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🛡️ AWS RDS Cluster database logging is not enabled🟢

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Description​

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Description​

This policy identifies AWS RDS Clusters that are not configured to export database logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. Enabling log exports ensures that database activity and operational events are captured and centrally stored for ongoing monitoring, analysis, and audit purposes.

Rationale​

Exporting database logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs is critical for maintaining operational visibility and meeting security and compliance requirements. Logs stored locally on an RDS cluster are transient and may be lost during maintenance operations, cluster restarts, or unexpected failures. By contrast, CloudWatch Logs provides durable, centralized storage that preserves historical log data for auditing and forensic analysis.

Once logs are available in CloudWatch Logs, organizations can create metric filters and alarms to detect significant events, such as repeated connection failures, unauthorized access attempts, or performance issues including slow-running queries. CloudWatch Logs Insights further enhances visibility by enabling efficient querying and analysis of log data across multiple RDS clusters, improving troubleshooting and incident response capabilities.

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Remediation​

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Remediation​

Enable CloudWatch Log Exports​

To ensure database logs are retained and available for centralized monitoring, troubleshooting, and auditing, configure AWS RDS clusters to export supported database log types to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. Exported logs provide durable storage and enable security monitoring, operational analysis, and compliance reporting.

CloudWatch log exports are enabled at the cluster level by updating the DB cluster configuration with the --cloudwatch-logs-export-configuration parameter. The specific log types that can be exported depend on the database engine and engine version.

From Command Line​
Aurora MySQL​

Enable export of error, general, slow query, audit, and instance logs:

aws rds modify-db-cluster \
    --db-cluster-identifier mydbcluster \
    --cloudwatch-logs-export-configuration '{"EnableLogTypes":["error","general","slowquery","audit","instance"]}'
Aurora PostgreSQL​

Enable export of PostgreSQL engine and instance logs:

aws rds modify-db-cluster \

... [see more](remediation.md)

