Dataverse - Hierarchy security manipulation

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

Identifies suspicious behaviors in hierarchy security including: - Hierarchy security disabled. - User assigns themselves as a manager. - User assigns themselves to a monitored position.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1548` Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism

Rule body kusto

id: 2df0adf5-92a8-4ee0-a123-3eb5be1eed02
kind: Scheduled
name: Dataverse - Hierarchy security manipulation
description: |
  Identifies suspicious behaviors in hierarchy security including:
  - Hierarchy security disabled.
  - User assigns themselves as a manager.
  - User assigns themselves to a monitored position.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: Dataverse
    dataTypes:
      - DataverseActivity
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1548
  - T1078
query: |
  let monitored_position_ids = dynamic([
      // Enter a list of monitored position ID (guids)
      //"79380ac5-da2a-ed11-9db1-000d3a58d546"
      ]);
  let query_frequency = 1h;
  let security_disabled_events = DataverseActivity
      | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
      | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "organization"
      | mv-expand Fields
      | where Fields.Name == "ishierarchicalsecuritymodelenabled"
      | where Fields.Value == "False"
      | extend Message = "Hierarchy security has been disabled"
      | project TimeGenerated, UserId, ClientIp, InstanceUrl, Message;
  let assign_self_as_manager_events = DataverseActivity
      | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
      | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "systemuser"
      | mv-expand Fields
      | where Fields.Name == "parentsystemuserid"
      | extend ModifiedManager = tostring(Fields.Value)
      | where SystemUserId == ModifiedManager
      | extend Message = "User added self as manager of another user";
  let assign_self_to_position_events = DataverseActivity
      | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
      | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "systemuser"
      | mv-expand Position = Fields
      | where Position.Name == "positionid" and tostring(Position.Value) in (monitored_position_ids)
      | mv-expand Target = Fields
      | where Target.Name == "systemuserid"
      | extend UserAssigned = tostring(Target.Value)
      | where SystemUserId == UserAssigned
      | extend
          Message = "User assigned self to a monitored position",
          PositionId = tostring(Position.Value);
  union
      security_disabled_events,
      assign_self_as_manager_events,
      assign_self_to_position_events
  | extend
      CloudAppId = int(32780),
      AccountName = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[0]),
      UPNSuffix = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[1])
  | project
      TimeGenerated,
      UserId,
      ClientIp,
      InstanceUrl,
      Message,
      PositionId,
      CloudAppId,
      AccountName,
      UPNSuffix
eventGroupingSettings:
  aggregationKind: AlertPerResult
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: UPNSuffix
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: ClientIp
  - entityType: CloudApplication
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: AppId
        columnName: CloudAppId
      - identifier: InstanceName
        columnName: InstanceUrl
alertDetailsOverride:
  alertDisplayNameFormat: 'Dataverse - Suspicious hierarchy security modifications
    in {{InstanceUrl}} '
  alertDescriptionFormat: '{{Message}}. Events detected for user {{UserId}}.'
version: 3.2.0

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let query_frequency = 1h;

Let binding: `monitored_position_ids`

let monitored_position_ids = dynamic([
    ]);

Let binding: `security_disabled_events`

let security_disabled_events = DataverseActivity
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
    | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "organization"
    | mv-expand Fields
    | where Fields.Name == "ishierarchicalsecuritymodelenabled"
    | where Fields.Value == "False"
    | extend Message = "Hierarchy security has been disabled"
    | project TimeGenerated, UserId, ClientIp, InstanceUrl, Message;

Derived from query_frequency.

Let binding: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

let assign_self_as_manager_events = DataverseActivity
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
    | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "systemuser"
    | mv-expand Fields
    | where Fields.Name == "parentsystemuserid"
    | extend ModifiedManager = tostring(Fields.Value)
    | where SystemUserId == ModifiedManager
    | extend Message = "User added self as manager of another user";

Derived from query_frequency.

Let binding: `assign_self_to_position_events`

let assign_self_to_position_events = DataverseActivity
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
    | where Message == "Update" and EntityName == "systemuser"
    | mv-expand Position = Fields
    | where Position.Name == "positionid" and tostring(Position.Value) in (monitored_position_ids)
    | mv-expand Target = Fields
    | where Target.Name == "systemuserid"
    | extend UserAssigned = tostring(Target.Value)
    | where SystemUserId == UserAssigned
    | extend
        Message = "User assigned self to a monitored position",
        PositionId = tostring(Position.Value);

Derived from monitored_position_ids, query_frequency.

union (3 sources)

Each leg below queries one source; the rule matches if any leg does. Sources: security_disabled_events, assign_self_as_manager_events, assign_self_to_position_events

Leg 1: `security_disabled_events`

Leg 2: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

Leg 3: `assign_self_to_position_events`

Applied to the combined result

| extend
    CloudAppId = int(32780),
    AccountName = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[0]),
    UPNSuffix = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[1]) | project
    TimeGenerated,
    UserId,
    ClientIp,
    InstanceUrl,
    Message,
    PositionId,
    CloudAppId,
    AccountName,
    UPNSuffix

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
`EntityName`	eq	`organization` transforms: `cased` corpus 4 (kusto 4) `systemuser` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (kusto 3)
`Message`	eq	`Update` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (kusto 5)
`Name`	eq	`ishierarchicalsecuritymodelenabled` transforms: `cased` `parentsystemuserid` transforms: `cased` `positionid` transforms: `cased` `systemuserid` transforms: `cased`
`SystemUserId`	eq	`ModifiedManager` transforms: `cased` `UserAssigned` transforms: `cased`
`Value`	eq	`False` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (kusto 3)
`Value`	in	`[]` transforms: `tostring`, `cased`

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`	`project`
`ClientIp`	`project`
`CloudAppId`	`project`
`InstanceUrl`	`project`
`Message`	`project`
`PositionId`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`UPNSuffix`	`project`
`UserId`	`project`

`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)

Dataverse - Hierarchy security manipulation

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: `monitored_position_ids`

Let binding: `security_disabled_events`

Let binding: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

Let binding: `assign_self_to_position_events`

union (3 sources)

Leg 1: `security_disabled_events`

Leg 2: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

Leg 3: `assign_self_to_position_events`

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Dataverse - Hierarchy security manipulation

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: monitored_position_ids

Let binding: security_disabled_events

Let binding: assign_self_as_manager_events

Let binding: assign_self_to_position_events

union (3 sources)

Leg 1: security_disabled_events

Leg 2: assign_self_as_manager_events

Leg 3: assign_self_to_position_events

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

Let binding: `monitored_position_ids`

Let binding: `security_disabled_events`

Let binding: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

Let binding: `assign_self_to_position_events`

Leg 1: `security_disabled_events`

Leg 2: `assign_self_as_manager_events`

Leg 3: `assign_self_to_position_events`