RBAC Permission Enumeration Attempt

calendar Jun 4, 2025 · attack.t1069.003 attack.t1087.004 attack.discovery  ·
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Detects identities attempting to enumerate their Kubernetes RBAC permissions. In the early stages of a breach, attackers will aim to list the permissions they have within the compromised environment. In a Kubernetes cluster, this can be achieved by interacting with the API server, and querying the SelfSubjectAccessReview API via e.g. a "kubectl auth can-i --list" command. This will enumerate the Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) rules defining the compromised user's authorization.

Sigma rule (View on GitHub)

 1title: RBAC Permission Enumeration Attempt
 2id: 84b777bd-c946-4d17-aa2e-c39f5a454325
 3status: test
 4description: |
 5    Detects identities attempting to enumerate their Kubernetes RBAC permissions.
 6    In the early stages of a breach, attackers will aim to list the permissions they have within the compromised environment.
 7    In a Kubernetes cluster, this can be achieved by interacting with the API server, and querying the SelfSubjectAccessReview API via e.g. a "kubectl auth can-i --list" command.
 8    This will enumerate the Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC) rules defining the compromised user's authorization.    
 9references:
10    - https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/security/current/kubernetes-suspicious-self-subject-review.html
11author: Leo Tsaousis (@laripping)
12date: 2024-03-26
13tags:
14    - attack.t1069.003
15    - attack.t1087.004
16    - attack.discovery
17logsource:
18    category: application
19    product: kubernetes
20    service: audit
21detection:
22    selection:
23        verb: 'create'
24        apiGroup: 'authorization.k8s.io'
25        objectRef.resource: 'selfsubjectrulesreviews'
26    condition: selection
27falsepositives:
28    - Unknown
29level: low

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