Sigma rule: AWS S3 Bucket Versioning Disable

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-0444833e8596, updated 2023-10-28T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
AWS S3 Bucket Versioning Disable
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Sean Johnstone | Unit 42
Date
2023-10-28
File
rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_disable_bucket_versioning.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects when S3 bucket versioning is disabled. Threat actors use this technique during AWS ransomware incidents prior to deleting S3 objects.

Log source

product
aws
service
cloudtrail

Detection

selection:
    eventSource: s3.amazonaws.com
    eventName: PutBucketVersioning
    requestParameters|contains: 'Suspended'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • AWS administrator legitimately disabling bucket versioning

Tags

  • attack.impact
  • attack.t1490

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_disable_bucket_versioning.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "AWS S3 Bucket Versioning Disable" by Sean Johnstone | Unit 42 (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_disable_bucket_versioning.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 S3 Bucket Versioning Disable",
entity page, dataset version ref-0444833e8596, updated 2023-10-28T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/a136ac98-b2bc-4189-a14d-f0d0388e57a7 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule a136ac98-b2bc-4189-a14d-f0d0388e57a7, 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.