Sigma rule: Modification or Deletion of an AWS RDS Cluster

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-caa1105d5d40, updated 2024-12-06T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Modification or Deletion of an AWS RDS Cluster
Status
experimental
Level
high
Author
Ivan Saakov
Date
2024-12-06
File
rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_rds_dbcluster_actions.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects modifications to an RDS cluster or its deletion, which may indicate potential data exfiltration attempts, unauthorized access, or exposure of sensitive information.

Log source

product
aws
service
cloudtrail

Detection

selection:
    eventSource: rds.amazonaws.com
    eventName:
        - ModifyDBCluster
        - DeleteDBCluster
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Verify if the modification or deletion was performed by an authorized administrator.
  • Confirm if the modification or deletion was part of a planned change or maintenance activity.

Tags

  • attack.exfiltration
  • attack.t1020

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_rds_dbcluster_actions.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Modification or Deletion of an AWS RDS Cluster" by Ivan Saakov (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_rds_dbcluster_actions.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: Modification or Deletion of an AWS RDS Cluster",
entity page, dataset version ref-caa1105d5d40, updated 2024-12-06T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/457cc9ac-d8e6-4d1d-8c0e-251d0f11a74c (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 457cc9ac-d8e6-4d1d-8c0e-251d0f11a74c, 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.