AWS CloudTrail ConsoleLogin Failed authentication
Flags CloudTrail ConsoleLogin events with "Failed authentication" to help identify possible credential-based attacks.
- Product
- aws
- Service
- cloudtrail
- Author
- Ivan Saakov, Nasreddine Bencherchali (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2025-10-19
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule identifies AWS CloudTrail events where an AWS ConsoleLogin attempt fails with the error message "Failed authentication". Such failures can indicate brute-force attempts or unauthorized access attempts against AWS account console access. It relies on CloudTrail telemetry containing the eventName and the authentication errorMessage fields.
Reporting behind it
- naikordian.github.iohttps://naikordian.github.io/blog/posts/brute-force-aws-console/
- help.fortinet.comhttps://help.fortinet.com/fsiem/Public_Resource_Access/7_2_1/rules/PH_RULE_AWS_Management_Console_Brute_Force_of_Root_User_Identity.htm
- media.githubusercontent.comhttps://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1110.001/aws_login_failure/aws_cloudtrail_events.json
- github.comhttps://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_cloudtrail_console_login_failed_authentication.yml
Changelog
v5- v5Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v4Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v3Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30
Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.
title: AWS CloudTrail ConsoleLogin Failed authentication
id: b0e87e2e-f83a-4098-9cc4-6129ee63ccaf
status: experimental
description: This rule identifies AWS CloudTrail events where an AWS ConsoleLogin attempt fails with the error message "Failed authentication". Such failures can indicate brute-force attempts or unauthorized access attempts against AWS account console access. It relies on CloudTrail telemetry containing the eventName and the authentication errorMessage fields.
references:
- https://naikordian.github.io/blog/posts/brute-force-aws-console/
- https://help.fortinet.com/fsiem/Public_Resource_Access/7_2_1/rules/PH_RULE_AWS_Management_Console_Brute_Force_of_Root_User_Identity.htm
- https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1110.001/aws_login_failure/aws_cloudtrail_events.json
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_cloudtrail_console_login_failed_authentication.yml
author: Ivan Saakov, Nasreddine Bencherchali, Huntrule Team
date: 2025-10-19
tags:
- attack.credential-access
- attack.t1110
logsource:
product: aws
service: cloudtrail
detection:
selection:
eventName: ConsoleLogin
errorMessage: Failed authentication
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Legitimate failed login attempts by authorized users. Investigate the source of repeated failed login attempts.
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 6393e346-1977-46ef-8987-ad414a145fad
type: derived