Bulk Changes to Privileged Account Permissions

Status: available
Severity: high
Time window: 1h
Group by: TimeGenerated, TimeWindow
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies when changes to multiple users permissions are changed at once. Investigate immediately if not a planned change. This setting could enable an attacker access to Azure subscriptions in your environment. Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-identity-management

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Entra-AuditLogs	_catch_all	Entra ID audit event (any operation)

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)
Changes to PIM Settings (Kusto)
Detect PIM Alert Disabling activity (Kusto)
Multiple admin membership removals from newly created admin. (Kusto)
New External User Granted Admin Role (Kusto)
NRT Privileged Role Assigned Outside PIM (Kusto)
NRT User added to Microsoft Entra ID Privileged Groups (Kusto)
Power Platform - Account added to privileged Microsoft Entra roles (Kusto)

Rule body kusto

id: 218f60de-c269-457a-b882-9966632b9dc6
name: Bulk Changes to Privileged Account Permissions
description: |
  'Identifies when changes to multiple users permissions are changed at once. Investigate immediately if not a planned change. This setting could enable an attacker access to Azure subscriptions in your environment.
  Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-identity-management'
severity: High
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 2h
queryPeriod: 2h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078.004
tags:
  - AADSecOpsGuide
query: |
  let AdminRecords = AuditLogs
  | where Category =~ "RoleManagement"
  | where ActivityDisplayName has_any ("Add eligible member to role", "Add member to role")
  | mv-apply TargetResource = TargetResources on 
    (
        where TargetResource.type =~ "User"
        | extend TargetUserPrincipalName = tostring(TargetResource.userPrincipalName),
                 props = TargetResource.modifiedProperties
    )
  | mv-apply Property = props on 
    (
        where Property.displayName =~ "Role.DisplayName"
        | extend RoleName = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
    )
  | where RoleName contains "Admin";
  AdminRecords
  | summarize dcount(TargetUserPrincipalName) by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
  | where dcount_TargetUserPrincipalName > 9
  | join kind=rightsemi  (
    AdminRecords
    | extend TimeWindow = bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
  ) on $left.TimeGenerated == $right.TimeWindow
  | extend InitiatedByUser = iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName), tostring(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName), "")
  | 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))
  | extend TargetName = tostring(split(TargetUserPrincipalName,'@',0)[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(TargetUserPrincipalName,'@',1)[0])
  | extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: InitiatingAppName
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: TargetUserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: TargetName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: TargetUPNSuffix
  - 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
customDetails:
    InitiatedByUser: InitiatedByUser
    TargetUser: TargetUserPrincipalName
version: 1.0.7
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `let`

let AdminRecords = AuditLogs <inlined as stages below>;

The stages below define let AdminRecords (the rule's main pipeline source).

Stage 1: `source`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where Category =~ "RoleManagement"

Stage 3: `where`

| where ActivityDisplayName has_any ("Add eligible member to role", "Add member to role")

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply TargetResource = TargetResources on 
  (
      where TargetResource.type =~ "User"
      | extend TargetUserPrincipalName = tostring(TargetResource.userPrincipalName),
               props = TargetResource.modifiedProperties
  )

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

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

Stage 6: `where`

| where RoleName contains "Admin"

The stages below run on AdminRecords (the outer pipeline).

Stage 7: `summarize`

AdminRecords
| summarize dcount(TargetUserPrincipalName) by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)

Stage 8: `where`

| where dcount_TargetUserPrincipalName > 9

Stage 9: `join`

| join kind=rightsemi  (
  AdminRecords
  | extend TimeWindow = bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
) on $left.TimeGenerated == $right.TimeWindow

Stage 10: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

| extend InitiatedByUser = iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName), tostring(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName), "")
| 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))
| extend TargetName = tostring(split(TargetUserPrincipalName,'@',0)[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(TargetUserPrincipalName,'@',1)[0])
| extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])

InitiatedByUser =

ifisnotempty(userPrincipalName)tostring(InitiatedBy.user.userPrincipalName)

else""

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
`ActivityDisplayName`	match	`Add eligible member to role` `Add member to role`
`Category`	eq	`RoleManagement`
`RoleName`	contains	`Admin`
`dcount_TargetUserPrincipalName`	gt	`9` transforms: `cased`
`displayName`	eq	`Role.DisplayName`
`type`	eq	`User`

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
`InitiatedByUser`	`extend`
`InitiatingAppName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId`	`extend`
`InitiatingUserPrincipalName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAadUserId`	`extend`
`InitiatingIpAddress`	`extend`
`TargetName`	`extend`
`TargetUPNSuffix`	`extend`
`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)

Bulk Changes to Privileged Account Permissions

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `let`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `summarize`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Bulk Changes to Privileged Account Permissions

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: let

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 5: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 6: where

Stage 7: summarize

Stage 8: where

Stage 9: join

Stage 10: extend (8 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 0: `let`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `summarize`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)