AWS IAM Account Password Policy Deleted
Identifies deletion of the AWS account password policy via DeleteAccountPasswordPolicy. The account password policy enforces minimum password requirements (length, complexity, rotation, and reuse) for all IAM users…
Description
Identifies deletion of the AWS account password policy via DeleteAccountPasswordPolicy. The account password policy enforces minimum password requirements (length, complexity, rotation, and reuse) for all IAM users in the account. Deleting it removes those requirements account-wide, weakening authentication and easing follow-on credential-based attacks. This is an account-level change that legitimately occurs only during deliberate administration, so its deletion by an unexpected principal warrants review.
Detection logic
Its licence does not clear it for publishing here
Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.
Detection requirements
- Platform
- IaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
Known benign triggers
- Identity and platform teams or infrastructure-as-code may delete or replace the account password policy during governance changes. Verify the principal in `aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.arn` against approved change records, and confirm whether a replacement policy was applied shortly after. Known administration roles and automation can be excluded after validation.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/APIReference/API_DeleteAccountPasswordPolicy.html | Only this detection cites it |
| docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_passwords_account-policy.html | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 283f6c2a-9811-4239-9a40-52b066c67f99
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWSData Source: AWS CloudTrailData Source: AWS IAMDomain: CloudDomain: IdentityNoise: UnknownPerformance: FastPlatform: AWSResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Custom Query (KQL)Service: AWS IAMTactic: Defense EvasionUse Case: Threat Detection
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 3