AWS EFS File System Deleted

Last updated a month ago on 2025-11-26

Created 4 years ago on 2021-08-27

About

Identifies the deletion of an Amazon EFS file system using the "DeleteFileSystem" API operation. Deleting an EFS file system permanently removes all stored data and cannot be reversed. This action is rare in most environments and typically limited to controlled teardown workflows. Adversaries with sufficient permissions may delete a file system to destroy evidence, disrupt workloads, or impede recovery efforts.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS EFSTactic: ImpactLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Data Destruction (T1485)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Legitimate teardown or environment decommissioning processes may delete EFS file systems. Verify whether the calling user, role, automation system, or CI/CD workflow is expected to perform destructive actions in the affected account. File system deletions by unfamiliar identities, from unusual IP addresses, or occurring outside approved change windows should be carefully reviewed. If known automation routinely deletes ephemeral test file systems, consider adding scoped exceptions.

License

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

Definition

Rule Type: Query (Kibana Query Language)
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:
✄𐘗event.dataset: "aws.cloudtrail" 
    and event.provider: "elasticfilesystem.amazonaws.com" 
    and event.action: "DeleteFileSystem" 
    and event.outcome: "success"

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS EFS File System Deleted 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).