User Assigned New Privileged Role

Status: available
Severity: high
Time window: 1h
Group by: InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingIpAddress, InitiatingUserPrincipalName, Initiator, OperationName, Result, RoleName, Target
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies when a new eligible or active privileged role is assigned to a user. Does not alert on PIM activations. Any account eligible for a role is now being given privileged access. If the assignment is unexpected or into a role that isn't the responsibility of the account holder, investigate. Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-accounts#things-to-monitor-1

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1078.004` Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Entra-AuditLogs	_catch_all	Entra ID audit event (any operation)

Rules detecting the same action

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

Admin promotion after Role Management Application Permission Grant (Kusto)
Bulk Changes to Privileged Account Permissions (Kusto)
Changes to PIM Settings (Kusto)
Detect PIM Alert Disabling activity (Kusto)
Multiple admin membership removals from newly created admin. (Kusto)
New External User Granted Admin Role (Kusto)
NRT Privileged Role Assigned Outside PIM (Kusto)
NRT User added to Microsoft Entra ID Privileged Groups (Kusto)

Rule body kusto

id: 746ddb63-f51b-4563-b449-a8b13cf302ec
name: User Assigned New Privileged Role
description: |
  'Identifies when a new eligible or active privileged role is assigned to a user. Does not alert on PIM activations. Any account eligible for a role is now being given privileged access. If the assignment is unexpected or into a role that isn't the responsibility of the account holder, investigate.
  Ref : https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/active-directory/fundamentals/security-operations-privileged-accounts#things-to-monitor-1'
severity: High
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: AzureActiveDirectory
    dataTypes:
      - AuditLogs
queryFrequency: 2h
queryPeriod: 2h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - Persistence
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078.004
tags:
  - AADSecOpsGuide
query: |
  AuditLogs
  | where Category =~ "RoleManagement"
  | where AADOperationType in ("Assign", "AssignEligibleRole", "CreateRequestGrantedRole", "CreateRequestPermanentEligibleRole", "CreateRequestPermanentGrantedRole")
  | where ActivityDisplayName has_any ("Add eligible member to role", "Add member to role")
  | mv-apply TargetResourceSubject = TargetResources on 
    (
        where TargetResourceSubject.type in~ ("User", "ServicePrincipal")
        | extend Target = iff(TargetResourceSubject.type =~ "ServicePrincipal", tostring(TargetResourceSubject.displayName), tostring(TargetResourceSubject.userPrincipalName)),
                 subjectProps = TargetResourceSubject.modifiedProperties
    )
  | mv-apply TargetResourceRole = TargetResources on 
    (
      // mimic modifiedProperties so we can use the same logic to get the role name regardless of where it comes from
      where TargetResourceRole.type in~ ("Role")
      | extend roleProps = pack_array(bag_pack("displayName","Role.DisplayName", "newValue", TargetResourceRole.displayName))
    )
  | mv-apply Property = iff(array_length(subjectProps) > 0, subjectProps, roleProps) on 
    ( 
      where Property.displayName =~ "Role.DisplayName"
        | extend RoleName = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
    )
  | where RoleName contains "Admin"
  | 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(iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress), InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress, InitiatedBy.app.ipAddress))
  | extend Initiator = iif(isnotempty(InitiatingAppName), InitiatingAppName, InitiatingUserPrincipalName)
  // Comment below to alert for PIM activations
  | where Initiator != "MS-PIM" and Initiator != "MS-PIM-Fairfax"
  | summarize by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h), OperationName, RoleName, Target, Initiator, InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingIpAddress, Result
  | extend TargetName = tostring(split(Target,'@',0)[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(Target,'@',1)[0]), InitiatorName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName,'@',0)[0]), InitiatorUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName,'@',1)[0])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Target
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: TargetName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: TargetUPNSuffix
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: InitiatingUserPrincipalName
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: InitiatorName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: InitiatorUPNSuffix
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: InitiatingAadUserId
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: AadUserId
        columnName: InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: InitiatingIpAddress
version: 1.0.2
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

