Successful AMQP Multi-Queue Purge Burst

Last updated 3 days ago on 2026-07-30
Created 3 days ago on 2026-07-30

About

Identifies multiple successful AMQP queue purge operations issued by the same client to the same broker within a short period. The AMQP queue.purge method removes all messages from a queue that are not awaiting acknowledgment. Purging several distinct queues can indicate deliberate message destruction or disruption after broker credentials are compromised.
Tags
Domain: NetworkUse Case: Network Security MonitoringUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ImpactData Source: Network Packet CaptureLanguage: esql
Severity
high
Risk Score
73
MITRE ATT&CK™

Impact (TA0040)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Authorized administrators or automation may purge multiple queues during maintenance, testing, disaster recovery, or application resets. Confirm the client, authenticated RabbitMQ user, affected queues, and change window before escalating. Add exceptions for verified administrative sources rather than reducing the queue-cardinality threshold.
License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Related Integrations

network_traffic(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
FROM logs-network_traffic.amqp-* | WHERE data_stream.dataset == "network_traffic.amqp" AND network_traffic.amqp.method == "queue.purge" AND network_traffic.amqp.`no-wait` == false AND network_traffic.status == "OK" AND client.ip IS NOT NULL AND server.ip IS NOT NULL AND network_traffic.amqp.queue IS NOT NULL | STATS Esql.purge_count = COUNT(*), Esql.queue_count = COUNT_DISTINCT(network_traffic.amqp.queue), Esql.queues = VALUES(network_traffic.amqp.queue), Esql.first_purge = MIN(@timestamp), Esql.last_purge = MAX(@timestamp) BY client.ip, server.ip | WHERE Esql.purge_count >= 3 AND Esql.queue_count >= 3 | SORT Esql.queue_count DESC, Esql.purge_count DESC | KEEP client.ip, server.ip, Esql.purge_count, Esql.queue_count, Esql.queues, Esql.first_purge, Esql.last_purge

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Successful AMQP Multi-Queue Purge Burst in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).