AWS IAM Create User via Assumed Role on EC2 Instance

Description

Detects the creation of an AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) user initiated by an assumed role on an EC2 instance. Assumed roles allow users or services to temporarily adopt different AWS permissions, but the creation of IAM users through these roles, particularly from within EC2 instances, may indicate a compromised instance. Adversaries might exploit such permissions to establish persistence by creating new IAM users under unauthorized conditions.

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: Containers ESXi IaaS Identity Provider Linux macOS Network Devices Office Suite SaaS Windows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
Log source category: event_index

Known benign triggers

Assumed roles may be used by legitimate automated systems to create IAM users for specific workflows. Verify if this event aligns with known automation activities. If the action is routine for specific roles or user agents (e.g., `aws-cli`, `boto3`), consider adding those roles or user agents to a monitored exception list for streamlined review.

References

Links the source published beside this detection. Reference is the link the source wrote, unmodified. Class is decided by this catalogue from the host and path, not stated by the source. Cited by counts published detections citing the same resource, including this one, and the sources beneath it count the repositories this catalogue ingests, which is not the same as independent research.
Reference	Class	Cited by
docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/APIReference/API_CreateUser.html	Product documentation	2
www.dionach.com/en-us/breaking-into-the-cloud-red-team-tactics-for-aws-compromise/	Unclassified	Only this detection cites it

Detection rules

AWS IAM Create User via Assumed Role on EC2 Instance

Description

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Known benign triggers

MITRE ATT&CK mappings

References

From the source

Licence

Authorship

Detection rules