Detection rules › YARA-L

Entra ID Add User To Admin Role

Severity
medium
Type
alert
Time window
5m
Match by
userid
Author
Google Cloud Security
Source
github.com/chronicle/detection-rules

Adding users to administrative roles is needed but due to sensitivity of these roles, validation should occur when this occurs

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

References

Event coverage

Rule body yaral

/*
 * Copyright 2025 Google LLC
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

 rule entra_id_add_user_to_admin_role {

  meta:
    author = "Google Cloud Security"
    description = "Adding users to administrative roles is needed but due to sensitivity of these roles, validation should occur when this occurs"
    rule_id = "mr_069a282b-a605-4572-921e-f466b93d0cf3"
    rule_name = "Entra ID Add User To Admin Role"
    tactic = "TA0003"
    technique = "T1098.003"
    assumption = "The list entra_id_watchlist_roles is populated with GUIDs, ie 62e90394-69f5-4237-9190-012177145e10"
    reference = "https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/roles/permissions-reference"
    type = "alert"
    platform = "azure"
    data_source = "azure ad"
    severity = "Medium"
    priority = "Medium"

  events:
    $app.metadata.event_type = "USER_CHANGE_PERMISSIONS"
    $app.metadata.product_event_type = "Add member to role"
    $app.metadata.product_name = "Azure AD Directory Audit"
    $app.metadata.vendor_name = "Microsoft"
    $app.security_result.action = "ALLOW"
    //To use with a single named role, like Exchange Administrator, use the following
    //$app.target.user.title = "Exchange Administrator"
    //To use with single role in GUID form (Preferred), use the following
    $app.target.resource.attribute.labels["Role.TemplateId"] = "62e90394-69f5-4237-9190-012177145e10"
    //To use a list of GUIDs (Preferred), create a reference list and use the syntax below
    //$app.target.resource.attribute.labels["Role.TemplateId"] in %entra_id_watchlist_roles_guid
    $app.principal.user.userid = $userid

  match:
    $userid over 5m

  outcome:
    $risk_score = 65
    $event_count = count_distinct($app.metadata.id)
    $assigned_role = array_distinct($app.target.user.title)
    $assigned_role_guid = array_distinct($app.target.resource.attribute.labels["Role.TemplateId"])
    $principal_county_region = array_distinct($app.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region)
    $user_agent = array_distinct($app.network.http.user_agent)
    $network_session = array_distinct($app.network.session_id)
    $principal_ip = array_distinct($app.principal.ip)
    $userid_making_modification = array_distinct($app.principal.user.userid)
    $principal_user_email_addresses = array_distinct($app.principal.user.email_addresses)
    $modified_userid = array_distinct($app.target.user.userid)

  condition:
    $app
}

Detection logic

Fires when at least one $app event in the 5m window.

Events

$app USER_CHANGE_PERMISSIONS

  • metadata.product_event_type = "Add member to role"
  • security_result.action = "ALLOW"
  • target.resource.attribute.labels["Role.TemplateId"] = "62e90394-69f5-4237-9190-012177145e10"

Correlation

Match key
$userid (principal.user.userid)
Within
5m

Outcome

Fields the detection emits on a match. $risk_score drives alerting; Chronicle surfaces the rest on the detection.

FieldExpression
risk_score65
event_countcount_distinct($app.metadata.id)
assigned_rolearray_distinct($app.target.user.title)
assigned_role_guidarray_distinct($app.target.resource.attribute.labels["Role.TemplateId"])
principal_county_regionarray_distinct($app.principal.ip_geo_artifact.location.country_or_region)
user_agentarray_distinct($app.network.http.user_agent)
network_sessionarray_distinct($app.network.session_id)
principal_iparray_distinct($app.principal.ip)
userid_making_modificationarray_distinct($app.principal.user.userid)
principal_user_email_addressesarray_distinct($app.principal.user.email_addresses)
modified_useridarray_distinct($app.target.user.userid)