GCP KMS Key Version Disabled or Destroyed

Status: Experimental
Severity: informational
Log types: GCP.AuditLog
Tags: GCP, Google Cloud KMS, Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses, Impact:Data Encrypted for Impact, Ransomware
Reference: https://cloud.google.com/kms/docs/key-states
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when a KMS key version is disabled, scheduled for destruction, or destroyed. Disabling or destroying KMS key versions can be used to deny access to encrypted data—a ransomware tactic where attackers disable keys to prevent victims from accessing their data.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Stealth	`T1562` Impair Defenses
Impact	`T1486` Data Encrypted for Impact

Rules detecting the same action

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

GCP Multiple KMS Keys Disabled Or Destroyed (YARA-L)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: gcp_kms_erase_key.py
RuleID: "GCP.KMS.EraseKey"
DisplayName: "GCP KMS Key Version Disabled or Destroyed"
Enabled: true
Status: Experimental
LogTypes:
  - GCP.AuditLog
Tags:
  - GCP
  - Google Cloud KMS
  - Defense Evasion:Impair Defenses
  - Impact:Data Encrypted for Impact
  - Ransomware
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0005:T1562
    - TA0040:T1486
Severity: Info
Description: >
  Detects when a KMS key version is disabled, scheduled for destruction, or destroyed.
  Disabling or destroying KMS key versions can be used to deny access to encrypted data—a
  ransomware tactic where attackers disable keys to prevent victims from accessing their data.
Runbook: |
  1. Query GCP Audit logs for all KMS key operations by the principal email in the 24 hours before and after this alert
  2. Check if the source IP is associated with known cloud provider IP ranges, VPN endpoints, or matches the user's typical access patterns
  3. Search for other KMS key state changes (disabled, destroyed) across different keys in the same project in the past 6 hours
  4. Identify which GCS buckets or other resources use this KMS key for encryption and assess data access impact
  5. Look for other alerts related to ransomware indicators (e.g., bulk operations, unusual encryption activity) from this project in the past 7 days
Reference: https://cloud.google.com/kms/docs/key-states
SummaryAttributes:
  - severity
  - p_any_ip_addresses
  - p_any_emails
Tests:
  - Name: KMS Key Version Disabled
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "protoPayload":
          {
            "at_sign_type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.audit.AuditLog",
            "authenticationInfo":
              {
                "oauthInfo":
                  {
                    "oauthClientId": "111111111111-abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456.apps.googleusercontent.com",
                  },
                "principalEmail": "denethor@lotr.com",
                "principalSubject": "user:denethor@lotr.com",
              },
            "authorizationInfo":
              [
                {
                  "granted": true,
                  "permission": "cloudkms.cryptoKeyVersions.update",
                  "permissionType": "ADMIN_WRITE",
                  "resource": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
                  "resourceAttributes":
                    {
                      "name": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
                      "service": "google.cloud.kms",
                      "type": "cloudkms.googleapis.com/CryptoKeyVersion",
                    },
                },
              ],
            "metadata": {},
            "methodName": "UpdateCryptoKeyVersion",
            "request":
              {
                "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.kms.v1.UpdateCryptoKeyVersionRequest",
                "at_sign_type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.kms.v1.UpdateCryptoKeyVersionRequest",
                "cryptoKeyVersion":
                  {
                    "name": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
                    "state": "DISABLED",
                  },
                "updateMask": "state",
              },
            "requestMetadata":
              {
                "callerIP": "1.2.3.4",
                "callerIp": "1.2.3.4",
                "callerSuppliedUserAgent": "google-cloud-sdk gcloud/548.0.0 command/gcloud.kms.keys.versions.disable",
                "destinationAttributes": {},
                "requestAttributes":
                  { "auth": {}, "time": "2025-12-15T15:40:47.296683147Z" },
              },
            "resourceLocation": { "currentLocations": ["us"] },
            "resourceName": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
            "serviceName": "cloudkms.googleapis.com",
            "status": {},
          },
        "insertId": "abc123def456",
        "logName": "projects/test-project/logs/cloudaudit.googleapis.com%2Factivity",
        "receiveTimestamp": "2025-12-15 15:40:48.642133512",
        "resource":
          {
            "labels":
              {
                "crypto_key_id": "test-key",
                "crypto_key_version_id": "1",
                "key_ring_id": "test-keyring",
                "location": "us",
                "project_id": "test-project",
              },
            "type": "cloudkms_cryptokeyversion",
          },
        "severity": "NOTICE",
        "timestamp": "2025-12-15 15:40:47.284488263",
      }
  - Name: KMS Key Version Enabled
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "protoPayload":
          {
            "at_sign_type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.audit.AuditLog",
            "authenticationInfo":
              { "principalEmail": "denethor@lotr.com" },
            "methodName": "UpdateCryptoKeyVersion",
            "request":
              {
                "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.kms.v1.UpdateCryptoKeyVersionRequest",
                "cryptoKeyVersion":
                  {
                    "name": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
                    "state": "ENABLED",
                  },
                "updateMask": "state",
              },
            "resourceName": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
            "serviceName": "cloudkms.googleapis.com",
            "status": {},
          },
        "resource":
          {
            "labels": { "project_id": "test-project" },
            "type": "cloudkms_cryptokeyversion",
          },
        "timestamp": "2025-12-15 15:40:47.284488263",
      }
  - Name: KMS Key Version Destroyed
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "protoPayload":
          {
            "at_sign_type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.audit.AuditLog",
            "authenticationInfo":
              { "principalEmail": "user@example.com" },
            "methodName": "DestroyCryptoKeyVersion",
            "request":
              {
                "@type": "type.googleapis.com/google.cloud.kms.v1.UpdateCryptoKeyVersionRequest",
                "cryptoKeyVersion":
                  {
                    "name": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
                  },
              },
            "resourceName": "projects/test-project/locations/us/keyRings/test-keyring/cryptoKeys/test-key/cryptoKeyVersions/1",
            "serviceName": "cloudkms.googleapis.com",
            "status": {},
          },
        "resource":
          {
            "labels": { "project_id": "test-project" },
            "type": "cloudkms_cryptokeyversion",
          },
        "timestamp": "2025-12-15 15:40:47.284488263",
      }

Detection logic

Condition

protoPayload.serviceName eq "cloudkms.googleapis.com"
protoPayload.methodName eq "DestroyCryptoKeyVersion" or (protoPayload.methodName eq "UpdateCryptoKeyVersion" and protoPayload.request.updateMask eq "state" and protoPayload.request.cryptoKeyVersion.state in ["DISABLED", "DESTROY_SCHEDULED", "DESTROYED"])

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.methodName`	eq	`DestroyCryptoKeyVersion` `UpdateCryptoKeyVersion`
`protoPayload.request.cryptoKeyVersion.state`	in	`DESTROYED` `DESTROY_SCHEDULED` `DISABLED`
`protoPayload.request.updateMask`	eq	`state`
`protoPayload.serviceName`	eq	`cloudkms.googleapis.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
`actor`	`protoPayload.authenticationInfo.principalEmail`
`kms_key_version`	`protoPayload.resourceName`
`new_state`	`protoPayload.request.cryptoKeyVersion.state`
`source_ip`	`protoPayload.requestMetadata.callerIp`
`project`	`resource.labels.project_id`
`key_ring`	`resource.labels.key_ring_id`
`crypto_key`	`resource.labels.crypto_key_id`
`name`	`protoPayload.request.cryptoKeyVersion.name`

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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)