AWS RDS DB Instance or Cluster Deletion Protection Disabled
Identifies the modification of an AWS RDS DB instance or cluster to disable the deletionProtection feature. Deletion protection prevents accidental or unauthorized deletion of RDS resources. Adversaries with…
Description
Identifies the modification of an AWS RDS DB instance or cluster to disable the deletionProtection feature. Deletion protection prevents accidental or unauthorized deletion of RDS resources. Adversaries with sufficient permissions may disable this protection as a precursor to destructive actions, including the deletion of databases containing sensitive or business-critical data. This rule alerts when deletionProtection is explicitly set to false on an RDS DB instance or cluster.
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
- ContainersESXiIaaSLinuxmacOSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
Known benign triggers
- The deletionProtection feature must be disabled as a prerequisite for deletion of a DB instance or cluster. Ensure that the instance should not be modified in this way before taking action.
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/AmazonRDS/latest/APIReference/API_ModifyDBInstance.html | 3 |
| docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_DeleteInstance.html | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- f6652fb5-cd8e-499c-8311-2ce2bb6cac62
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWSData Source: AWS CloudTrailDomain: CloudNoise: LowPerformance: NormalPlatform: AWSResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Event Correlation (EQL)Service: AWS RDSTactic: Impact
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 3