aws_createaccesskey.yml

name: AWS CreateAccessKey
id: 2a9b80d3-6340-4345-11ad-212bf3d0d111
version: 8
date: '2025-02-10'
author: Bhavin Patel, Splunk
status: production
type: Hunting
description: The following analytic identifies the creation of AWS IAM access keys
  by a user for another user, which can indicate privilege escalation. It leverages
  AWS CloudTrail logs to detect instances where the user creating the access key is
  different from the user for whom the key is created. This activity is significant
  because unauthorized access key creation can allow attackers to establish persistence
  or exfiltrate data via AWS APIs. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to unauthorized
  access to AWS services, data exfiltration, and long-term persistence in the environment.
data_source:
- AWS CloudTrail CreateAccessKey
search: '`cloudtrail` eventName = CreateAccessKey userAgent !=console.amazonaws.com errorCode = success 
  | eval match=if(match(userIdentity.userName,requestParameters.userName),1,0)
  | search match=0 
  | rename user_name as user
  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime by signature dest user user_agent src vendor_account vendor_region vendor_product
  | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` |`aws_createaccesskey_filter`'
how_to_implement: You must install splunk AWS add on and Splunk App for AWS. This
  search works with AWS CloudTrail logs.
known_false_positives: While this search has no known false positives, it is possible
  that an AWS admin has legitimately created keys for another user.
references:
- https://bishopfox.com/blog/privilege-escalation-in-aws
- https://rhinosecuritylabs.com/aws/aws-privilege-escalation-methods-mitigation-part-2/
tags:
  analytic_story:
  - AWS IAM Privilege Escalation
  asset_type: AWS Account
  mitre_attack_id:
  - T1136.003
  product:
  - Splunk Enterprise
  - Splunk Enterprise Security
  - Splunk Cloud
  security_domain: network
tests:
- name: True Positive Test
  attack_data:
  - data: 
      https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1078/aws_createaccesskey/aws_cloudtrail_events.json
    sourcetype: aws:cloudtrail
    source: aws_cloudtrail