Suspicious AWS STS Role Chaining From Temporary Session Credentials (via cloudtrail)

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Lateral Movement

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1078.004Cloud Accounts
Execution
Persistence
- T1078.004Cloud Accounts
Priv Esc
- T1078.004Cloud Accounts
Defense Evasion
- T1078.004Cloud Accounts
- T1550.001Application Access Token
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
- T1550.001Application Access Token
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects an AWS STS AssumeRole call whose caller is already an assumed-role session, the role chaining pattern attackers use to mint successive ASIA temporary credentials and persist beyond a single session expiry. Chained AssumeRole invocations extend stolen access and evade credential lifetime controls. Detecting assumed-role principals assuming further roles surfaces this persistence technique.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious AWS STS Role Chaining From Temporary Session Credentials (via cloudtrail)

Pivot detection · T1078.004 · 9 related

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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