API Key Created

Status: test
Severity: high
Log source: product aws, service cloudtrail
Author: Zach Mathis (@yamatosecurity)
Source: github.com/Yamato-Security/suzaku-rules

An attacker may have attemped to create an API key for persistence but it failed. Ex: aws appsync create-api-key --api-id ApiId I have seen this in the eventSource of appsync.amazonaws.com and apigateway.amazonaws.com. There are probably other services that can create API keys as well so I am leaving the eventSource open.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1098.001` Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Credentials

Rules detecting the same action

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

Attempt To Create API Key (Sigma)

Rule body yaml

title: API Key Created
id: 3b07ff19-d7b8-44ba-afa5-d2d6fb8cb22f
status: test
description: |
    An attacker may have attemped to create an API key for persistence but it failed.
    Ex: aws appsync create-api-key --api-id ApiId
    I have seen this in the eventSource of `appsync.amazonaws.com` and `apigateway.amazonaws.com`.
    There are probably other services that can create API keys as well so I am leaving the eventSource open.
references:
    - https://medium.com/@adan.alvarez/distorting-the-sync-how-aws-appsync-can-be-turned-into-an-attackers-backdoor-8c015b8e52b8
    - https://traildiscover.cloud/#AppSync-CreateApiKey
author: Zach Mathis (@yamatosecurity)
date: 2025-04-23
modified: 2025-04-23
tags:
    - attack.defense-evasion
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.t1098.001 #Persistence: Additional Cloud Credentials
logsource:
    product: aws
    service: cloudtrail
detection:
    selection:
        eventName: 'CreateApiKey'
    filter:
        errorCode: 'AccessDenied'
    condition: selection and not filter
falsepositives:
level: high

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

selection and not filter

Stage 1: `selection`

selection:
    eventName: 'CreateApiKey'

Stage 2: `not filter`

filter:
    errorCode: 'AccessDenied'

Exclusions

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

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`errorCode`	eq	`AccessDenied`

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	`CreateApiKey`

`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)

API Key Created

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter`

Exclusions

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

API Key Created

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection

Stage 2: not filter

Exclusions

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection`

Stage 2: `not filter`