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Detect New Open S3 buckets

The following analytic identifies the creation of open/public S3 buckets in AWS. It detects this activity by analyzing AWS CloudTrail events for `PutBucketAcl` actions where the access control list (ACL) grants…

Description

The following analytic identifies the creation of open/public S3 buckets in AWS. It detects this activity by analyzing AWS CloudTrail events for `PutBucketAcl` actions where the access control list (ACL) grants permissions to all users or authenticated users. This activity is significant because open S3 buckets can expose sensitive data to unauthorized access, leading to data breaches. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could read, write, or fully control the contents of the bucket, potentially leading to data exfiltration or tampering.

Detection logic

Detection requirements

Platform
IaaSOffice SuiteSaaS

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

Log source category
aws_cloudtrail

Known benign triggers

  • While this search has no known false positives, it is possible that an AWS admin has legitimately created a public bucket for a specific purpose. That said, AWS strongly advises against granting full control to the "All Users" group.

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