policy.yaml​

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Linked Framework Sections​

SectionSub SectionsInternal RulesPoliciesFlagsCompliance
💼 AWS Foundational Security Best Practices v1.0.0 → 💼 [DocumentDB.4] Amazon DocumentDB clusters should publish audit logs to CloudWatch Logs1no data
💼 AWS Foundational Security Best Practices v1.0.0 → 💼 [Neptune.2] Neptune DB clusters should publish audit logs to CloudWatch Logs1no data
💼 AWS Foundational Security Best Practices v1.0.0 → 💼 [RDS.34] Aurora MySQL DB clusters should publish audit logs to CloudWatch Logs1no data
💼 AWS Foundational Security Best Practices v1.0.0 → 💼 [RDS.37] Aurora PostgreSQL DB clusters should publish logs to CloudWatch Logs1no data
💼 Cloudaware Framework → 💼 Logging and Monitoring Configuration75no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AC-2(4) Automated Audit Actions (M)(H)21no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AC-6(9) Log Use of Privileged Functions (M)(H)731no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-2 Event Logging (L)(M)(H)26no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-3 Content of Audit Records (L)(M)(H)137no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(1) Automated Process Integration (M)(H)4no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(3) Correlate Audit Record Repositories (M)(H)16no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(4) Central Review and Analysis (H)16no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(5) Integrated Analysis of Audit Records (H)3no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-7(1) Automatic Processing (M)(H)2no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-10 Non-repudiation (H)15no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 AU-12 Audit Record Generation (L)(M)(H)273no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 CA-7 Continuous Monitoring (L)(M)(H)227no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SI-4(5) System-generated Alerts (M)(H)3no data
💼 FedRAMP High Security Controls → 💼 SI-4(20) Privileged Users (H)4856no data
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 AU-2 Event Logging (L)(M)(H)26no data
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 AU-3 Content of Audit Records (L)(M)(H)23no data
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 AU-12 Audit Record Generation (L)(M)(H)73no data
💼 FedRAMP Low Security Controls → 💼 CA-7 Continuous Monitoring (L)(M)(H)127no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AC-2(4) Automated Audit Actions (M)(H)21no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AC-6(9) Log Use of Privileged Functions (M)(H)31no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-2 Event Logging (L)(M)(H)26no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-3 Content of Audit Records (L)(M)(H)137no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(1) Automated Process Integration (M)(H)4no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-6(3) Correlate Audit Record Repositories (M)(H)16no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-7(1) Automatic Processing (M)(H)2no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 AU-12 Audit Record Generation (L)(M)(H)73no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 CA-7 Continuous Monitoring (L)(M)(H)227no data
💼 FedRAMP Moderate Security Controls → 💼 SI-4(5) System-generated Alerts (M)(H)3no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.AE-02: Potentially adverse events are analyzed to better understand associated activities50no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.AE-03: Information is correlated from multiple sources65no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-01: Networks and network services are monitored to find potentially adverse events178no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-02: The physical environment is monitored to find potentially adverse events27no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-03: Personnel activity and technology usage are monitored to find potentially adverse events100no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-06: External service provider activities and services are monitored to find potentially adverse events50no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 DE.CM-09: Computing hardware and software, runtime environments, and their data are monitored to find potentially adverse events179no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.IM-01: Improvements are identified from evaluations45no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.IM-02: Improvements are identified from security tests and exercises, including those done in coordination with suppliers and relevant third parties59no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.IM-03: Improvements are identified from execution of operational processes, procedures, and activities60no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.RA-01: Vulnerabilities in assets are identified, validated, and recorded46no data
💼 NIST CSF v2.0 → 💼 ID.RA-07: Changes and exceptions are managed, assessed for risk impact, recorded, and tracked49no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-2(4) Account Management _ Automated Audit Actions1421no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-4(26) Information Flow Enforcement _ Audit Filtering Actions17no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AC-6(9) Least Privilege _ Log Use of Privileged Functions1724no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-2 Event Logging426no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-3 Content of Audit Records31337no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-6(1) Audit Record Review, Analysis, and Reporting _ Automated Process Integration14no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-6(3) Audit Record Review, Analysis, and Reporting _ Correlate Audit Record Repositories16no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-6(4) Audit Record Review, Analysis, and Reporting _ Central Review and Analysis16no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-6(5) Audit Record Review, Analysis, and Reporting _ Integrated Analysis of Audit Records3no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-7(1) Audit Record Reduction and Report Generation _ Automatic Processing12no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-9(7) Protection of Audit Information _ Store on Component with Different Operating System2no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-10 Non-repudiation515no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 AU-12 Audit Record Generation44773no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 CA-7 Continuous Monitoring627no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SC-7(9) Boundary Protection _ Restrict Threatening Outgoing Communications Traffic32no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SI-3(8) Malicious Code Protection _ Detect Unauthorized Commands12no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SI-4(5) System Monitoring _ System-generated Alerts3no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SI-4(20) System Monitoring _ Privileged Users11no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SI-7(8) Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity _ Auditing Capability for Significant Events16no data
💼 NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 → 💼 SI-20 Tainting3no data
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 10.2 Implement automated audit trails for all system components.7633no data
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 10.5.3 Promptly back up audit trail files to a centralized log server or media that is difficult to alter.2no data
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 10.5.4 Write logs for external-facing technologies onto a secure, centralized, internal log server or media device.2no data
💼 PCI DSS v3.2.1 → 💼 10.6.2 Review logs of all other system components periodically based on the organization's policies and risk management strategy, as determined by the organization's annual risk assessment.9no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 10.2.1 Audit logs are enabled and active for all system components and cardholder data.732no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 10.3.3 Audit log files, including those for external-facing technologies, are promptly backed up to a secure, central, internal log server(s) or other media that is difficult to modify.2no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0.1 → 💼 10.4.2 Logs of all other system components are reviewed periodically.19no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 10.2.1 Audit logs are enabled and active for all system components and cardholder data.7132no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 10.3.3 Audit log files, including those for external-facing technologies, are promptly backed up to a secure, central, internal log server(s) or other media that is difficult to modify.2no data
💼 PCI DSS v4.0 → 💼 10.4.2 Logs of all other system components are reviewed periodically.19no data