Dataverse - Suspicious security role modifications

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 14d
Group by: DeletedRoleID, MemberAddedRoleId, MemberRemovedRoleId, RoleId
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies an unusual pattern of events whereby a new role is created followed by the creator adding members to the role and subsequently removing the member or deleting the role after a short time period.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1548` Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism
Privilege Escalation	`T1404` Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, `T1626` Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism

Rule body kusto

id: e44a58b2-b63a-4eb9-92da-85660d73495c
kind: Scheduled
name: Dataverse - Suspicious security role modifications
description: Identifies an unusual pattern of events whereby a new role is created
  followed by the creator adding members to the role and subsequently removing the
  member or deleting the role after a short time period.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: Dataverse
    dataTypes:
      - DataverseActivity
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 14d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1404
  - T1626
  - T1548
query: |
  let role_create_watch_period = 2d;
  let query_frequency = 1h;
  let role_create_add_events= DataverseActivity
      | where Message == "Create" and EntityName == "role"
      | mv-expand Role = Fields
      | extend RoleName = Role.Value
      | where Role.Name == "name"
      | mv-expand Role = Fields
      | extend RoleCreateTime = TimeGenerated, RoleId = tostring(Role.Value)
      | where Role.Name == "roleid"
      | join kind=inner (
          DataverseActivity
          | where Message == "Associate" and EntityName == "systemuser"
          | mv-expand Role = Fields
          | where Role.Name == "role"
          | extend RoleMemberAddedTime = TimeGenerated, MemberAddedRoleId = tostring(Role.Value))
          on $left.RoleId == $right.MemberAddedRoleId, InstanceUrl, UserId
      | where RoleMemberAddedTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period));
  let remove_role_member_events = DataverseActivity
      | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
      | where Message == "Disassociate" and EntityName == "systemuser"
      | mv-expand Role = Fields
      | where Role.Name == "role"
      | extend ActionTime = TimeGenerated, MemberRemovedRoleId = tostring(Role.Value);
  let role_delete_events = DataverseActivity
      | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
      | where Message == "Delete" and EntityName == "role"
      | extend DeletedRoleID = EntityId, Action = "Role deleted within defined time window"
      | project Action, ActionTime = TimeGenerated, UserId, ClientIp, DeletedRoleID, InstanceUrl;
  let role_member_removals = role_create_add_events
      | join kind=inner (remove_role_member_events) on $left.RoleId == $right.MemberRemovedRoleId
      | where ActionTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period))
      | extend Action = "Role membership removed within defined time window";
  let role_deletions = role_create_add_events
      | join kind=inner (role_delete_events) on $left.RoleId == $right.DeletedRoleID
      | where ActionTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period));
  union isfuzzy=true role_member_removals, role_deletions
  | extend
      CloudAppId = int(32780),
      AccountName = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[0]),
      UPNSuffix = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[1])
  | project
      UserId,
      InstanceUrl,
      ClientIp,
      Action,
      RoleCreateTime,
      RoleName,
      ActionTime,
      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 role modifications in {{InstanceUrl}}
  alertDescriptionFormat: 'The following action ocurred following role modifications
    changes in {{InstanceUrl}}: {{Action}}.'
  alertSeverityColumnName: Severity
version: 3.2.0

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let role_create_watch_period = 2d;
let query_frequency = 1h;

Let binding: `role_create_add_events`

let role_create_add_events = DataverseActivity
    | where Message == "Create" and EntityName == "role"
    | mv-expand Role = Fields
    | extend RoleName = Role.Value
    | where Role.Name == "name"
    | mv-expand Role = Fields
    | extend RoleCreateTime = TimeGenerated, RoleId = tostring(Role.Value)
    | where Role.Name == "roleid"
    | join kind=inner (
        DataverseActivity
        | where Message == "Associate" and EntityName == "systemuser"
        | mv-expand Role = Fields
        | where Role.Name == "role"
        | extend RoleMemberAddedTime = TimeGenerated, MemberAddedRoleId = tostring(Role.Value))
        on $left.RoleId == $right.MemberAddedRoleId, InstanceUrl, UserId
    | where RoleMemberAddedTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period));

Derived from role_create_watch_period.

Let binding: `remove_role_member_events`

let remove_role_member_events = DataverseActivity
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
    | where Message == "Disassociate" and EntityName == "systemuser"
    | mv-expand Role = Fields
    | where Role.Name == "role"
    | extend ActionTime = TimeGenerated, MemberRemovedRoleId = tostring(Role.Value);

Derived from query_frequency.

Let binding: `role_delete_events`

let role_delete_events = DataverseActivity
    | where TimeGenerated >= ago(query_frequency)
    | where Message == "Delete" and EntityName == "role"
    | extend DeletedRoleID = EntityId, Action = "Role deleted within defined time window"
    | project Action, ActionTime = TimeGenerated, UserId, ClientIp, DeletedRoleID, InstanceUrl;

Derived from query_frequency.

Let binding: `role_member_removals`

let role_member_removals = role_create_add_events
    | join kind=inner (remove_role_member_events) on $left.RoleId == $right.MemberRemovedRoleId
    | where ActionTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period))
    | extend Action = "Role membership removed within defined time window";

Derived from role_create_watch_period, role_create_add_events, remove_role_member_events.

Let binding: `role_deletions`

let role_deletions = role_create_add_events
    | join kind=inner (role_delete_events) on $left.RoleId == $right.DeletedRoleID
    | where ActionTime between (RoleCreateTime .. (RoleCreateTime + role_create_watch_period));

Derived from role_create_watch_period, role_create_add_events, role_delete_events.

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Each leg below queries one source; the rule matches if any leg does. Sources: role_member_removals, role_deletions

Leg 1: `role_member_removals`

Leg 2: `role_deletions`

Applied to the combined result

| extend
    CloudAppId = int(32780),
    AccountName = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[0]),
    UPNSuffix = tostring(split(UserId, '@')[1]) | project
    UserId,
    InstanceUrl,
    ClientIp,
    Action,
    RoleCreateTime,
    RoleName,
    ActionTime,
    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	`role` transforms: `cased` `systemuser` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (kusto 3)
`Message`	eq	`Associate` transforms: `cased` `Create` transforms: `cased` corpus 2 (kusto 2) `Delete` transforms: `cased` corpus 2 (kusto 2) `Disassociate` transforms: `cased`
`Name`	eq	`name` transforms: `cased` `role` transforms: `cased` `roleid` transforms: `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`
`Action`	`project`
`ActionTime`	`project`
`ClientIp`	`project`
`CloudAppId`	`project`
`InstanceUrl`	`project`
`RoleCreateTime`	`project`
`RoleName`	`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 - Suspicious security role modifications

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: `role_create_add_events`

Let binding: `remove_role_member_events`

Let binding: `role_delete_events`

Let binding: `role_member_removals`

Let binding: `role_deletions`

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Leg 1: `role_member_removals`

Leg 2: `role_deletions`

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Dataverse - Suspicious security role modifications

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: role_create_add_events

Let binding: remove_role_member_events

Let binding: role_delete_events

Let binding: role_member_removals

Let binding: role_deletions

union isfuzzy=true (2 sources)

Leg 1: role_member_removals

Leg 2: role_deletions

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

Let binding: `role_create_add_events`

Let binding: `remove_role_member_events`

Let binding: `role_delete_events`

Let binding: `role_member_removals`

Let binding: `role_deletions`

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Leg 1: `role_member_removals`

Leg 2: `role_deletions`