AWS Systems Manager SecureString Parameter Request with Decryption Flag

Last updated 17 days ago on 2025-12-16

Created 2 years ago on 2024-04-12

About

Detects the first occurrence of a user identity accessing AWS Systems Manager (SSM) SecureString parameters using the GetParameter or GetParameters API actions with credentials in the request parameters. This could indicate that the user is accessing sensitive information. This rule detects when a user accesses a SecureString parameter with the withDecryption parameter set to true. This is a New Terms rule that detects the first occurrence of an AWS identity accessing SecureString parameters with decryption.

Tags

Domain: CloudData Source: AWSData Source: Amazon Web ServicesData Source: AWS Systems ManagerTactic: Credential AccessLanguage: kuery

Severity

medium

Risk Score

MITRE ATT&CK™

Credential Access (TA0006)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Credentials from Password Stores (T1555)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples

Users may legitimately access AWS Systems Manager (SSM) parameters using the GetParameter, GetParameters, or DescribeParameters API actions with credentials in the request parameters. Ensure that the user has a legitimate reason to access the parameters and that the credentials are secured.

License

Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type: New Terms Rule
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: "ssm.amazonaws.com"
    and event.action: (GetParameters or GetParameter)
    and event.outcome: success
    and aws.cloudtrail.flattened.request_parameters.withDecryption: true
    and not source.address: (
        "cloudformation.amazonaws.com" or
        "servicecatalog.amazonaws.com"
    )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect AWS Systems Manager SecureString Parameter Request with Decryption Flag 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).