ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1586 | Compromise Accounts | Resource Development |
T1586.003 | Cloud Accounts | Resource Development |
T1110 | Brute Force | Credential Access |
Detection: AWS Credential Access RDS Password reset
Description
The following analytic detects the resetting of the master user password for an Amazon RDS DB instance. It leverages AWS CloudTrail logs to identify events where the ModifyDBInstance
API call includes a new masterUserPassword
parameter. This activity is significant because unauthorized password resets can grant attackers access to sensitive data stored in production databases, such as credit card information, PII, and healthcare data. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, regulatory non-compliance, and significant reputational damage. Immediate investigation is required to determine the legitimacy of the password reset.
Search
1`cloudtrail` eventSource="rds.amazonaws.com" eventName=ModifyDBInstance "requestParameters.masterUserPassword"=*
2| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(requestParameters.dBInstanceIdentifier) as database_id by src awsRegion eventName userAgent user_arn
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `aws_credential_access_rds_password_reset_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source |
---|---|---|---|
AWS CloudTrail ModifyDBInstance | AWS | 'aws:cloudtrail' |
'aws_cloudtrail' |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
cloudtrail | sourcetype=aws:cloudtrail |
aws_credential_access_rds_password_reset_filter | search * |
aws_credential_access_rds_password_reset_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
Default Configuration
This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:
Setting | Value |
---|---|
Disabled | true |
Cron Schedule | 0 * * * * |
Earliest Time | -70m@m |
Latest Time | -10m@m |
Schedule Window | auto |
Creates Notable | Yes |
Rule Title | %name% |
Rule Description | %description% |
Notable Event Fields | user, dest |
Creates Risk Event | True |
Implementation
You must install splunk AWS add on and Splunk App for AWS. This search works with AWS CloudTrail logs.
Known False Positives
Users may genuinely reset the RDS password.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
$database_id$ password has been reset from IP $src$ | 49 | 70 | 70 |
References
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | aws_cloudtrail |
aws:cloudtrail |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | aws_cloudtrail |
aws:cloudtrail |
Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py
tool or the UI.
Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range
Source: GitHub | Version: 4