GCP Service Account Key Creation
editGCP Service Account Key Creation
editIdentifies when a new key is created for a service account in Google Cloud Platform (GCP). A service account is a special type of account used by an application or a virtual machine (VM) instance, not a person. Applications use service accounts to make authorized API calls, authorized as either the service account itself, or as G Suite or Cloud Identity users through domain-wide delegation. If private keys are not tracked and managed properly, they can present a security risk. An adversary may create a new key for a service account in order to attempt to abuse the permissions assigned to that account and evade detection.
Rule type: query
Rule indices:
- filebeat-*
Severity: low
Risk score: 21
Runs every: 5 minutes
Searches indices from: now-6m (Date Math format, see also Additional look-back time)
Maximum alerts per execution: 100
References:
Tags:
- Elastic
- Cloud
- GCP
- Continuous Monitoring
- SecOps
- Identity and Access
Version: 1
Added (Elastic Stack release): 7.10.0
Rule authors: Elastic
Rule license: Elastic License
Potential false positives
editService account keys may be created by system administrators. Verify that the configuration change was expected. Exceptions can be added to this rule to filter expected behavior.
Investigation guide
editThe GCP Filebeat module must be enabled to use this rule.
Rule query
editevent.dataset:googlecloud.audit and event.action:google.iam.admin.v*.CreateServiceAccountKey and event.outcome:success
Threat mapping
editFramework: MITRE ATT&CKTM
-
Tactic:
- Name: Credential Access
- ID: TA0006
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0006/
-
Technique:
- Name: Account Manipulation
- ID: T1098
- Reference URL: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/