GCP GKE Kubernetes Cron Job Created Or Modified

Severity: medium
Log types: GCP.AuditLog
Reference: https://medium.com/snowflake/from-logs-to-detection-using-snowflake-and-panther-to-detect-k8s-threats-d72f70a504d7
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

This detection monitor for any modifications or creations of a cron job in GKE. Attackers may create or modify an existing scheduled job in order to achieve cluster persistence.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1053.003` Scheduled Task/Job: Cron

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
RuleID: "GCP.GKE.Kubernetes.Cron.Job.Created.Or.Modified"
DisplayName: "GCP GKE Kubernetes Cron Job Created Or Modified"
Description:
  This detection monitor for any modifications or creations of a cron job in GKE. Attackers may create
  or modify an existing scheduled job in order to achieve cluster persistence.
Enabled: true
Filename: gcp_k8s_cron_job_created_or_modified.py
LogTypes:
  - GCP.AuditLog
Severity: Medium
DedupPeriodMinutes: 60
Threshold: 1
Reference: https://medium.com/snowflake/from-logs-to-detection-using-snowflake-and-panther-to-detect-k8s-threats-d72f70a504d7
Runbook: Investigate a reason of creating or modifying a cron job in GKE. Create ticket if appropriate.
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0003:T1053.003 # Scheduled Task/Job: Cron
Tests:
  - Name: create
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      protoPayload:
        authorizationInfo:
          - granted: true
            permission: io.k8s.batch.v1.cronjobs.create
        methodName: v2.deploymentmanager.deployments.insert
        serviceName: deploymentmanager.googleapis.com
      receiveTimestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:19.465856238"
      resource:
        labels:
          name: test-vm-deployment
          project_id: panther-threat-research
        type: deployment
      severity: NOTICE
      timestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:18.279921000"
  - Name: update
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      protoPayload:
        authorizationInfo:
          - granted: true
            permission: io.k8s.batch.v1.cronjobs.update
        methodName: v2.deploymentmanager.deployments.insert
        serviceName: deploymentmanager.googleapis.com
      receiveTimestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:19.465856238"
      resource:
        labels:
          name: test-vm-deployment
          project_id: panther-threat-research
        type: deployment
      severity: NOTICE
      timestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:18.279921000"
  - Name: fail
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      protoPayload:
        authorizationInfo:
          - granted: false
            permission: cloudfunctions.functions.upsert
        methodName: v2.deploymentmanager.deployments.insert
        serviceName: deploymentmanager.googleapis.com
      receiveTimestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:19.465856238"
      resource:
        labels:
          name: test-vm-deployment
          project_id: panther-threat-research
        type: deployment
      severity: NOTICE
      timestamp: "2024-01-19 13:47:18.279921000"

Detection logic

Condition

protoPayload.authorizationInfo is_not_null
protoPayload.authorizationInfo array_any

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
`protoPayload.authorizationInfo`	is_not_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	Source
`project`	`resource.labels.project_id`
`principal`	`protoPayload.authenticationInfo.principalEmail`
`caller_ip`	`protoPayload.requestMetadata.callerIP`
`methodName`	`protoPayload.methodName`
`resourceName`	`protoPayload.resourceName`
`serviceName`	`protoPayload.serviceName`

`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)