Sigma rule: AWS Root Credentials

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-8d027a456edb, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
AWS Root Credentials
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
vitaliy0x1
Date
2020-01-21
Modified
2022-10-09
File
rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_root_account_usage.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects AWS root account usage

Log source

product
aws
service
cloudtrail

Detection

selection_usertype:
    userIdentity.type: Root
selection_eventtype:
    eventType: AwsServiceEvent
condition: selection_usertype and not selection_eventtype

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • AWS Tasks That Require AWS Account Root User Credentials https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws_tasks-that-require-root.html

Tags

  • attack.privilege-escalation
  • attack.initial-access
  • attack.persistence
  • attack.stealth
  • attack.t1078.004

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_root_account_usage.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "AWS Root Credentials" by vitaliy0x1 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_root_account_usage.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 Root Credentials",
entity page, dataset version ref-8d027a456edb, updated 2022-10-09T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/8ad1600d-e9dc-4251-b0ee-a65268f29add (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 8ad1600d-e9dc-4251-b0ee-a65268f29add, 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.