Elastic Security Detection Rules

AWS IAM Virtual MFA Device Registration Attempt with Session Token

Last updated a month ago on 2025-04-15
Created a month ago on 2025-04-11

About

Identifies attempts to register or enable an IAM Virtual MFA device using temporary credentials (access keys starting with 'ASIA'). This may indicate an adversary attempting to escalate privileges or establish persistence using stolen session tokens.
Tags
Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS CloudTrailData Source: AWS IAMTactic: PersistenceUse Case: Identity and Access AuditLanguage: kuery
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

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

False Positive Examples
Legitimate users or automation tools may register MFA devices using temporary session credentials, especially in CI/CD or administrative workflows. Validate the source IP, user agent, and context of the registration.
License
Elastic License v2(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(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
event.dataset: "aws.cloudtrail"
  and event.provider: "iam.amazonaws.com"
  and event.action: ("CreateVirtualMFADevice" or "EnableMFADevice")
  and aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.access_key_id: ASIA*

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS IAM Virtual MFA Device Registration Attempt with Session Token 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(opens in a new tab or window).