AWS IAM SAML Provider Updated

Last updated 2 months ago on 2025-11-05

Created 4 years ago on 2021-09-22

About

Detects when an AWS IAM SAML provider is updated, which manages federated authentication between AWS and external identity providers (IdPs). Adversaries with administrative access may modify a SAML provider’s metadata or certificate to redirect authentication flows, enable unauthorized federation, or escalate privileges through identity trust manipulation. Because SAML providers underpin single sign-on (SSO) access for users and applications, unauthorized modifications may allow persistent or covert access even after credentials are revoked. Monitoring "UpdateSAMLProvider" API activity is critical to detect potential compromise of federated trust relationships.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS IAMUse Case: Identity and Access AuditTactic: Privilege EscalationLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Domain or Tenant Policy Modification (T1484)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

SAML Provider could be updated by a system administrator. Verify whether the user identity, user agent, and/or hostname should be making changes in your environment. SAML Provider updates by unfamiliar users should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.

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: "iam.amazonaws.com"
    and event.action: "UpdateSAMLProvider"
    and event.outcome: "success"
    and not (source.address: "sso.amazonaws.com" and user_agent.original: "sso.amazonaws.com")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS IAM SAML Provider Updated 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).