Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS Suspicious Application

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This detection uses AzureActivity logs (Administrative category) to identify a suspicious application adding a server instance to an Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS service or deleting the AD FS service instance. Usually the Microsoft Entra ID Connect Health Agent application with ID cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d and ID cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8 is used to perform those operations.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1528` Steal Application Access Token
Lateral Movement	`T1550` Use Alternate Authentication Material

Event coverage

Provider	Event
Azure-Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService	Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/delete
Azure-Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService	Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/servicemembers/action

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

Rule body kusto

id: d9938c3b-16f9-444d-bc22-ea9a9110e0fd
name: Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS Suspicious Application
description: |
  'This detection uses AzureActivity logs (Administrative category) to identify a suspicious application adding a server instance to an Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS service or deleting the AD FS service instance.
  Usually the Microsoft Entra ID Connect Health Agent application with ID cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d and ID cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8 is used to perform those operations.'
severity: Medium
status: Available 
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActivity
    dataTypes:
      - AzureActivity
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
  - DefenseEvasion
relevantTechniques:
  - T1528
  - T1550
tags:
  - SimuLand
query: |
  // Microsoft Entra ID Connect Health Agent - cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d
  // Microsoft Entra ID Connect - cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8
  let appList = dynamic(['cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d','cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8']);
  let operationNamesList = dynamic(['Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/servicemembers/action','Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/delete']);
  AzureActivity
  | where CategoryValue =~ 'Administrative'
  | where ResourceProviderValue =~ 'Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService'
  | where _ResourceId has 'AdFederationService'
  | where OperationNameValue in~ (operationNamesList)
  | extend claimsJson = parse_json(Claims)
  | extend AppId = tostring(claimsJson.appid), AccountName = tostring(claimsJson.name), Name = tostring(split(Caller,'@',0)[0]), UPNSuffix = tostring(split(Caller,'@',1)[0])
  | where AppId !in (appList)
  | project-away claimsJson
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Caller
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: Name
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: UPNSuffix
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: CallerIpAddress
version: 2.0.3
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let appList = dynamic(['cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d','cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8']);
let operationNamesList = dynamic(['Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/servicemembers/action','Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/delete']);

Stage 1: `source`

AzureActivity

Stage 2: `where`

| where CategoryValue =~ 'Administrative'

Stage 3: `where`

| where ResourceProviderValue =~ 'Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService'

Stage 4: `where`

| where _ResourceId has 'AdFederationService'

Stage 5: `where`

| where OperationNameValue in~ (operationNamesList)

Stage 6: `extend`

| extend claimsJson = parse_json(Claims)

Stage 7: `extend`

| extend AppId = tostring(claimsJson.appid), AccountName = tostring(claimsJson.name), Name = tostring(split(Caller,'@',0)[0]), UPNSuffix = tostring(split(Caller,'@',1)[0])

Stage 8: `where`

| where AppId !in (appList)

Stage 9: `project-away`

| project-away claimsJson

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`AppId`	in	`cb1056e2-e479-49de-ae31-7812af012ed8`, `cf6d7e68-f018-4e0a-a7b3-126e053fb88d`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`CategoryValue`	eq	`Administrative`
`OperationNameValue`	in	`Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/delete` `Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService/services/servicemembers/action`
`ResourceProviderValue`	eq	`Microsoft.ADHybridHealthService`
`_ResourceId`	match	`AdFederationService` transforms: `term`

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`AccountName`	`extend`
`AppId`	`extend`
`Name`	`extend`
`UPNSuffix`	`extend`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS Suspicious Application

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `extend`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `project-away`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Microsoft Entra ID Hybrid Health AD FS Suspicious Application

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: extend

Stage 7: extend

Stage 8: where

Stage 9: project-away

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `extend`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `project-away`