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Introduction:
A massive data breach targeting Snowflake customers has exposed the data of over 165 organizations, including industry giants like Ticketmaster and Santander. The attack vector was not a sophisticated zero-day exploit but a simple credential-stealing campaign targeting unsecured customer accounts, highlighting a critical disconnect between cloud service provider responsibilities and customer security postures.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the attack chain used in the Snowflake data heist, from infostealer malware to data exfiltration.
- Learn how to audit and harden your Snowflake account configuration to prevent unauthorized access.
- Implement mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) and network security policies to protect cloud data.
You Should Know:
- The Anatomy of the Attack: It Started with Infostealers
The attack chain began not on Snowflake’s infrastructure, but on employee corporate machines. Attackers used infostealer malware like Vidar, Risepro, and Metastealer to harvest credentials from browsers and other storage locations. These credentials, often saved for convenience, were then sold on cybercrime forums. The attackers then used these credentials in a large-scale, automated login campaign against Snowflake customers.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Credential Theft. An employee’s machine is infected, often through phishing or malicious downloads. The infostealer executes and scrapes browser data, including saved passwords, cookies, and autofill information.
Step 2: Credential Sale. The harvested data is packaged and sold on underground markets. The listing often specifies the application the credentials are for, such as snowflake.com.
Step 3: Credential Stuffing. Attackers use automated tools to try these credentials against the Snowflake web login portal. If the user has not enabled MFA and uses the same password across accounts, the login is successful.
2. The Critical Misconfiguration: Missing Multi-Factor Authentication
The single most significant failure in this breach was the lack of MFA on the compromised accounts. Snowflake provides robust MFA capabilities, but they are not enabled by default, requiring administrators to activate them. Without this second layer of defense, a stolen username and password are all that is needed for full access.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Access Account Administration. Log in to your Snowflake account as an `ACCOUNTADMIN` or `SECURITYADMIN` role.
Step 2: Enable MFA for Users. Navigate to Admin » Users & Roles. Select a user and click Edit. In the Authentication section, you can enforce MFA.
Command-Line (SQL) Method:
-- To alter a user and require MFA ALTER USER <username> SET DISABLED = false; ALTER USER <username> SET MINS_TO_BYPASS_MFA = 0;
This command ensures the user cannot bypass MFA during login.
3. Network Policy Neglect: The Open Door
Many of the compromised accounts had no Network Security Policies in place. This meant logins could originate from any IP address in the world, including those from known malicious infrastructure and commercial VPN providers commonly used by attackers.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Define Your Allowed IP List. Identify the public IP addresses or ranges from which your users should be connecting (e.g., corporate office IPs, VPN gateway IPs).
Step 2: Create a Network Policy. In Snowflake, use the `ACCOUNTADMIN` role to execute the following SQL command.
-- Create a network policy that allows only specific IPs
CREATE NETWORK POLICY my_company_policy
ALLOWED_IP_LIST = ('192.168.1.0/24', '203.0.113.100')
BLOCKED_IP_LIST = ()
COMMENT = 'Restrict logins to corporate network';
Step 3: Apply the Network Policy.
-- Apply the policy to the entire account ALTER ACCOUNT SET NETWORK_POLICY = my_company_policy; -- Or apply to a specific user ALTER USER <username> SET NETWORK_POLICY = my_company_policy;
4. Exploiting Over-Privileged Service Accounts
The attackers didn’t just find user accounts; they found powerful service accounts used for analytics and data pipelines. These accounts often have highly privileged roles but were configured with simple username/password authentication and no network restrictions, making them prime targets.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Audit User Roles and Privileges. Regularly review which roles are assigned to users and service accounts. The principle of least privilege is key.
-- Show all users and their roles SHOW USERS; -- Show grants to a specific role SHOW GRANTS TO ROLE <role_name>;
Step 2: Use Key-Pair Authentication for Scripts. Instead of passwords for service accounts, use key-pair authentication for scripts and applications.
Linux/macOS: Generate a private key openssl genrsa -out snowflake_key 4096 Generate the public key openssl rsa -in snowflake_key -pubout -out snowflake_key.pub
Assign the public key to the Snowflake user and use the private key in your connection string.
5. Detecting the Intruder: Forensic SQL Queries
Once a credential is compromised, attackers need to explore your environment. You can detect this activity by querying Snowflake’s built-in account usage views, which provide a log of all queries and logins.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Query for Logins from Unexpected Locations. Check the `LOGIN_HISTORY` view for successful logins from IPs outside your allowed list.
SELECT USER_NAME, CLIENT_IP, EVENT_TIMESTAMP, REPORTED_CLIENT_TYPE
FROM SNOWFLAKE.ACCOUNT_USAGE.LOGIN_HISTORY
WHERE CLIENT_IP NOT IN ('192.168.1.0/24', '203.0.113.100')
AND IS_SUCCESS = 'YES'
ORDER BY EVENT_TIMESTAMP DESC;
Step 2: Audit Query History for Data Exfiltration. Look for large data exports or suspicious queries run by users who don’t normally perform such actions.
SELECT QUERY_TEXT, USER_NAME, ROLE_NAME, BYTES_SCANNED, ROWS_PRODUCED, START_TIME FROM SNOWFLAKE.ACCOUNT_USAGE.QUERY_HISTORY WHERE BYTES_SCANNED > 1000000000 -- Queries scanning over 1GB ORDER BY BYTES_SCANNED DESC;
6. Proactive Defense: Implementing Client-Side Security
While securing Snowflake is crucial, the initial infection vector must be addressed. This requires a defense-in-depth strategy on the client side to prevent credential theft in the first place.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it.
Step 1: Deploy Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). EDR tools can detect and block the behavior of infostealer malware before it can exfiltrate credentials.
Step 2: Enforce Credential Hygiene. Use Group Policy (Windows) or configuration profiles (macOS) to restrict password saving in browsers for corporate identities. Mandate the use of a dedicated, secure password manager.
Step 3: Conduct Security Awareness Training. Regularly train employees to recognize phishing attempts and the dangers of downloading and executing unverified software.
What Undercode Say:
- The Shared Responsibility Model is Not a Handoff. Cloud providers like Snowflake are responsible for the security of the cloud, but customers are unequivocally responsible for security in the cloud. Configuring MFA and network policies is a non-negotiable customer duty.
- Complexity Breeds Vulnerability. The sprawling nature of modern data ecosystems, with numerous service accounts and integrations, creates a vast attack surface that is often poorly understood and minimally monitored.
This breach is a stark reminder that the most devastating attacks often exploit the simplest weaknesses. While Snowflake’s infrastructure remained secure, the customer-facing layer was decimated by a lack of foundational security controls. The focus on credential theft as an initial access method is a trend that will only intensify, moving the battlefield from the cloud provider’s data centers to the endpoint and identity management systems of the customers themselves. Organizations must stop treating cloud data platforms as walled gardens and start applying the same rigorous security practices—least privilege, mandatory MFA, and network segmentation—that they would to any other critical on-premises system.
Prediction:
The Snowflake breach will serve as a catalyst for a major shift in cloud security, accelerating the adoption of passwordless authentication technologies such as FIDO2 passkeys and biometrics to fundamentally break the credential-theft kill chain. Regulatory bodies will likely introduce stricter mandates for MFA and client-side security controls for any organization handling large datasets, transforming what is currently a best practice into a legal requirement. Furthermore, we will see a rise in cyber insurance premiums and policy exclusions for organizations that fail to implement basic hardening measures like MFA, making robust security a direct financial imperative.
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IT/Security Reporter URL:
Reported By: Leonardo Freixas – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
