AWS WAF Rule or Rule Group Deletion

Last updated 25 days ago on 2025-12-08

Created 6 years ago on 2020-06-09

About

Identifies the deletion of an AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule or rule group. WAF rules and rule groups enforce critical protections for web applications by filtering malicious HTTP requests, blocking known attack patterns, and enforcing access controls. Deleting these rules—even briefly—can expose applications to SQL injection, cross-site scripting, credential-stuffing bots, or targeted exploitation. Adversaries who have gained sufficient permissions may remove WAF protections as part of a broader defense evasion or impact strategy, often preceding data theft or direct application compromise.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS WAFUse Case: Network Security MonitoringTactic: Defense EvasionLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Impair Defenses (T1562)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Routine WAF maintenance, rule lifecycle updates, or temporary rule removals during application changes may trigger this alert. Validate whether the principal, source IP, automation role, or deployment pipeline is expected to modify WAF rules. Confirm that the deletion corresponds to a documented change or deployment before taking action.

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: (waf.amazonaws.com or waf-regional.amazonaws.com or wafv2.amazonaws.com) 
    and event.action: (DeleteRule or DeleteRuleGroup) 
    and event.outcome: success

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS WAF Rule or Rule Group Deletion 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).