Microsoft Entra ID Role Management Permission Grant

Status: available
Severity: high
Time window: 2h
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies when the Microsoft Graph RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory (Delegated or Application) permission is granted to a service principal. This permission allows an application to read and manage the role-based access control (RBAC) settings for your company's directory. An adversary could use this permission to add an Microsoft Entra ID object to an Admin directory role and escalate privileges. Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/graph/permissions-reference#role-management-permissions Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/graph/api/directoryrole-post-members?view=graph-rest-1.0&tabs=http

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts, `T1098.003` Account Manipulation: Additional Cloud Roles

Event coverage

Provider	Event
Entra-AuditLogs	Add app role assignment to service principal
Entra-AuditLogs	Add delegated permission grant

Rules detecting the same action

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

Admin promotion after Role Management Application Permission Grant (Kusto)
Application ID URI Changed (Kusto)
Application Redirect URL Update (Kusto)
Changes to Application Logout URL (Kusto)
Changes to Application Ownership (Kusto)
full_access_as_app Granted To Application (Kusto)
Mail.Read Permissions Granted to Application (Kusto)
Suspicious application consent for offline access (Kusto)

Rule body kusto

id: 1ff56009-db01-4615-8211-d4fda21da02d
name: Microsoft Entra ID Role Management Permission Grant
description: |
  'Identifies when the Microsoft Graph RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory (Delegated or Application) permission is granted to a service principal.
  This permission allows an application to read and manage the role-based access control (RBAC) settings for your company's directory.
  An adversary could use this permission to add an Microsoft Entra ID object to an Admin directory role and escalate privileges.
  Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/graph/permissions-reference#role-management-permissions
  Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/graph/api/directoryrole-post-members?view=graph-rest-1.0&tabs=http'
severity: High
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 2h
queryPeriod: 2h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - Persistence
  - Impact
relevantTechniques:
  - T1098.003
  - T1078.004
tags:
  - SimuLand
query: |
  AuditLogs
  | where Category =~ "ApplicationManagement" and LoggedByService =~ "Core Directory" and OperationName in~ ("Add delegated permission grant", "Add app role assignment to service principal")
  | mv-apply TargetResource = TargetResources on
    (
        where TargetResource.type =~ "ServicePrincipal" and array_length(TargetResource.modifiedProperties) > 0 and isnotnull(TargetResource.displayName)
        | extend props = TargetResource.modifiedProperties
    )
  | mv-apply Property = props on
    (
        where Property.displayName in~ ("AppRole.Value","DelegatedPermissionGrant.Scope")
        | extend DisplayName = tostring(Property.displayName), PermissionGrant = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
    )
  | where PermissionGrant has "RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory"
  | mv-apply Property = props on
    (
        where Property.displayName =~ "ServicePrincipal.DisplayName"
        | extend TargetAppDisplayName = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
    )
  | mv-apply Property = props on
    (
        where Property.displayName =~ "ServicePrincipal.ObjectID"
        | extend TargetAppServicePrincipalId = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
    )
  | extend InitiatingAppName = tostring(InitiatedBy.app.displayName)
  | extend InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId = tostring(InitiatedBy.app.servicePrincipalId)
  | extend InitiatingUserPrincipalName = tostring(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName)
  | extend InitiatingAadUserId = tostring(InitiatedBy.user.id)
  | extend InitiatingIpAddress = tostring(iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress), InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress, InitiatedBy.app.ipAddress))
  | project TimeGenerated, OperationName, Result, PermissionGrant, TargetAppDisplayName, TargetAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId,
  InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingIpAddress, TargetResources, AdditionalDetails, CorrelationId
  | extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: TargetAppDisplayName
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: TargetAppServicePrincipalId
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: InitiatingAppName
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: InitiatingUserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: InitiatingAccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: InitiatingAadUserId
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: InitiatingIpAddress
version: 1.1.1
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where Category =~ "ApplicationManagement" and LoggedByService =~ "Core Directory" and OperationName in~ ("Add delegated permission grant", "Add app role assignment to service principal")

Stage 3: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply TargetResource = TargetResources on
  (
      where TargetResource.type =~ "ServicePrincipal" and array_length(TargetResource.modifiedProperties) > 0 and isnotnull(TargetResource.displayName)
      | extend props = TargetResource.modifiedProperties
  )

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply Property = props on
  (
      where Property.displayName in~ ("AppRole.Value","DelegatedPermissionGrant.Scope")
      | extend DisplayName = tostring(Property.displayName), PermissionGrant = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
  )

Stage 5: `where`

| where PermissionGrant has "RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory"

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply Property = props on
  (
      where Property.displayName =~ "ServicePrincipal.DisplayName"
      | extend TargetAppDisplayName = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
  )

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply Property = props on
  (
      where Property.displayName =~ "ServicePrincipal.ObjectID"
      | extend TargetAppServicePrincipalId = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
  )

Stage 8: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

| extend InitiatingAppName = tostring(InitiatedBy.app.displayName)
| extend InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId = tostring(InitiatedBy.app.servicePrincipalId)
| extend InitiatingUserPrincipalName = tostring(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName)
| extend InitiatingAadUserId = tostring(InitiatedBy.user.id)
| extend InitiatingIpAddress = tostring(iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress), InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress, InitiatedBy.app.ipAddress))

Stage 9: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, OperationName, Result, PermissionGrant, TargetAppDisplayName, TargetAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId,
InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingIpAddress, TargetResources, AdditionalDetails, CorrelationId

Stage 10: `extend`

| extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])

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
`Category`	eq	`ApplicationManagement`
`LoggedByService`	eq	`Core Directory`
`OperationName`	in	`Add app role assignment to service principal` `Add delegated permission grant`
`PermissionGrant`	match	`RoleManagement.ReadWrite.Directory` transforms: `term`
`displayName`	eq	`ServicePrincipal.DisplayName` `ServicePrincipal.ObjectID`
`displayName`	in	`AppRole.Value` `DelegatedPermissionGrant.Scope`
`displayName`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`modifiedProperties`	gt	`0` transforms: `array_length`
`type`	eq	`ServicePrincipal`

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
`AdditionalDetails`	`project`
`CorrelationId`	`project`
`InitiatingAadUserId`	`project`
`InitiatingAppName`	`project`
`InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId`	`project`
`InitiatingIpAddress`	`project`
`InitiatingUserPrincipalName`	`project`
`OperationName`	`project`
`PermissionGrant`	`project`
`Result`	`project`
`TargetAppDisplayName`	`project`
`TargetAppServicePrincipalId`	`project`
`TargetResources`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`InitiatingAccountName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix`	`extend`

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`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 Role Management Permission Grant

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 8: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 9: `project`

Stage 10: `extend`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Microsoft Entra ID Role Management Permission Grant

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 4: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 7: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 8: extend (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 9: project

Stage 10: extend

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 8: `extend` (5 consecutive steps)

Stage 9: `project`

Stage 10: `extend`