Sigma rule: AWS IAM Backdoor Users Keys

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-e30753021bd6, updated 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
AWS IAM Backdoor Users Keys
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
faloker
Date
2020-02-12
Modified
2026-08-14
File
rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_iam_backdoor_users_keys.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects AWS API key creation for a user by another user.
Backdoored users can be used to obtain persistence in the AWS environment.
Also with this alert, you can detect a flow of AWS keys in your org.

Log source

product
aws
service
cloudtrail

Detection

selection:
    eventSource: iam.amazonaws.com
    eventName: CreateAccessKey
filter_main_same_user:
    userIdentity.arn|fieldref|contains: responseElements.accessKey.userName
condition: selection and not 1 of filter_main_*

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Adding user keys to their own accounts (the filter cannot cover all possible variants of user naming)
  • AWS API keys legitimate exchange workflows

Tags

  • attack.persistence
  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.t1098

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_iam_backdoor_users_keys.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "AWS IAM Backdoor Users Keys" by faloker (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_iam_backdoor_users_keys.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: AWS IAM Backdoor Users Keys",
entity page, dataset version ref-e30753021bd6, updated 2026-08-14T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0a5177f4-6ca9-44c2-aacf-d3f3d8b6e4d2 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0a5177f4-6ca9-44c2-aacf-d3f3d8b6e4d2, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.