AttachGroupPolicy
AWS
AttachGroupPolicy
Event
Attaches a managed IAM policy to a group, granting all group members the permissions defined in that policy.
Security Context
- Adversaries attach overly permissive policies to maintain persistent, elevated access even after initial credentials are rotated.
Log Source
CloudTrail
Sample Event
Adversarial. Draco escalates by attaching arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess to a generic-looking Developers group, then (in a separate event) adds his user to that group. Policy-attach to a group is harder to spot than direct-to-user because legitimate admins do this during onboarding waves, and the per-user effect is mediated through group membership. Stronger detection signal is the policy-arn = AdministratorAccess pattern.
{ "eventVersion": "1.09", "userIdentity": { "type": "IAMUser", "principalId": "AIDADRAC0MALF0YBADGY", "arn": "arn:aws:iam::555123456789:user/draco", "accountId": "555123456789", "accessKeyId": "AKIADRAC0MALF0YEXAMP5", "userName": "draco", "sessionContext": { "attributes": { "creationDate": "2026-04-15T18:51:02Z", "mfaAuthenticated": "false" } } }, "eventTime": "2026-04-15T20:36:14Z", "eventSource": "iam.amazonaws.com", "eventName": "AttachGroupPolicy", "awsRegion": "us-east-1", "sourceIPAddress": "203.0.113.66", "userAgent": "aws-cli/1.18.147 Python/3.7.10 Linux/5.4.0-1045-aws botocore/1.18.6", "requestParameters": { "groupName": "Developers", "policyArn": "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AdministratorAccess" }, "responseElements": null, "requestID": "90000000-0000-4000-8000-000001110010", "eventID": "90000000-0000-4000-8000-000001110011", "readOnly": false, "eventType": "AwsApiCall", "managementEvent": true, "recipientAccountId": "555123456789", "eventCategory": "Management", "tlsDetails": { "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3", "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256", "clientProvidedHostHeader": "iam.amazonaws.com" }}MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
Tactics: Persistence Privilege Escalation
Techniques:
- T1098 — Account Manipulation — Adversaries may manipulate accounts to maintain and/or elevate access to victim systems. Account manipulation may consist of any action that preserves or modifies adversary access to a compromised account, such as modifying credentials or permission groups. These actions could also include accoun...