Suspicious Service Principal creation activity

Status: available
Severity: low
Time window: 1h
Group by: AppID
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This alert will detect creation of an SPN, permissions granted, credentials created, activity and deletion of the SPN in a time frame (default 10 minutes)

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Initial Access	`T1078` Valid Accounts
Privilege Escalation	`T1078` Valid Accounts
Credential Access	`T1528` Steal Application Access Token

Event coverage

Provider	Event
Entra-AuditLogs	Add app role assignment to service principal
Entra-AuditLogs	Add service principal
Entra-AuditLogs	Remove service principal

Rule body kusto

id: 6852d9da-8015-4b95-8ecf-d9572ee0395d
name: Suspicious Service Principal creation activity
description: |
  'This alert will detect creation of an SPN, permissions granted, credentials created, activity and deletion of the SPN in a time frame (default 10 minutes)'
severity: Low
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
      - AADServicePrincipalSignInLogs
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1h10m
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
  - PrivilegeEscalation
  - InitialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078
  - T1528
query: |
  let queryfrequency = 1h;
  let wait_for_deletion = 10m;
  let account_created =
    AuditLogs 
    | where ActivityDisplayName == "Add service principal"
    | where Result == "success"
    | extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
    | extend creationTime = ActivityDateTime
    | extend CreatorUserPrincipalName = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).userPrincipalName)
    | extend CreatorIPAddress = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).ipAddress);
  let account_activity =
    AADServicePrincipalSignInLogs
    | extend Activities = pack("ActivityTime", TimeGenerated ,"IpAddress", IPAddress, "ResourceDisplayName", ResourceDisplayName)
    | extend AppID = AppId
    | summarize make_list(Activities) by AppID;
  let account_deleted =
    AuditLogs 
    | where OperationName == "Remove service principal"
    | where Result == "success"
    | extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
    | extend deletionTime = ActivityDateTime
    | extend DeleterUserPrincipalName = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).userPrincipalName)
    | extend DeleterIPAddress = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).ipAddress);
  let account_credentials =
    AuditLogs
    | where OperationName has_all ("Update application", "Certificates and secrets management")
    | where Result == "success"
    | extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
    | extend credentialCreationTime = ActivityDateTime;
  let roles_assigned =
    AuditLogs
    | where ActivityDisplayName == "Add app role assignment to service principal"
    | extend AppID = tostring(TargetResources[1].displayName)
    | extend AssignedRole =  iff(tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties))[1].displayName)=="AppRole.Value", tostring(parse_json(tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties))[1].newValue))),"")
    | extend AssignedRoles = pack("Role", AssignedRole)
    | summarize make_list(AssignedRoles) by AppID;
  account_created
  | where TimeGenerated between (ago(wait_for_deletion+queryfrequency)..ago(wait_for_deletion))
  | join kind= inner (account_activity) on AppID
  | join kind= inner (account_deleted) on AppID
  | join kind= inner (account_credentials) on AppID
  | join kind= inner (roles_assigned) on AppID
  | where deletionTime - creationTime between (time(0s)..wait_for_deletion)
  | extend AliveTime = deletionTime - creationTime
  | project AADTenantId, AppID, creationTime, deletionTime, CreatorUserPrincipalName, DeleterUserPrincipalName, CreatorIPAddress, DeleterIPAddress, list_Activities, list_AssignedRoles, AliveTime
  | extend CreatorName = tostring(split(CreatorUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), CreatorUPNSuffix = tostring(split(CreatorUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
  | extend DeleterName = tostring(split(DeleterUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), DeleterSuffix = tostring(split(DeleterUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: CreatorUserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: CreatorName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: CreatorUPNSuffix
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: DeleterUserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: DeleterName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: DeleterSuffix
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: CreatorIPAddress
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: DeleterIPAddress
version: 1.0.4
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let queryfrequency = 1h;
let wait_for_deletion = 10m;

Let binding: `account_activity`

let account_activity = AADServicePrincipalSignInLogs
  | extend Activities = pack("ActivityTime", TimeGenerated ,"IpAddress", IPAddress, "ResourceDisplayName", ResourceDisplayName)
  | extend AppID = AppId
  | summarize make_list(Activities) by AppID;

