AWS Sign-In Console Login with Federated User
Identifies when a federated user logs into the AWS Management Console. Federated users are typically given temporary credentials to access AWS services. If a federated user logs into the AWS Management Console…
Description
Identifies when a federated user logs into the AWS Management Console. Federated users are typically given temporary credentials to access AWS services. If a federated user logs into the AWS Management Console without using MFA, it may indicate a security risk, as MFA adds an additional layer of security to the authentication process. However, CloudTrail does not record whether a Federated User utilized MFA as part of authentication — that MFA decision often occurs at a third-party IdP (e.g., Okta, Azure AD, Google). As a result, CloudTrail fields such as MFAUsed / mfaAuthenticated appear as “No/false” for federated console logins even if IdP MFA was required. This alert should be correlated with IdP authentication logs to verify whether MFA was enforced for the session. Increase priority if you find a related "GetSigninToken" event whose source IP / ASN / geo or user-agent differs from the subsequent "ConsoleLogin" (possible token relay/abuse). Same-IP/UA pairs within a short window are more consistent with expected operator behavior and can be triaged with lower severity.
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
- ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- event_index
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 |
|---|---|
| hackingthe.cloud/aws/post_exploitation/create_a_console_session_from_iam_credentials/ | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 1f45720e-5ea8-11ef-90d2-f661ea17fbce
- Tagged by the source as
- Data Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWSData Source: AWS CloudTrailData Source: AWS Sign-InDomain: CloudNoise: LowPerformance: FastPlatform: AWSResources: Investigation GuideRule Type: Custom Query (KQL)Tactic: Initial AccessUse Case: Identity and Access Audit
Licence
- Published under
- Elastic License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Sep 20, 2026
- Version
- 3