AWS RDS DB Snapshot Shared with Another Account

Last updated a month ago on 2025-12-05

Created 2 years ago on 2024-06-25

About

Identifies when an AWS RDS DB snapshot is shared with another AWS account or made public. DB snapshots contain complete backups of database instances, including schemas, table data, and sensitive application content. When shared externally, snapshots can be restored in another AWS environment, enabling unauthorized access, offline analysis, or data exfiltration. Adversaries who obtain valid credentials or exploit misconfigurations may modify snapshot attributes to grant access to accounts they control, bypassing network, IAM, and monitoring controls.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS RDSUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: ExfiltrationLanguage: eql

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Exfiltration (TA0010)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Transfer Data to Cloud Account (T1537)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Cross-account DB snapshot sharing is common in multi-account AWS Organizations, particularly for backup workflows, migrations, analytics pipelines, and disaster recovery. Ensure the added account is expected, previously approved, and aligns with operational change plans before taking action.

License

Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type: Event Correlation Rule
Integration Pack: Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns: filebeat-*logs-aws.cloudtrail-*
Related Integrations: aws(external, opens in a new tab or window)
Query

✄𐘗text code block:
✄𐘗info where event.dataset == "aws.cloudtrail"
    and event.provider == "rds.amazonaws.com"
    and event.outcome == "success"
    and event.action in ("ModifyDBSnapshotAttribute", "ModifyDBClusterSnapshotAttribute")
    and stringContains(aws.cloudtrail.request_parameters, "attributeName=restore")
    and stringContains(aws.cloudtrail.request_parameters, "valuesToAdd=[*]")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS RDS DB Snapshot Shared with Another Account 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).