AuditLogs

Stage 2: `where`

| where Category =~ "RoleManagement"

Stage 3: `where`

| where AADOperationType in ("Assign", "AssignEligibleRole", "CreateRequestGrantedRole", "CreateRequestPermanentEligibleRole", "CreateRequestPermanentGrantedRole")

Stage 4: `where`

| where ActivityDisplayName has_any ("Add eligible member to role", "Add member to role")

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply TargetResourceSubject = TargetResources on 
  (
      where TargetResourceSubject.type in~ ("User", "ServicePrincipal")
      | extend Target = iff(TargetResourceSubject.type =~ "ServicePrincipal", tostring(TargetResourceSubject.displayName), tostring(TargetResourceSubject.userPrincipalName)),
               subjectProps = TargetResourceSubject.modifiedProperties
  )

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply TargetResourceRole = TargetResources on 
  (
    where TargetResourceRole.type in~ ("Role")
    | extend roleProps = pack_array(bag_pack("displayName","Role.DisplayName", "newValue", TargetResourceRole.displayName))
  )

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

| mv-apply Property = iff(array_length(subjectProps) > 0, subjectProps, roleProps) on 
  ( 
    where Property.displayName =~ "Role.DisplayName"
      | extend RoleName = trim('"',tostring(Property.newValue))
  )

Stage 8: `where`

| where RoleName contains "Admin"

Stage 9: `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(iff(isnotempty(InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress), InitiatedBy.user.ipAddress, InitiatedBy.app.ipAddress))
| extend Initiator = iif(isnotempty(InitiatingAppName), InitiatingAppName, InitiatingUserPrincipalName)

Stage 10: `where`

| where Initiator != "MS-PIM" and Initiator != "MS-PIM-Fairfax"

Stage 11: `summarize`

| summarize by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h), OperationName, RoleName, Target, Initiator, InitiatingUserPrincipalName, InitiatingAadUserId, InitiatingAppName, InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId, InitiatingIpAddress, Result

Stage 12: `extend`

| extend TargetName = tostring(split(Target,'@',0)[0]), TargetUPNSuffix = tostring(split(Target,'@',1)[0]), InitiatorName = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName,'@',0)[0]), InitiatorUPNSuffix = tostring(split(InitiatingUserPrincipalName,'@',1)[0])

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`	in	`Assign` transforms: `cased` `AssignEligibleRole` transforms: `cased` `CreateRequestGrantedRole` transforms: `cased` `CreateRequestPermanentEligibleRole` transforms: `cased` `CreateRequestPermanentGrantedRole` transforms: `cased`
`ActivityDisplayName`	match	`Add eligible member to role` `Add member to role`
`Category`	eq	`RoleManagement`
`Initiator`	ne	`MS-PIM` transforms: `cased` `MS-PIM-Fairfax` transforms: `cased`
`RoleName`	contains	`Admin`
`displayName`	eq	`Role.DisplayName`
`type`	in	`Role` `ServicePrincipal` `User`

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
`InitiatingAadUserId`	`summarize`
`InitiatingAppName`	`summarize`
`InitiatingAppServicePrincipalId`	`summarize`
`InitiatingIpAddress`	`summarize`
`InitiatingUserPrincipalName`	`summarize`
`Initiator`	`summarize`
`OperationName`	`summarize`
`Result`	`summarize`
`RoleName`	`summarize`
`Target`	`summarize`
`InitiatorName`	`extend`
`InitiatorUPNSuffix`	`extend`
`TargetName`	`extend`
`TargetUPNSuffix`	`extend`

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`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)

User Assigned New Privileged Role

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `extend` (6 consecutive steps)

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `summarize`

Stage 12: `extend`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

User Assigned New Privileged Role

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rules detecting the same action

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 6: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 7: kusto:mv-apply

Stage 8: where

Stage 9: extend (6 consecutive steps)

Stage 10: where

Stage 11: summarize

Stage 12: extend

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 6: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 7: `kusto:mv-apply`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `extend` (6 consecutive steps)

Stage 10: `where`

Stage 11: `summarize`

Stage 12: `extend`