AWS CloudWatch Log Stream Deletion

Last updated 2 months ago on 2025-11-13

Created 6 years ago on 2020-05-20

About

Detects the deletion of an Amazon CloudWatch log stream using the "DeleteLogStream" API. Deleting a log stream permanently removes its associated log events and may disrupt security visibility, break audit trails, or suppress forensic evidence. Adversaries may delete log streams to conceal malicious actions, impair monitoring pipelines, or remove artifacts generated during post-exploitation activity.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: Amazon CloudWatchUse Case: Log AuditingTactic: Defense EvasionTactic: 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)

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

CloudWatch log streams may be deleted legitimately during log rotation processes, test environment resets, or infrastructure deployments that recreate log groups and streams. Validate the identity, automation pipeline, and IP address associated with the deletion. If deletions are expected from specific CI/CD systems or administrative roles, consider adding targeted 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: "logs.amazonaws.com" 
  and event.action: "DeleteLogStream" 
  and event.outcome: "success"
  and source.ip: * 
  and not user_agent.original : "AWS Internal"

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS CloudWatch Log Stream 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).