Suspicious Login from deleted guest account

Severity: medium
Time window: 1d
Group by: ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName, ParsedUserPrincipalName, UserPrincipalName
Author: Microsoft Security Research
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query will detect logins from guest account which was recently deleted. For any successful logins from deleted identities should be investigated further if any existing user accounts have been altered or linked to such identity prior deletion

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts

Event coverage

Provider	Event
Entra-AuditLogs	Delete user

Rules detecting the same action

Other rules on this platform that filter on the same API call or operation.

Anomalous sign-in location by user account and authenticating application (Kusto)
Anomalous Single Factor Signin (Kusto)
Authentication Method Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
Authentication Methods Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
Authentications of Privileged Accounts Outside of Expected Controls (Kusto)
Azure Many Failed SignIns (Panther)
Azure Portal sign in from another Azure Tenant (Kusto)
Azure Service Principal Sign-In Followed by Arc Cluster Credential Access (Elastic)

Rule body kusto

id: defe4855-0d33-4362-9557-009237623976
name: Suspicious Login from deleted guest account
description: |
  ' This query will detect logins from guest account which was recently deleted. 
  For any successful logins from deleted identities should be investigated further if any existing user accounts have been altered or linked to such identity prior deletion'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - SigninLogs
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078.004
tags:
  - GuestorExternalIdentities
query: |
  let query_frequency = 1h;
  let query_period = 1d;
  AuditLogs
  | where TimeGenerated > ago(query_frequency)
  | where Category =~ "UserManagement" and OperationName =~ "Delete user"
  | mv-expand TargetResource = TargetResources
  | where TargetResource["type"] == "User" and TargetResource["userPrincipalName"] has "#EXT#"
  | extend ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName = extract(@"^[0-9a-f]{32}([^\#]+)\#EXT\#", 1, tostring(TargetResource["userPrincipalName"]))
  | extend
      Initiator = iif(isnotempty(InitiatedBy["app"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["app"]["displayName"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["user"]["userPrincipalName"])),
      InitiatorId = iif(isnotempty(InitiatedBy["app"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["app"]["servicePrincipalId"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["user"]["id"])),
      Delete_IPAddress = tostring(InitiatedBy[tostring(bag_keys(InitiatedBy)[0])]["ipAddress"])
  | project Delete_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated, Category, Identity, Initiator, Delete_IPAddress, OperationName, Result, ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName, InitiatedBy, AdditionalDetails, TargetResources, InitiatorId, CorrelationId
  | join kind=inner (
      SigninLogs
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(query_period)
      | where ResultType == 0
      | summarize take_any(*) by UserPrincipalName
      | extend ParsedUserPrincipalName = translate("@", "_", UserPrincipalName)
      | project SigninLogs_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated, UserPrincipalName, UserDisplayName, ResultType, ResultDescription, IPAddress, LocationDetails, AppDisplayName, ResourceDisplayName, ClientAppUsed, UserAgent, DeviceDetail, UserId, UserType, OriginalRequestId, ParsedUserPrincipalName
      ) on $left.ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName == $right.ParsedUserPrincipalName
  | where SigninLogs_TimeGenerated > Delete_TimeGenerated
  | project-away ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName, ParsedUserPrincipalName
  | extend
      AccountName = tostring(split(UserPrincipalName, "@")[0]),
      AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(UserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: UserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountUPNSuffix
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: IPAddress
version: 1.0.5
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others", "Identity" ]

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let query_frequency = 1h;
let query_period = 1d;

Stage 1: `source`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where TimeGenerated > ago(query_frequency)

Stage 3: `where`

| where Category =~ "UserManagement" and OperationName =~ "Delete user"

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

| mv-expand TargetResource = TargetResources

Stage 5: `where`

| where TargetResource["type"] == "User" and TargetResource["userPrincipalName"] has "#EXT#"

Stage 6: `extend`

| extend ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName = extract(@"^[0-9a-f]{32}([^\#]+)\#EXT\#", 1, tostring(TargetResource["userPrincipalName"]))

Stage 7: `extend`

| extend
    Initiator = iif(isnotempty(InitiatedBy["app"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["app"]["displayName"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["user"]["userPrincipalName"])),
    InitiatorId = iif(isnotempty(InitiatedBy["app"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["app"]["servicePrincipalId"]), tostring(InitiatedBy["user"]["id"])),
    Delete_IPAddress = tostring(InitiatedBy[tostring(bag_keys(InitiatedBy)[0])]["ipAddress"])

Stage 8: `project`

| project Delete_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated, Category, Identity, Initiator, Delete_IPAddress, OperationName, Result, ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName, InitiatedBy, AdditionalDetails, TargetResources, InitiatorId, CorrelationId

Stage 9: `join`

| join kind=inner (
    SigninLogs
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(query_period)
    | where ResultType == 0
    | summarize take_any(*) by UserPrincipalName
    | extend ParsedUserPrincipalName = translate("@", "_", UserPrincipalName)
    | project SigninLogs_TimeGenerated = TimeGenerated, UserPrincipalName, UserDisplayName, ResultType, ResultDescription, IPAddress, LocationDetails, AppDisplayName, ResourceDisplayName, ClientAppUsed, UserAgent, DeviceDetail, UserId, UserType, OriginalRequestId, ParsedUserPrincipalName
    ) on $left.ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName == $right.ParsedUserPrincipalName

Stage 10: `where`

| where SigninLogs_TimeGenerated > Delete_TimeGenerated

Stage 11: `project-away`

| project-away ParsedDeletedUserPrincipalName, ParsedUserPrincipalName

Stage 12: `extend`

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

Stage 13: `summarize`

summarize by UserPrincipalName

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
`Category`	eq	`UserManagement`
`OperationName`	eq	`Delete user`
`ResultType`	eq	`0` transforms: `cased`
`SigninLogs_TimeGenerated`	gt	`Delete_TimeGenerated` transforms: `cased`
`type`	eq	`User` transforms: `cased`
`userPrincipalName`	match	`#EXT#` transforms: `term`

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
`UserPrincipalName`	`summarize`

`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)

Suspicious Login from deleted guest account

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `extend`

Stage 8: `project`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `project-away`

Stage 12: `extend`

Stage 13: `summarize`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Suspicious Login from deleted guest account

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: mv-expand

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: extend

Stage 7: extend

Stage 8: project

Stage 9: join

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: project-away

Stage 12: extend

Stage 13: summarize

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `mv-expand`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `extend`

Stage 7: `extend`

Stage 8: `project`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `project-away`

Stage 12: `extend`

Stage 13: `summarize`