AWS IAM Customer Managed Policy Version Created or Default Version Set

Last updated 25 days ago on 2026-04-08

Created 25 days ago on 2026-04-08

About

Identifies successful IAM API calls that create a new customer managed policy version or set the default version for an existing customer managed policy. Attackers with `iam:CreatePolicyVersion` or `iam:SetDefaultPolicyVersion` on a privileged policy can introduce a permissive policy document and activate it, escalating effective permissions without attaching a new policy. These APIs are high impact when the target policy is attached to powerful roles or users.

Tags

Domain: CloudDomain: IdentityData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS IAMUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Privilege EscalationLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Account Manipulation (T1098)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD, and IAM administrators routinely publish new policy versions or roll back defaults. Validate the policy ARN, change tickets, and whether the policy document broadens permissions. Exclude automation roles or pipelines after review.

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: ("CreatePolicyVersion" or "SetDefaultPolicyVersion")
    and event.outcome: "success"
    and not aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.type: "AWSService" 
    and not aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.arn:arn*/terraform 
    and not source.as.organization.name:(Amazon* or AMAZON* or "Google LLC" or "MongoDB, Inc.")
    and not source.address: ( "cloudformation.amazonaws.com" or "servicecatalog.amazonaws.com")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS IAM Customer Managed Policy Version Created or Default Version Set 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).