AWS IAM Credentials Added to a Bedrock API Key Phantom User

Description

Identifies standard IAM credentials being added to an Amazon Bedrock API key phantom user, whose user name starts with "BedrockAPIKey-": either a long-term access key (CreateAccessKey) or a console password / login profile (CreateLoginProfile, UpdateLoginProfile). When a long-term Bedrock API key is generated through the AWS Console, AWS silently provisions a "BedrockAPIKey-<id>" IAM user with the AmazonBedrockLimitedAccess managed policy. That user is intended only to back a Bedrock bearer token and should never hold standard programmatic keys or interactive console access. Adding either converts a Bedrock-scoped identity into general-purpose IAM credentials that inherit the policy's Bedrock control-plane and IAM, VPC, and KMS reconnaissance permissions and that persist after the Bedrock API key is revoked. This is the privilege-escalation and persistence pivot documented for Bedrock API key phantom users, and there is no legitimate workflow that produces it.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

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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.

Known benign triggers

There is no known legitimate workflow that adds IAM access keys or console login profiles to a Bedrock API key phantom user. Any match should be investigated. Confirm the actor in "aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.arn" and the target user in "aws.cloudtrail.request_parameters", and remove the credential if it was not expected.

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/bedrock/latest/userguide/api-keys.html	Product documentation	3
www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/aws-bedrock-security-api-keys	Unclassified	3
www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/aws-bedrock-security-guide-api-keys-detection-response	Unclassified	4

Detection rules

AWS IAM Credentials Added to a Bedrock API Key Phantom User

Description

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Known benign triggers

MITRE ATT&CK mappings

References

From the source

Licence

Authorship

Detection rules