Detection rules › Panther

Query.EC2.CRUD.Activity.Useragent

This is a threat-hunting query, not an automated detection. It surfaces activity for an analyst to review rather than firing on a match. It is searchable for reference but is excluded from the detection-rule browse and the ATT&CK coverage matrix.

Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

This query searches for CRUD activity in EC2 by userAgent. A low count or previously unseen useragent may indicate that the action was not performed by an automated process.

Rules detecting the same action

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

AWS Discovery API Calls via CLI from a Single Resource (Elastic)
Query.EC2.CRUD.Activity.Role (Panther)
Sensitive API Calls Via VPC Endpoint (Panther)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: scheduled_query
QueryName: "Query.EC2.CRUD.Activity.Useragent"
Enabled: false
Description: >
  This query searches for CRUD activity in EC2 by userAgent. A low count or previously unseen useragent may indicate that the action was not performed by an automated process.
Query: |
  SELECT
    count(*) as num_logs,
    recipientAccountId,
    userAgent,
    eventName,
    eventSource
  FROM panther_logs.public.aws_cloudtrail
  WHERE
    eventSource = 'ec2.amazonaws.com'
    AND eventName LIKE '%Image%'
    AND eventName NOT LIKE '%Describe%'
    AND p_occurs_since('3 day')
  GROUP BY recipientAccountId, userAgent, eventName, eventSource
  ORDER BY recipientAccountId, count(*), userAgent
Schedule:
  RateMinutes: 1440
  TimeoutMinutes: 20

Detection logic

Stage 1: `source`

panther_logs.public.aws_cloudtrail

Stage 2: `filter`

eventSource eq "ec2.amazonaws.com"
eventName wildcard "*Image*"
eventName not wildcard "*Describe*"

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`eventName`	match	`Describe`

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`	wildcard	`Image`
`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	Source
`num_logs`	`count ( * )`
`recipientAccountId`
`userAgent`
`eventName`
`eventSource`

`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
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`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)

Query.EC2.CRUD.Activity.Useragent

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Detection logic

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `filter`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Query.EC2.CRUD.Activity.Useragent

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Detection logic

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: filter

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `filter`