Detecting Impossible travel with mailbox permission tampering & Privilege Escalation attempt

Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Group by: Account, Initiatedby, UserId
Author: Microsoft Security Research
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

'This hunting query will alert on any Impossible travel activity in correlation with mailbox permission tampering followed by account being added to a PIM managed privileged group. Ensure this impossible travel incident with increase of privileges is legitimate in your environment.'

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

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

Rule body kusto

id: 1399664f-9434-497c-9cde-42e4d74ae20e
name: Detecting Impossible travel with mailbox permission tampering & Privilege Escalation attempt
description: |
  'This hunting query will alert on any Impossible travel activity in correlation with mailbox permission tampering followed by account being added to a PIM managed privileged group.
  Ensure this impossible travel incident with increase of privileges is legitimate in your environment.'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureSecurityCenter
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityAlert (ASC)
  - connectorId: Office365
    dataTypes:
      - OfficeActivity
  - connectorId: AzureActivity
    dataTypes:
      - AzureActivity
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - InitialAccess
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078
  - T1548
query: |
  SecurityAlert 
  | where AlertName == "Impossible travel activity"
  | extend Extprop = parsejson(Entities)
  | mv-expand Extprop
  | extend Extprop = parsejson(Extprop)
  | extend CmdLine = iff(Extprop['Type']=="process", Extprop['CommandLine'], '')
  | extend File = iff(Extprop['Type']=="file", Extprop['Name'], '')
  | extend Account = Extprop['Name']
  | extend Domain = Extprop['UPNSuffix']
  | extend Account = iif(isnotempty(Domain) and Extprop['Type']=="account", tolower(strcat(Account, "@", Domain)), iif(Extprop['Type']=="account", tolower(Account), ""))
  | extend IpAddress = iff(Extprop["Type"] == "ip",Extprop['Address'], '')
  | extend Process = iff(isnotempty(CmdLine), CmdLine, File)
  | project TimeGenerated,Account,IpAddress,CompromisedEntity,Description,ProviderName,ResourceId
  | join kind=inner
  (
  OfficeActivity
  | where Operation =~ "Add-MailboxPermission"
  | extend value = tostring(parse_json(Parameters)[3].Value)
  | where value contains "FullAccess"
  | where ResultStatus == "True"
  | project Parameters,TimeGenerated,value,RecordType,Operation,OrganizationId,UserType,UserKey,OfficeWorkload,ResultStatus,OfficeObjectId,UserId,ClientIP,ExternalAccess,OriginatingServer,OrganizationName,TenantId,ElevationTime,SourceSystem,OfficeId,OfficeTenantId,Type,SourceRecordId
  ) on $left.Account == $right.UserId
  | join kind=inner
  (
  AuditLogs
  | where ActivityDisplayName =~ "Add eligible member to role in PIM requested (timebound)"
  | where AADOperationType =~ "CreateRequestEligibleRole"
  | where TargetResources has_any ("-PRIV", "Administrator", "Security")
  | extend BuiltinRole = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[0].displayName))
  | extend CustomGroup = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[3].displayName))
  | extend TargetAccount = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[2].displayName))
  | extend Initiatedby = Identity
  | project TimeGenerated, ActivityDisplayName, AADOperationType, Initiatedby, TargetAccount, BuiltinRole, CustomGroup, LoggedByService, Result, ResourceId, Id
  | sort by TimeGenerated desc
  ) on $left.UserId == $right.Initiatedby
  | extend AccountName = tostring(split(Initiatedby, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(Initiatedby, "@")[1])
  | project AADOperationType, ActivityDisplayName,AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, Id,ResourceId,IpAddress
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: IpAddress
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others", "Identity" ]

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

SecurityAlert

Stage 2: `where`

| where AlertName == "Impossible travel activity"

Stage 3: `extend`

| extend Extprop = parsejson(Entities)

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

| mv-expand Extprop

Stage 5: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

| extend Extprop = parsejson(Extprop)
| extend CmdLine = iff(Extprop['Type']=="process", Extprop['CommandLine'], '')
| extend File = iff(Extprop['Type']=="file", Extprop['Name'], '')
| extend Account = Extprop['Name']
| extend Domain = Extprop['UPNSuffix']
| extend Account = iif(isnotempty(Domain) and Extprop['Type']=="account", tolower(strcat(Account, "@", Domain)), iif(Extprop['Type']=="account", tolower(Account), ""))
| extend IpAddress = iff(Extprop["Type"] == "ip",Extprop['Address'], '')
| extend Process = iff(isnotempty(CmdLine), CmdLine, File)

Stage 6: `project`

| project TimeGenerated,Account,IpAddress,CompromisedEntity,Description,ProviderName,ResourceId

Stage 7: `join`

| join kind=inner
(
OfficeActivity
| where Operation =~ "Add-MailboxPermission"
| extend value = tostring(parse_json(Parameters)[3].Value)
| where value contains "FullAccess"
| where ResultStatus == "True"
| project Parameters,TimeGenerated,value,RecordType,Operation,OrganizationId,UserType,UserKey,OfficeWorkload,ResultStatus,OfficeObjectId,UserId,ClientIP,ExternalAccess,OriginatingServer,OrganizationName,TenantId,ElevationTime,SourceSystem,OfficeId,OfficeTenantId,Type,SourceRecordId
) on $left.Account == $right.UserId

Stage 8: `join`

| join kind=inner
(
AuditLogs
| where ActivityDisplayName =~ "Add eligible member to role in PIM requested (timebound)"
| where AADOperationType =~ "CreateRequestEligibleRole"
| where TargetResources has_any ("-PRIV", "Administrator", "Security")
| extend BuiltinRole = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[0].displayName))
| extend CustomGroup = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[3].displayName))
| extend TargetAccount = tostring(parse_json(TargetResources[2].displayName))
| extend Initiatedby = Identity
| project TimeGenerated, ActivityDisplayName, AADOperationType, Initiatedby, TargetAccount, BuiltinRole, CustomGroup, LoggedByService, Result, ResourceId, Id
| sort by TimeGenerated desc
) on $left.UserId == $right.Initiatedby

Stage 9: `extend`

| extend AccountName = tostring(split(Initiatedby, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(Initiatedby, "@")[1])

Stage 10: `project`

| project AADOperationType, ActivityDisplayName,AccountName, AccountUPNSuffix, Id,ResourceId,IpAddress

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
`AADOperationType`	eq	`CreateRequestEligibleRole`
`ActivityDisplayName`	eq	`Add eligible member to role in PIM requested (timebound)`
`AlertName`	eq	`Impossible travel activity` transforms: `cased`
`Operation`	eq	`Add-MailboxPermission`
`ResultStatus`	eq	`True` transforms: `cased`
`TargetResources`	match	`-PRIV` `Administrator` `Security`
`value`	contains	`FullAccess`

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
`AADOperationType`	`project`
`AccountName`	`project`
`AccountUPNSuffix`	`project`
`ActivityDisplayName`	`project`
`Id`	`project`
`IpAddress`	`project`
`ResourceId`	`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)

Detecting Impossible travel with mailbox permission tampering & Privilege Escalation attempt

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: `project`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `join`

Stage 9: `extend`

Stage 10: `project`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Detecting Impossible travel with mailbox permission tampering & Privilege Escalation attempt

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: extend

Stage 4: mv-expand

Stage 5: extend (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: project

Stage 7: join

Stage 8: join

Stage 9: extend

Stage 10: project

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 6: `project`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `join`

Stage 9: `extend`

Stage 10: `project`