AWS ECR Container Scanning Findings High

name: AWS ECR Container Scanning Findings High
id: 30a0e9f8-f1dd-4f9d-8fc2-c622461d781c
version: 11
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies high-severity findings from AWS Elastic Container Registry (ECR) image scans. It detects these activities by analyzing AWS CloudTrail logs for the DescribeImageScanFindings event, specifically filtering for findings with a high severity level. This activity is significant for a SOC because high-severity vulnerabilities in container images can lead to potential exploitation if not addressed. If confirmed malicious, attackers could exploit these vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access, execute arbitrary code, or escalate privileges within the container environment, posing a significant risk to the overall security posture.
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=HIGH
      | 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_high_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 ("$user$") starthoursago=168  | 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: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: Vulnerabilities with severity high found in repository $repository$
    risk_objects:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 50
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Dev Sec Ops
    asset_type: AWS Account
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1204.003
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk 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