Detection rules › Kusto
Suspicious linking of existing user to external User
This query will detect when an attempt is made to update an existing user and link it to an guest or external identity. These activities are unusual and such linking of external identities should be investigated. In some cases you may see internal Entra ID sync accounts (Sync_) do this which may be benign
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Privilege Escalation |
Telemetry coverage
| Platform | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Azure | Update user |
Rules detecting the same action
These rules filter on the same operation.
- [Entra ID] Authentication Method Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Account Created and Deleted in Short Timeframe (Kusto)
- Account Created And Deleted Within A Close Time Frame (Sigma)
- Account created from non-approved sources (Kusto)
- Account created or deleted by non-approved user (Kusto)
- Addition of a Temporary Access Pass to a Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Authentication Method Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Authentication Methods Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
Rule body
id: 22a320c2-e1e5-4c74-a35b-39fc9cdcf859
name: Suspicious linking of existing user to external User
description: |
' This query will detect when an attempt is made to update an existing user and link it to an guest or external identity. These activities are unusual and such linking of external
identities should be investigated. In some cases you may see internal Entra ID sync accounts (Sync_) do this which may be benign'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
- connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
dataTypes:
- AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
- PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
- T1078.004
tags:
- GuestorExternalIdentities
query: |
AuditLogs
| where OperationName=~ "Update user"
| where Result =~ "success"
| mv-expand TargetResources
| mv-expand TargetResources.modifiedProperties
| extend displayName = tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.displayName),
TargetUPN_oldValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.oldValue))[0]),
TargetUPN_newValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.newValue))[0])
| where displayName == "UserPrincipalName" and TargetUPN_oldValue !has "#EXT" and TargetUPN_newValue has "#EXT"
| 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))
| summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by CorrelationId
| project-reorder TimeGenerated, InitiatedBy, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingIPAddress, TargetUPN_oldValue, TargetUPN_newValue
| extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
| extend TargetAccountName = tostring(split(TargetUPN_oldValue, "@")[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(TargetUPN_oldValue, "@")[1])
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: FullName
columnName: TargetUPN_oldValue
- identifier: Name
columnName: TargetAccountName
- identifier: UPNSuffix
columnName: TargetUPNSuffix
- entityType: IP
fieldMappings:
- identifier: Address
columnName: InitiatingIPAddress
version: 1.1.0
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=~ "Update user"
Stage 3: where
| where Result =~ "success"
Stage 4: mv-expand
| mv-expand TargetResources
Stage 5: mv-expand
| mv-expand TargetResources.modifiedProperties
Stage 6: extend
| extend displayName = tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.displayName),
TargetUPN_oldValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.oldValue))[0]),
TargetUPN_newValue = tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources_modifiedProperties.newValue))[0])
Stage 7: where
| where displayName == "UserPrincipalName" and TargetUPN_oldValue !has "#EXT" and TargetUPN_newValue has "#EXT"
Stage 8: extend (6 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))
Stage 9: summarize
| summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by CorrelationId
Stage 10: project-reorder
| project-reorder TimeGenerated, InitiatedBy, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingIPAddress, TargetUPN_oldValue, TargetUPN_newValue
Stage 11: extend
| extend InitiatingAccountName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
Stage 12: extend
| extend TargetAccountName = tostring(split(TargetUPN_oldValue, "@")[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(TargetUPN_oldValue, "@")[1])
Exclusions
The rule actively suppresses these predicates.
| Field | Kind | Excluded values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
TargetUPN_oldValue | match | #EXT | excludes:TargetUPN_oldValue field:"TargetUPN_oldValue" value:"#EXT" |
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
OperationName | eq |
| field:"OperationName" kind:eq value:"Update user" |
Result | eq |
| field:"Result" kind:eq value:"success" |
TargetUPN_newValue | match |
| field:"TargetUPN_newValue" kind:match value:"#EXT" |
displayName | eq |
| field:"displayName" kind:eq value:"UserPrincipalName" |
Output fields
These fields are emitted when the rule matches.
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
CorrelationId | summarize |
InitiatingAccountName | extend |
InitiatingAccountUPNSuffix | extend |
TargetAccountName | extend |
TargetUPNSuffix | extend |