Cisco Isovalent - Access To Cloud Metadata Service
The following analytic detects workloads accessing the cloud instance metadata service at 169.254.169.254. This IP is used by AWS, GCP and Azure metadata endpoints and is frequently abused in SSRF or lateral movement…
Description
The following analytic detects workloads accessing the cloud instance metadata service at 169.254.169.254. This IP is used by AWS, GCP and Azure metadata endpoints and is frequently abused in SSRF or lateral movement scenarios to obtain credentials and sensitive environment details. Monitor unexpected access to this service from application pods or namespaces where such behavior is atypical.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- IaaS
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- cisco_isovalent_process_connect
Known benign triggers
- Legitimate platform components and node agents may query the metadata service. Validate by namespace, labels and workload identity; suppress expected sources and alert on atypical pods or namespaces.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1552/005/ | 2from 2 sources |
| docs.isovalent.com/user-guide/sec-ops-visibility/lateral-movement/index.html | Only this detection cites it |
| hackerone.com/reports/341876 | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 7f2e1a9a-1e8e-4d2e-8b7c-5f2c3d6a9b21
- Tagged by the source as
- Cisco Isovalent Suspicious ActivityVoidLink Cloud-Native Linux MalwareKubernetesendpointSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securitynetwork
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Written by
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1