AWS CloudTrail: TruffleHog User-Agent Execution Detected

Flags AWS CloudTrail events with user agent "TruffleHog" to surface potential secret-scanning or credential-harvesting activity.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5

Product: aws
Service: cloudtrail
Author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2025-10-21
Updated: 2026-07-31

Analysis Detection

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1003OS Credential Dumping
- T1555Credentials from Password Stores
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags AWS CloudTrail events where the user agent is exactly "TruffleHog," indicating the tool was executed in the AWS environment. Attackers may use secret-scanning utilities to locate exposed credentials or other sensitive information before attempting access. The detection relies on CloudTrail telemetry that includes the userAgent field, matched to the specific string value.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1003 — drag to rearrange

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Malicious NTDS Credential Dump via Ntdsutil IFM Snapshot (via process_creation)

Suspicious Mimilite Credential Dumper Execution Writing KB-Named Output

Malicious InternalMonologue NTLM Downgrade Execution via process_creation

Possible SCOM RunAs Credential Theft via Access to Common MOMBins Encryption Key

Suspicious AMOS Stealer Fake Password Prompt via osascript (via process_creation)

Suspicious Modification of msDS-KeyCredentialLink for Shadow Credential Abuse

Suspicious macOS Credential Validation via dscl authonly

Malicious Browser Credential Theft via rundll32 Loading move.dll (via process_creation)

AWS CloudTrail: TruffleHog User-Agent Execution Detected

Pivot detection · T1003 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v4
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v3
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No 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.

pua-aws-cloudtrail-execution-of-trufflehog-via-trufflehog-user-agent-a840e606

title: "AWS CloudTrail: TruffleHog User-Agent Execution Detected"
id: 78140e26-9964-4ce0-87a0-ebd7eb5485bc
status: experimental
description: This rule flags AWS CloudTrail events where the user agent is exactly "TruffleHog," indicating the tool was executed in the AWS environment. Attackers may use secret-scanning utilities to locate exposed credentials or other sensitive information before attempting access. The detection relies on CloudTrail telemetry that includes the userAgent field, matched to the specific string value.
references:
  - https://github.com/trufflesecurity/trufflehog
  - https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/tr-crimson-collective-a-new-threat-group-observed-operating-in-the-cloud/
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/aws/cloudtrail/aws_cloudtrail_pua_trufflehog.yml
author: Swachchhanda Shrawan Poudel (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2025-10-21
tags:
  - attack.credential-access
  - attack.t1555
  - attack.t1003
logsource:
  product: aws
  service: cloudtrail
detection:
  selection:
    userAgent: TruffleHog
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate use of TruffleHog by security teams for credential scanning.
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: a840e606-7c8c-4684-9bc1-eb6b6155127f
    type: derived

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