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MediumElastic detection rulesElastic

Azure AKS Certificate Signing Request Created or Approved

Detects an identity creating a client-authentication CertificateSigningRequest (signer kubernetes.io/kube-apiserver-client) or approving a CSR on AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service), excluding node bootstrap and platform…

Description

Detects an identity creating a client-authentication CertificateSigningRequest (signer kubernetes.io/kube-apiserver-client) or approving a CSR on AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service), excluding node bootstrap and platform controllers. Adversaries submit and self-approve a CSR against the kube-apiserver-client signer to mint a long-lived client certificate for an arbitrary subject (for example a Common Name in system:masters), giving durable authenticated access that survives token revocation. Coverage includes workload service accounts (system:serviceaccount:*), so a compromised in-cluster token forging a certificate is not excluded.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

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Detection requirements

Platform
Identity ProviderLinuxmacOSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • Node bootstrap, cert-manager, and platform controllers legitimately create and approve CSRs. Validate the requesting identity and the certificate subject, and add exclusions for verified automation.

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