Okta API Key Created

Severity: informational
Log types: Okta.SystemLog
Tags: Identity & Access Management, Okta, Credential Access:Steal Application Access Token
Reference: https://help.okta.com/en/prod/Content/Topics/Security/API.htm
Source: github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

A user created an API Key in Okta

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1528` Steal Application Access Token

Rules detecting the same action

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

Attempt to Create Okta API Token (Elastic)
High-Risk Admin Activity (Kusto)
New Device/Location sign-in along with critical operation (Kusto)
Okta API Token Created (Sigma)
Okta New API Token Created (YARA-L)

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: okta_api_key_created.py
RuleID: "Okta.APIKeyCreated"
DisplayName: "Okta API Key Created"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - Okta.SystemLog
Tags:
  - Identity & Access Management
  - Okta
  - Credential Access:Steal Application Access Token
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0006:T1528
Severity: Info
Description: A user created an API Key in Okta
Reference: https://help.okta.com/en/prod/Content/Topics/Security/API.htm
Runbook: Reach out to the user if needed to validate the activity.
SummaryAttributes:
  - eventType
  - severity
  - displayMessage
  - p_any_ip_addresses
Tests:
  - Name: API Key Created
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "uuid": "2a992f80-d1ad-4f62-900e-8c68bb72a21b",
        "published": "2021-01-08 21:28:34.875",
        "eventType": "system.api_token.create",
        "version": "0",
        "severity": "INFO",
        "legacyEventType": "api.token.create",
        "displayMessage": "Create API token",
        "actor":
          {
            "alternateId": "user@example.com",
            "displayName": "Test User",
            "id": "00u3q14ei6KUOm4Xi2p4",
            "type": "User",
          },
        "outcome": { "result": "SUCCESS" },
        "request": {},
        "debugContext": {},
        "target":
          [
            {
              "id": "00Tpki36zlWjhjQ1u2p4",
              "type": "Token",
              "alternateId": "unknown",
              "displayName": "test_key",
              "details": null,
            },
          ],
      }

Detection logic

Condition

eventType eq "system.api_token.create"
outcome.result eq "SUCCESS"

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
`eventType`	eq	`system.api_token.create`
`outcome.result`	eq	`SUCCESS`

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
`event_type`	`eventtype`
`severity`
`actor`
`client`
`request`
`outcome`
`target`
`debug_context`	`debugcontext`
`authentication_context`	`authenticationcontext`
`security_context`	`securitycontext`
`ips`	`p_any_ip_addresses`
`displayName`	`actor.displayName`
`alternateId`	`actor.alternateId`

`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)