Service Principal Assigned Privileged Role

Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Author: Microsoft Security Research
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Detects a privileged role being added to a Service Principal. Ensure that any assignment to a Service Principal is valid and appropriate - Service Principals should not be assigned to very highly privileged roles such as Global Admin. Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-accounts#changes-to-privileged-accounts

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)

Rule body kusto

id: 84cccc86-5c11-4b3a-aca6-7c8f738ed0f7
name: Service Principal Assigned Privileged Role
description: |
  'Detects a privileged role being added to a Service Principal.
    Ensure that any assignment to a Service Principal is valid and appropriate - Service Principals should not be assigned to very highly privileged roles such as Global Admin.
    Ref: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-accounts#changes-to-privileged-accounts'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078.004
tags:
  - AADSecOpsGuide
query: |
  AuditLogs
    | where OperationName has_all ("member to role", "add")
    | where Result =~ "Success"
    | extend type_ = tostring(TargetResources[0].type)
    | where type_ =~ "ServicePrincipal"
    | where isnotempty(TargetResources)
    | 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(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress)
    | extend InitiatedBy = tostring(iff(isnotempty(InitiatingUserPrincipalName),InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAppName))
    | extend ServicePrincipalName = tostring(TargetResources[0].displayName)
    | extend ServicePrincipalId = tostring(TargetResources[0].id)
    | mv-expand TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties
    | extend TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties = columnifexists("TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties", '')
    | where isnotempty(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties)
    | extend displayName = tostring(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties.displayName), newValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties.newValue)))
    | where displayName == "Role.DisplayName" and newValue contains "admin"
    | extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
    | extend TargetRole = newValue
    | project-reorder TimeGenerated, ServicePrincipalName, ServicePrincipalId, InitiatedBy, TargetRole, InitiatingIPAddress
entityMappings:
  - 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: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: ServicePrincipalName
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: ServicePrincipalId
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: InitiatingIPAddress
version: 1.1.1
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`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where OperationName has_all ("member to role", "add")

Stage 3: `where`

| where Result =~ "Success"

Stage 4: `extend`

| extend type_ = tostring(TargetResources[0].type)

Stage 5: `where`

| where type_ =~ "ServicePrincipal"

Stage 6: `where`

| where isnotempty(TargetResources)

Stage 7: `extend` (8 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(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress)
| extend InitiatedBy = tostring(iff(isnotempty(InitiatingUserPrincipalName),InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAppName))
| extend ServicePrincipalName = tostring(TargetResources[0].displayName)
| extend ServicePrincipalId = tostring(TargetResources[0].id)

Stage 8: `mv-expand`

| mv-expand TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties

Stage 9: `extend`

| extend TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties = columnifexists("TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties", '')

Stage 10: `where`

| where isnotempty(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties)

Stage 11: `extend`

| extend displayName = tostring(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties.displayName), newValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties.newValue)))

Stage 12: `where`

| where displayName == "Role.DisplayName" and newValue contains "admin"

Stage 13: `extend`

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

Stage 14: `extend`

| extend TargetRole = newValue

Stage 15: `project-reorder`

| project-reorder TimeGenerated, ServicePrincipalName, ServicePrincipalId, InitiatedBy, TargetRole, InitiatingIPAddress

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
`OperationName`	match	`add` `member to role`
`Result`	eq	`Success`
`TargetResources`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties`	is_not_null	(no value, null check)
`displayName`	eq	`Role.DisplayName` transforms: `cased`
`newValue`	contains	`admin`
`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
`type_`	`extend`
`InitiatingAppName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId`	`extend`
`InitiatingUserPrincipalName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAadUserId`	`extend`
`InitiatingIPAddress`	`extend`
`InitiatedBy`	`extend`
`ServicePrincipalName`	`extend`
`ServicePrincipalId`	`extend`
`TargetResources_0_modifiedProperties`	`extend`
`displayName`	`extend`
`newValue`	`extend`
`InitiatingAccountName`	`extend`
`InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix`	`extend`
`TargetRole`	`extend`

`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)

Service Principal Assigned Privileged Role

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `extend`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 8: `mv-expand`

Stage 9: `extend`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `where`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `project-reorder`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Service Principal Assigned Privileged Role

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: extend

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: where

Stage 7: extend (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 8: mv-expand

Stage 9: extend

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: extend

Stage 12: where

Stage 13: extend

Stage 14: extend

Stage 15: project-reorder

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `extend`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `where`

Stage 7: `extend` (8 consecutive steps)

Stage 8: `mv-expand`

Stage 9: `extend`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `where`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `project-reorder`