastic)
AWS VPC Flow Logs Deleted (Sigma)
AWS VPC Flow Logs Removed (Panther)
AWSCloudTrail - AWS GuardDuty detector disabled or suspended (Kusto)
AWSCloudTrail - Changes made to AWS CloudTrail logs (Kusto)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: aws_security_configuration_change.py
RuleID: "AWS.CloudTrail.SecurityConfigurationChange"
DisplayName: "Account Security Configuration Changed"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - AWS.CloudTrail
Tags:
  - AWS
  - Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses
Severity: Medium
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0005:T1562

  Stratus Red Team:
    - aws.defense-evasion.cloudtrail-delete
    - aws.defense-evasion.cloudtrail-stop
    - aws.defense-evasion.vpc-remove-flow-logs
Description: An account wide security configuration was changed.
Runbook: >
  Verify that this change was planned. If not, revert the change and update the access control policies to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/aws-startup-security-baseline/controls-acct.html
SummaryAttributes:
  - eventName
  - userAgent
  - sourceIpAddress
  - recipientAccountId
  - p_any_aws_arns
Tests:
  - Name: Security Configuration Changed
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "eventID": "1111",
        "eventName": "DeleteTrail",
        "eventSource": "cloudtrail.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.05",
        "readOnly": false,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
        "requestID": "1111",
        "requestParameters": { "name": "example-trail" },
        "responseElements": null,
        "sourceIPAddress": "111.111.111.111",
        "userAgent": "Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; NEWT ActiveX; Win32)",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "accessKeyId": "1111",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/example-role/example-user",
            "invokedBy": "cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
            "principalId": "1111",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "creationDate": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "accountId": "123456789012",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/example-role",
                    "principalId": "1111",
                    "type": "Role",
                    "userName": "example-role",
                  },
                "webIdFederationData": {},
              },
            "type": "AssumedRole",
          },
      }
  - Name: Security Configuration Not Changed
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "eventID": "1111",
        "eventName": "DescribeTrail",
        "eventSource": "cloudtrail.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.05",
        "readOnly": false,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
        "requestID": "1111",
        "requestParameters": { "name": "example-trail" },
        "responseElements": null,
        "sourceIPAddress": "111.111.111.111",
        "userAgent": "Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; NEWT ActiveX; Win32)",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "accessKeyId": "1111",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/example-role/example-user",
            "invokedBy": "cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
            "principalId": "1111",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "creationDate": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "accountId": "123456789012",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/example-role",
                    "principalId": "1111",
                    "type": "Role",
                    "userName": "example-role",
                  },
                "webIdFederationData": {},
              },
            "type": "AssumedRole",
          },
      }
  - Name: Non Security Configuration Change
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "eventID": "1111",
        "eventName": "PutPolicy",
        "eventSource": "iam.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.05",
        "readOnly": false,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
        "requestID": "1111",
        "requestParameters": { "name": "example-trail" },
        "responseElements": null,
        "sourceIPAddress": "111.111.111.111",
        "userAgent": "Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; NEWT ActiveX; Win32)",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "accessKeyId": "1111",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/example-role/example-user",
            "invokedBy": "cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
            "principalId": "1111",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "creationDate": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "accountId": "123456789012",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/example-role",
                    "principalId": "1111",
                    "type": "Role",
                    "userName": "example-role",
                  },
                "webIdFederationData": {},
              },
            "type": "AssumedRole",
          },
      }
  - Name: Security Configuration Not Changed - Error
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "errorCode": "ConflictException",
        "eventID": "1111",
        "eventName": "DeleteTrail",
        "eventSource": "cloudtrail.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.05",
        "readOnly": false,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
        "requestID": "1111",
        "requestParameters": { "name": "example-trail" },
        "responseElements": null,
        "sourceIPAddress": "111.111.111.111",
        "userAgent": "Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; NEWT ActiveX; Win32)",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "accessKeyId": "1111",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/example-role/example-user",
            "invokedBy": "cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
            "principalId": "1111",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "creationDate": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "accountId": "123456789012",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/example-role",
                    "principalId": "1111",
                    "type": "Role",
                    "userName": "example-role",
                  },
                "webIdFederationData": {},
              },
            "type": "AssumedRole",
          },
      }
  - Name: Security Configuration Changed - Allowlisted User
    ExpectedResult: false
    Mocks:
      - {
          "objectName": "ALLOW_LIST",
          "returnValue": '[{"userName": "ExampleUser", "eventName": "DeleteRule"}]',
        }
    Log:
      {
        "awsRegion": "us-west-2",
        "eventID": "1111",
        "eventName": "DeleteRule",
        "eventSource": "cloudtrail.amazonaws.com",
        "eventTime": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "eventType": "AwsApiCall",
        "eventVersion": "1.05",
        "readOnly": false,
        "recipientAccountId": "123456789012",
        "requestID": "1111",
        "requestParameters": { "name": "example-trail" },
        "responseElements": null,
        "sourceIPAddress": "111.111.111.111",
        "userAgent": "Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; NEWT ActiveX; Win32)",
        "userIdentity":
          {
            "accessKeyId": "1111",
            "accountId": "123456789012",
            "arn": "arn:aws:sts::123456789012:assumed-role/example-role/example-user",
            "invokedBy": "cloudformation.amazonaws.com",
            "principalId": "1111",
            "sessionContext":
              {
                "attributes":
                  {
                    "creationDate": "2019-01-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "mfaAuthenticated": "true",
                  },
                "sessionIssuer":
                  {
                    "accountId": "123456789012",
                    "arn": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/example-role",
                    "principalId": "1111",
                    "type": "Role",
                    "userName": "ExampleUser",
                  },
                "webIdFederationData": {},
              },
            "type": "AssumedRole",
          },
      }

Detection logic

Condition

not (errorCode is_not_null or errorMessage is_not_null)
(eventName eq "UpdateDetector" and requestParameters.enable is_null) or eventName in ["DeleteAccountPublicAccessBlock", "DeleteDeliveryChannel", "DeleteDetector", "DeleteFlowLogs", "DeleteRule", "DeleteTrail", "DisableEbsEncryptionByDefault", "DisableRule", "StopConfigurationRecorder", "StopLogging"]

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
`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	`UpdateDetector`
`eventName`	in	`DeleteAccountPublicAccessBlock` `DeleteDeliveryChannel` `DeleteDetector` `DeleteFlowLogs` `DeleteRule` `DeleteTrail` `DisableEbsEncryptionByDefault` `DisableRule` `StopConfigurationRecorder` `StopLogging`
`requestParameters.enable`	is_null	(no value, null check)

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)