New user created and added to the built-in administrators group

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

Identifies when a user account was created and then added to the builtin Administrators group in the same day. This should be monitored closely and all additions reviewed.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1098` Account Manipulation
Privilege Escalation	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1098` Account Manipulation

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4720	A user account was created.
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4732	A member was added to a security-enabled local group.

Rule body kusto

id: aa1eff90-29d4-49dc-a3ea-b65199f516db
name: New user created and added to the built-in administrators group
description: |
  'Identifies when a user account was created and then added to the builtin Administrators group in the same day.
  This should be monitored closely and all additions reviewed.'
severity: Low
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
     - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: WindowsSecurityEvents
    dataTypes: 
      - SecurityEvents 
  - connectorId: WindowsForwardedEvents
    dataTypes: 
      - WindowsEvent 
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 1d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - Persistence
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1098
  - T1078
query: |
  (union isfuzzy=true
      (SecurityEvent
      | where EventID == 4720
      | where AccountType == "User"
      | project CreatedUserTime = TimeGenerated, CreatedUserEventID = EventID, CreatedUserActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      CreatedUser = tolower(TargetAccount), CreatedUserAccountName = TargetUserName, CreatedUserDomainName = TargetDomainName, CreatedUserSid = TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectAccount, CreatedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, CreatedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectUserSid
      ),
      (WindowsEvent
      | where EventID == 4720
      | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
      | extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
      | where AccountType == "User"
      | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
      | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
      | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
      | extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName) 
      | extend Activity="4720 - A user account was created."
      | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
      | project CreatedUserTime = TimeGenerated, CreatedUserEventID = EventID, CreatedUserActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      CreatedUser = tolower(TargetAccount), CreatedUserAccountName = TargetUserName, CreatedUserDomainName = TargetDomainName, CreatedUserSid = TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectAccount, CreatedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, CreatedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectUserSid
      )
    )
  | join kind=inner
  (
    (union isfuzzy=true
      (SecurityEvent 
      | where AccountType == "User"
      // 4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group
      | where EventID == 4732
      // TargetSid is the builin Admins group: S-1-5-32-544
      | where TargetSid == "S-1-5-32-544"
      | project GroupAddTime = TimeGenerated, GroupAddEventID = EventID, GroupAddActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), GroupName = tolower(TargetAccount), 
      GroupSid = TargetSid, AccountThatAddedUser = SubjectAccount, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser = SubjectUserSid, AddedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, AddedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName,
      CreatedUserSid = MemberSid
      ),
      (  WindowsEvent 
      // 4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group
      | where EventID == 4732 and EventData has "S-1-5-32-544"
      //TargetSid is the builin Admins group: S-1-5-32-544
      | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
      | extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
      | where AccountType == "User"
      | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
      | where TargetSid == "S-1-5-32-544"
      | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
      | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
      | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
      | extend Activity="4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group."
      | extend MemberSid = tostring(EventData.MemberSid)
      | project GroupAddTime = TimeGenerated, GroupAddEventID = EventID, GroupAddActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), GroupName = tolower(TargetAccount), 
      GroupSid = TargetSid, AccountThatAddedUser = SubjectAccount, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser = SubjectUserSid, AddedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, AddedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName,
      CreatedUserSid = MemberSid
      )
    )
  )
  on CreatedUserSid
  //Create User first, then the add to the group.
  | project Computer, CreatedUserTime, CreatedUserEventID, CreatedUserActivity, CreatedUser, CreatedUserSid, CreatedUserAccountName, CreatedUserDomainName,
  GroupAddTime, GroupAddEventID, GroupAddActivity, GroupName, GroupSid,
  AccountUsedToCreateUser, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser, CreatedByAccountName, CreatedByDomainName, 
  AccountThatAddedUser, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser, AddedByAccountName, AddedByDomainName
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | project-away DomainIndex
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: AccountUsedToCreateUser
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: CreatedByAccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: CreatedByDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: AccountThatAddedUser
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AddedByAccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: AddedByDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: CreatedUser
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: CreatedUserAccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: CreatedUserDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Sid
        columnName: CreatedUserSid
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain
version: 1.2.1
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others", "Identity" ]

Stages and Predicates

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Each leg below queries one source; the rule matches if any leg does. Sources: SecurityEvent, WindowsEvent

