Detect Cloud Account in Elastic Security
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of cloud accounts. Cloud accounts are those created and configured by an organization for use by users, remote support, services, or for administration of resources within a cloud service provider or SaaS application. With authenticated access, tools such as Get-MsolRoleMember, az ad user list, aws iam list-users, aws iam list-roles, and gcloud iam service-accounts list can enumerate cloud accounts across Azure AD, AWS IAM, and GCP. Tools like ROADTools, AADInternals, AzureHound, and Pacu have been used by threat actors including APT29 and Storm-0501 to conduct this activity.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Discovery
- Technique
- T1087 Account Discovery
- Sub-technique
- T1087.004 Cloud Account
- Canonical reference
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1087/004/
Elastic Detection Query
process where event.type == "start"
and process.name : ("powershell.exe", "pwsh.exe", "cmd.exe", "python.exe", "python3.exe")
and process.command_line : (
"*Get-MsolRoleMember*", "*Get-MsolUser*", "*Get-AzureADUser*", "*Get-AzADUser*",
"*az ad user list*", "*az ad sp list*", "*az role assignment list*",
"*az account list*", "*aws iam list-users*", "*aws iam list-roles*",
"*aws iam list-groups*", "*aws iam get-account-authorization-details*",
"*gcloud iam service-accounts list*", "*gcloud projects get-iam-policy*",
"*gcloud organizations get-iam-policy*", "*Get-MsolGroupMember*",
"*Get-MsolServicePrincipal*", "*Invoke-AzureHound*", "*roadrecon*",
"*roadtools*", "*AADInternals*", "*Get-AADIntUsers*", "*Get-AADIntTenantDetails*",
"*Invoke-Pacu*", "*pacu*"
)Elastic EQL detection for T1087.004 using ECS process fields. Matches cloud account enumeration commands executed by PowerShell, cmd.exe, or Python interpreters. Covers Azure AD (MSol/AzureAD/Az), AWS IAM CLI, GCP gcloud IAM, and known offensive frameworks including AzureHound, ROADtools, Pacu, and AADInternals.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- IT administrators performing authorized cloud IAM access reviews or account audits using PowerShell Az/AzureAD modules on managed workstations
- Cloud security posture management tools (Prisma Cloud, Wiz, Orca) or DevOps pipelines executing legitimate account listing scripts as part of CI/CD validation workflows
- Security engineers running approved penetration testing or red team exercises with documented authorization — validate against change management records before escalating
Other platforms for T1087.004
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 5 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Azure AD User Enumeration via AZ CLI
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=cmd.exe or powershell.exe, CommandLine containing 'az ad user list'. The Azure AD Audit Log will record 'List users' operations attributed to the authenticated service principal or user.
- Test 2AWS IAM User and Role Enumeration
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for each aws CLI invocation with CommandLine containing 'aws iam list-users', 'aws iam list-roles', and 'aws iam get-account-authorization-details'. Sysmon Event ID 11: File Create for iam_dump.json in TEMP directory. AWS CloudTrail will record ListUsers, ListRoles, GetAccountAuthorizationDetails API calls.
- Test 3Azure AD Enumeration via PowerShell MSOnline Module
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create with Image=powershell.exe, CommandLine containing 'Get-MsolUser', 'Get-MsolRoleMember'. PowerShell ScriptBlock Log Event ID 4104 with full module import and cmdlet invocation. Sysmon Event ID 11: File Create for msol_users.csv. Azure AD Audit Logs will record 'List users' and 'Get member' operations.
- Test 4GCP IAM Service Account Enumeration
Expected signal: Linux auditd or syslog: process execution of gcloud with arguments 'iam service-accounts list' and 'projects get-iam-policy'. GCP Cloud Audit Logs will record iam.serviceAccounts.list and cloudresourcemanager.projects.getIamPolicy Admin Activity operations attributed to the authenticated user or service account.
- Test 5Azure AD Enumeration via ROADTools (roadrecon)
Expected signal: Sysmon Event ID 1: Process Create for pip install (python.exe) and roadrecon.exe invocations with 'auth' and 'gather' subcommands. Sysmon Event ID 11: File Create for roadrecon_output.db in TEMP directory. Network connections from python.exe to login.microsoftonline.com and graph.microsoft.com. Azure AD Audit Logs will show bulk 'List users', 'List groups', 'List applications' operations.
References (14)
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1087/004/
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/msonline/get-msolrolemember?view=azureadps-1.0
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/ad/user?view=azure-cli-latest
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/iam/list-users.html
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/iam/list-roles.html
- https://cloud.google.com/sdk/gcloud/reference/iam/service-accounts/list
- https://github.com/True-Demon/raindance
- https://dirkjanm.io/introducing-roadtools-framework/
- https://o365blog.com/aadinternals/
- https://github.com/BloodHoundAD/AzureHound
- https://github.com/RhinoSecurityLabs/pacu
- https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/red-teaming-microsoft-part-1-active-directory-leaks-via-azure/
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2021/10/25/nobelium-targeting-delegated-administrative-privileges-to-facilitate-broader-attacks/
- https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/blob/master/atomics/T1087.004/T1087.004.md
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