AWS ECR Container Scanning Findings Low Informational Unknown


Description

The following analytic identifies low, informational, or unknown severity findings from AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR) image scans. It leverages AWS CloudTrail logs, specifically the DescribeImageScanFindings event, to detect these findings. This activity is significant for a SOC as it helps in early identification of potential vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in container images, which could be exploited if left unaddressed. If confirmed malicious, these findings could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, or further exploitation within the containerized environment.

Query · spl

`cloudtrail` eventSource=ecr.amazonaws.com eventName=DescribeImageScanFindings
  | spath path=responseElements.imageScanFindings.findings{} output=findings
  | mvexpand findings
  | spath input=findings
  | search severity IN ("LOW", "INFORMATIONAL", "UNKNOWN")
  | rename name as finding_name, description as finding_description, requestParameters.imageId.imageDigest as imageDigest, requestParameters.repositoryName as repository
  | rename user_name as user
  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
    BY signature dest user
       user_agent src vendor_account
       vendor_region vendor_product finding_name
       finding_description imageDigest repository
  | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
  | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
  | `aws_ecr_container_scanning_findings_low_informational_unknown_filter`

Implementation guide

You must install splunk AWS add on and Splunk App for AWS. This search works with AWS CloudTrail logs.

Known false positives

  • No false positives have been identified at this time.

Analyst notes

Known false positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.

Raw source AWS ECR Container Scanning Findings Low Informational Unknown · SPL
Esc
Published by splunk/security_content ↗, licensed under Apache 2.0 ↗. Reproduced here unmodified.
name: AWS ECR Container Scanning Findings Low Informational Unknown
id: cbc95e44-7c22-443f-88fd-0424478f5589
version: 13
creation_date: '2021-08-18'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Patrick Bareiss, Eric McGinnis Splunk
status: production
type: Anomaly
description: The following analytic identifies low, informational, or unknown severity findings from AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR) image scans. It leverages AWS CloudTrail logs, specifically the DescribeImageScanFindings event, to detect these findings. This activity is significant for a SOC as it helps in early identification of potential vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in container images, which could be exploited if left unaddressed. If confirmed malicious, these findings could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, or further exploitation within the containerized environment.
data_source:
    - AWS CloudTrail DescribeImageScanFindings
search: |-
    `cloudtrail` eventSource=ecr.amazonaws.com eventName=DescribeImageScanFindings
      | spath path=responseElements.imageScanFindings.findings{} output=findings
      | mvexpand findings
      | spath input=findings
      | search severity IN ("LOW", "INFORMATIONAL", "UNKNOWN")
      | rename name as finding_name, description as finding_description, requestParameters.imageId.imageDigest as imageDigest, requestParameters.repositoryName as repository
      | rename user_name as user
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY signature dest user
           user_agent src vendor_account
           vendor_region vendor_product finding_name
           finding_description imageDigest repository
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `aws_ecr_container_scanning_findings_low_informational_unknown_filter`
how_to_implement: You must install splunk AWS add on and Splunk App for AWS. This search works with AWS CloudTrail logs.
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonECR/latest/userguide/image-scanning.html
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 20
          message: Vulnerabilities found in repository $repository$
analytic_story:
    - Dev Sec Ops
asset_type: AWS Account
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1204.003
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: cloud
security_domain: network
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1204.003/aws_ecr_image_scanning/aws_ecr_scanning_findings_events.json
          sourcetype: aws:cloudtrail
          source: aws_cloudtrail
      test_type: unit

Detection rules belong to the projects that publish them and remain under their own licenses. This site indexes and links to them; it claims no rights in them.