Leg 1: `SecurityEvent`

SecurityEvent
    | where EventID == 4720
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | project CreatedUserTime = TimeGenerated, CreatedUserEventID = EventID, CreatedUserActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    CreatedUser = tolower(TargetAccount), CreatedUserAccountName = TargetUserName, CreatedUserDomainName = TargetDomainName, CreatedUserSid = TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectAccount, CreatedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, CreatedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectUserSid

Leg 2: `WindowsEvent`

WindowsEvent
    | where EventID == 4720
    | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
    | extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
    | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
    | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
    | extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName) 
    | extend Activity="4720 - A user account was created."
    | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
    | project CreatedUserTime = TimeGenerated, CreatedUserEventID = EventID, CreatedUserActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    CreatedUser = tolower(TargetAccount), CreatedUserAccountName = TargetUserName, CreatedUserDomainName = TargetDomainName, CreatedUserSid = TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectAccount, CreatedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, CreatedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser = SubjectUserSid

Applied to the combined result

| join kind=inner
(
  (union isfuzzy=true
    (SecurityEvent 
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | where EventID == 4732
    | where TargetSid == "S-1-5-32-544"
    | project GroupAddTime = TimeGenerated, GroupAddEventID = EventID, GroupAddActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), GroupName = tolower(TargetAccount), 
    GroupSid = TargetSid, AccountThatAddedUser = SubjectAccount, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser = SubjectUserSid, AddedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, AddedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName,
    CreatedUserSid = MemberSid
    ),
    (  WindowsEvent 
    | where EventID == 4732 and EventData has "S-1-5-32-544"
    | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
    | extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
    | where TargetSid == "S-1-5-32-544"
    | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
    | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
    | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
    | extend Activity="4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group."
    | extend MemberSid = tostring(EventData.MemberSid)
    | project GroupAddTime = TimeGenerated, GroupAddEventID = EventID, GroupAddActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), GroupName = tolower(TargetAccount), 
    GroupSid = TargetSid, AccountThatAddedUser = SubjectAccount, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser = SubjectUserSid, AddedByAccountName = SubjectUserName, AddedByDomainName = SubjectDomainName,
    CreatedUserSid = MemberSid
    )
  )
)
on CreatedUserSid
| project Computer, CreatedUserTime, CreatedUserEventID, CreatedUserActivity, CreatedUser, CreatedUserSid, CreatedUserAccountName, CreatedUserDomainName,
GroupAddTime, GroupAddEventID, GroupAddActivity, GroupName, GroupSid,
AccountUsedToCreateUser, SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser, CreatedByAccountName, CreatedByDomainName, 
AccountThatAddedUser, SIDofAccountThatAddedUser, AddedByAccountName, AddedByDomainName
| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
| project-away DomainIndex

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
`AccountType`	eq	`User` transforms: `cased` corpus 9 (kusto 9)
`EventData`	match	`S-1-5-32-544` transforms: `term`
`EventID`	eq	`4720` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (kusto 3, splunk 2) `4732` transforms: `cased` corpus 4 (splunk 3, kusto 1)
`TargetSid`	eq	`S-1-5-32-544` transforms: `cased` corpus 3 (sigma 2, kusto 1)

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
`AccountThatAddedUser`	`project`
`AccountUsedToCreateUser`	`project`
`AddedByAccountName`	`project`
`AddedByDomainName`	`project`
`Computer`	`project`
`CreatedByAccountName`	`project`
`CreatedByDomainName`	`project`
`CreatedUser`	`project`
`CreatedUserAccountName`	`project`
`CreatedUserActivity`	`project`
`CreatedUserDomainName`	`project`
`CreatedUserEventID`	`project`
`CreatedUserSid`	`project`
`CreatedUserTime`	`project`
`GroupAddActivity`	`project`
`GroupAddEventID`	`project`
`GroupAddTime`	`project`
`GroupName`	`project`
`GroupSid`	`project`
`SIDofAccountThatAddedUser`	`project`
`SidofAccountUsedToCreateUser`	`project`
`HostName`	`extend`
`HostNameDomain`	`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)

New user created and added to the built-in administrators group

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Leg 1: `SecurityEvent`

Leg 2: `WindowsEvent`

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

New user created and added to the built-in administrators group

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

union isfuzzy=true (2 sources)

Leg 1: SecurityEvent

Leg 2: WindowsEvent

Applied to the combined result

Indicators

Output fields

union `isfuzzy=true` (2 sources)

Leg 1: `SecurityEvent`

Leg 2: `WindowsEvent`