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[New Rule] AWS SES Identity Verified Then Deleted - #6658

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bryans3c merged 19 commits into
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new-rule/aws-ses-identity-verified-then-deleted
Aug 31, 2026
Merged

[New Rule] AWS SES Identity Verified Then Deleted#6658
bryans3c merged 19 commits into
mainfrom
new-rule/aws-ses-identity-verified-then-deleted

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@bryans3c bryans3c commented Aug 14, 2026

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Pull Request

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Summary - What I changed

Added an eql sequence rule that detects an SES email identity verified and then deleted by the same AWS identity within one hour — the verify-use-delete pattern used by adversaries to send phishing email from a victim account's SES capacity and then remove evidence of the sending domain.

Why it matters

Amazon SES requires email addresses and domains to be verified before use as senders. An adversary who obtains SES write credentials can verify a domain they control, send bulk phishing email under the victim organization's SES reputation and sending quota, then delete the identity to remove it from ListIdentities output — making post-incident attribution harder. The verify-then-delete sequence within a short window is a recognized attacker technique documented in SES abuse research, and has no common legitimate equivalent since test cleanup workflows typically operate on sandbox addresses over longer timeframes.

image

How To Test

Query to verify in our TRaDE stack:

sequence by aws.cloudtrail.user_identity.arn with maxspan=1h
  [any where event.provider == "ses.amazonaws.com"
   and event.action in ("VerifyEmailIdentity", "VerifyDomainIdentity", "VerifyEmailAddress", "VerifyDomainDkim")
   and event.outcome == "success"]
  [any where event.provider == "ses.amazonaws.com"
   and event.action == "DeleteIdentity"
   and event.outcome == "success"]

Checklist

  • Added a label for the type of pr: Rule: New
  • Secret and sensitive material has been managed correctly
  • Automated testing was updated or added to match the most common scenarios
  • Documentation and comments were added for features that require explanation

Contributor checklist

Copilot AI lite review requested due to automatic review settings August 14, 2026 17:05
@bryans3c bryans3c changed the title New rule/aws ses identity verified then deleted [New Rule] AWS SES Identity Verified Then Deleted Aug 14, 2026

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Pull request overview

Adds a new AWS CloudTrail EQL sequence detection rule to identify a suspicious “verify SES identity → delete identity” pattern within 1 hour by the same AWS principal, aimed at catching SES abuse used for phishing/spam operations and subsequent cleanup.

Changes:

  • Introduced a new EQL sequence rule for SES identity verification followed by deletion (maxspan 1h).
  • Added investigation guide content, references, tags, and ATT&CK mappings for triage and classification.

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@bryans3c bryans3c self-assigned this Aug 14, 2026
@bryans3c bryans3c added the Rule: New Proposal for new rule label Aug 14, 2026
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Rule: New - Guidelines

These guidelines serve as a reminder set of considerations when proposing a new rule.

Documentation and Context

  • Detailed description of the rule.
  • List any new fields required in ECS/data sources.
  • Link related issues or PRs.
  • Include references.

Rule Metadata Checks

  • creation_date matches the date of creation PR initially merged.
  • min_stack_version should support the widest stack versions.
  • name and description should be descriptive and not include typos.
  • query should be inclusive, not overly exclusive, considering performance for diverse environments. Non ecs fields should be added to non-ecs-schema.json if not available in an integration.
  • min_stack_comments and min_stack_version should be included if the rule is only compatible starting from a specific stack version.
  • index pattern should be neither too specific nor too vague, ensuring it accurately matches the relevant data stream (e.g., use logs-endpoint.process-* for process data).
  • integration should align with the index. If the integration is newly introduced, ensure the manifest, schemas, and new_rule.yaml template are updated.
  • setup should include the necessary steps to configure the integration.
  • note should include any additional information (e.g. Triage and analysis investigation guides, timeline templates).
  • tags should be relevant to the threat and align/added to the EXPECTED_RULE_TAGS in the definitions.py file.
  • threat, techniques, and subtechniques should map to ATT&CK always if possible.

New BBR Rules

  • building_block_type should be included if the rule is a building block and the rule should be located in the rules_building_block folder.
  • bypass_bbr_timing should be included if adding custom lookback timing to the rule.

Testing and Validation

  • Provide evidence of testing and detecting the expected threat.
  • Check for existence of coverage to prevent duplication.

bryans3c and others added 6 commits August 14, 2026 19:30
Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

@terrancedejesus terrancedejesus left a comment

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LGTM. Agreed on dropping this to medium, verify-then-delete can be maintenance. Also +1 on the 30m maxspan being long for EQL.

bryans3c and others added 3 commits August 31, 2026 12:41
…ied_then_deleted.toml

Co-authored-by: Terrance DeJesus <99630311+terrancedejesus@users.noreply.github.com>
…ied_then_deleted.toml

Co-authored-by: Terrance DeJesus <99630311+terrancedejesus@users.noreply.github.com>
Updated the SES identity verification rule to reflect changes in the creation and updated dates, modified the detection window from one hour to 30 minutes, and switched the query language from EQL to ESQL.

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🟡 Changes recommended

The rule’s implementation (ES|QL + fixed 30-minute bucketing) and tagging currently conflict with the PR’s stated EQL sequence behavior and includes at least one tag likely to fail schema validation.

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Review details

Suppressed comments (1)

rules/integrations/aws/resource_development_ses_identity_verified_then_deleted.toml:30

  • The PR description and “How To Test” section describe an EQL sequence with maxspan=1h, but this rule is implemented as an ES|QL aggregation with a 30-minute window (language/type set to esql and the note describes 30-minute aggregation). Please align the rule implementation with the PR description (or vice versa) so reviewers/users understand the actual detection semantics.
from = "now-35m"
interval = "30m"
language = "esql"
license = "Elastic License v2"
name = "AWS SES Email Identity Verified Then Deleted"
  • Files reviewed: 1/1 changed files
  • Comments generated: 2
  • Review effort level: Lite

@bryans3c
bryans3c merged commit 5d4baf8 into main Aug 31, 2026
13 of 17 checks passed
@bryans3c
bryans3c deleted the new-rule/aws-ses-identity-verified-then-deleted branch August 31, 2026 14:21
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4 participants