Azure AKS Potential API Enumeration by User

Description

Detects a single Kubernetes identity in AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) that is denied (HTTP 403 Forbidden) across multiple distinct API resource types within a short window. Broad authorization failures spanning many resources are a strong signal of API enumeration (reconnaissance with a stolen service account token), as an actor probes what its credentials can reach before privilege escalation. Detection is based on the breadth of denied resources rather than the raw failure count, so single-resource controller retry loops do not trigger it.

Detection logic

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Detection requirements

Platform: Containers
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
Log source category: event_index

Known benign triggers

A workload or observability agent with partial RBAC can be denied across several resource types and resemble enumeration (for example a monitoring agent that watches resources it lacks permission for). Baseline such identities and raise the cardinality threshold, or exclude the specific validated service account, after review. Single-resource retry loops (one resource denied repeatedly) do not trigger this rule because detection is based on the number of distinct resources denied, not the raw failure count.

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
github.com/inguardians/peirates	Tool	6
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/monitor-aks	Product documentation	2
microsoft.github.io/Threat-Matrix-for-Kubernetes/	Unclassified	15

Detection rules

Azure AKS Potential API Enumeration by User

Description

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Known benign triggers

MITRE ATT&CK mappings

References

From the source

Licence

Authorship

Detection rules