Suspicious AWS EC2 Windows Password Retrieval via GetPasswordData
- Product
- aws
- Service
- cloudtrail
- Author
- HuntRule
- Published
- 2026-05-27
- Updated
- 2026-08-28
ATT&CK techniques
Initial Access → 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 detects use of the EC2 GetPasswordData API which returns the encrypted local administrator password for a Windows instance. In the Wiz hybrid cloud response case an attacker with stolen AWS credentials called GetPasswordData to recover local admin passwords and pivot onto EC2 hosts. This is important because password retrieval across instances is a strong precursor to interactive host access and lateral movement into the compute layer.
Reporting behind it
Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.
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