Let binding: `account_deleted`

let account_deleted = AuditLogs 
  | where OperationName == "Remove service principal"
  | where Result == "success"
  | extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
  | extend deletionTime = ActivityDateTime
  | extend DeleterUserPrincipalName = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).userPrincipalName)
  | extend DeleterIPAddress = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).ipAddress);

Let binding: `account_credentials`

let account_credentials = AuditLogs
  | where OperationName has_all ("Update application", "Certificates and secrets management")
  | where Result == "success"
  | extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
  | extend credentialCreationTime = ActivityDateTime;

Let binding: `roles_assigned`

let roles_assigned = AuditLogs
  | where ActivityDisplayName == "Add app role assignment to service principal"
  | extend AppID = tostring(TargetResources[1].displayName)
  | extend AssignedRole =  iff(tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties))[1].displayName)=="AppRole.Value", tostring(parse_json(tostring(parse_json(tostring(TargetResources[0].modifiedProperties))[1].newValue))),"")
  | extend AssignedRoles = pack("Role", AssignedRole)
  | summarize make_list(AssignedRoles) by AppID;

The stages below define let account_created (the rule's main pipeline source).

Stage 1: `source`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where ActivityDisplayName == "Add service principal"

Stage 3: `where`

| where Result == "success"

Stage 4: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)

| extend AppID = tostring(AdditionalDetails[1].value)
| extend creationTime = ActivityDateTime
| extend CreatorUserPrincipalName = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).userPrincipalName)
| extend CreatorIPAddress = tostring(parse_json(tostring(InitiatedBy.user)).ipAddress)

The stages below run on account_created (the outer pipeline).

Stage 5: `where`

account_created
| where TimeGenerated between (ago(wait_for_deletion+queryfrequency)..ago(wait_for_deletion))

Stage 6: `join`

| join kind= inner (account_activity) on AppID

Stage 7: `join`

| join kind= inner (account_deleted) on AppID

Stage 8: `join`

| join kind= inner (account_credentials) on AppID

Stage 9: `join`

| join kind= inner (roles_assigned) on AppID

Stage 10: `where`

| where deletionTime - creationTime between (time(0s)..wait_for_deletion)

Stage 11: `extend`

| extend AliveTime = deletionTime - creationTime

Stage 12: `project`

| project AADTenantId, AppID, creationTime, deletionTime, CreatorUserPrincipalName, DeleterUserPrincipalName, CreatorIPAddress, DeleterIPAddress, list_Activities, list_AssignedRoles, AliveTime

Stage 13: `extend`

| extend CreatorName = tostring(split(CreatorUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), CreatorUPNSuffix = tostring(split(CreatorUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])

Stage 14: `extend`

| extend DeleterName = tostring(split(DeleterUserPrincipalName, "@")[0]), DeleterSuffix = tostring(split(DeleterUserPrincipalName, "@")[1])

Stage 15: `summarize`

summarize by AppID

Stage 16: `summarize`

summarize by AppID

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
`ActivityDisplayName`	eq	`Add app role assignment to service principal` transforms: `cased` `Add service principal` transforms: `cased`
`OperationName`	eq	`Remove service principal` transforms: `cased`
`OperationName`	match	`Certificates and secrets management` `Update application`
`Result`	eq	`success` 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
`AppID`	`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 Service Principal creation activity

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: `account_activity`

Let binding: `account_deleted`

Let binding: `account_credentials`

Let binding: `roles_assigned`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `join`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `join`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `project`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `summarize`

Stage 16: `summarize`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Suspicious Service Principal creation activity

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: account_activity

Let binding: account_deleted

Let binding: account_credentials

Let binding: roles_assigned

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: extend (4 consecutive steps)

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: join

Stage 7: join

Stage 8: join

Stage 9: join

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: extend

Stage 12: project

Stage 13: extend

Stage 14: extend

Stage 15: summarize

Stage 16: summarize

Indicators

Output fields

Let binding: `account_activity`

Let binding: `account_deleted`

Let binding: `account_credentials`

Let binding: `roles_assigned`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `extend` (4 consecutive steps)

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `join`

Stage 7: `join`

Stage 8: `join`

Stage 9: `join`

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `project`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `summarize`

Stage 16: `summarize`