Valimail Enforce - Unusual Rate of Configuration Changes or User Additions

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

This query searches for a single user performing more than 3 configuration changes or user additions within a 1-hour window on any domain. An unusual burst of changes may indicate a compromised admin account, unauthorized automation, or insider threat.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1078` Valid Accounts
Stealth	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1562` Impair Defenses
Impact	`T1531` Account Access Removal

Rule body kusto

id: 3cbb78d9-81ac-42c9-b3cd-7e6baea7d9ff
name: Valimail Enforce - Unusual Rate of Configuration Changes or User Additions
description: |
  This query searches for a single user performing more than 3 configuration changes or user
  additions within a 1-hour window on any domain. An unusual burst of changes may
  indicate a compromised admin account, unauthorized automation, or insider threat.
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: ValimailEnforce
    dataTypes:
      - ValimailEnforceEvents_CL
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - Impact
  - DefenseEvasion
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1562
  - T1531
  - T1078
query: |
  let threshold = 3;
  let timeWindow = 1h;
  ValimailEnforceEvents_CL
  | where EventCategory in (
      "DMARCPolicy",
      "SPFConfiguration",
      "DKIMConfiguration",
      "DomainManagement",
      "UserManagement"
    )
  | summarize
      ChangeCount       = count(),
      HighValueCount    = countif(IsHighValueEvent == true),
      Domains           = make_set(Subject),
      DomainCount       = dcount(Subject),
      Actions           = make_set(EventType),
      Categories        = make_set(EventCategory),
      FirstSeen         = min(PerformedAt),
      LastSeen          = max(PerformedAt)
    by User, bin(PerformedAt, timeWindow)
  | where ChangeCount > threshold
  | extend
      AccountName   = tostring(split(User, "@")[0]),
      AccountDomain = tostring(split(User, "@")[1]),
      DomainName    = tostring(Domains[0]),
      ChangesPerMin = round(todouble(ChangeCount) / 60.0, 2)
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: UPNSuffix
        columnName: AccountDomain
  - entityType: DNS
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: DomainName
        columnName: DomainName
alertDetailsOverride:
  alertDisplayNameFormat: "Unusual change rate by {{User}}, {{ChangeCount}} changes in 1h across {{DomainCount}} domain(s)"
  alertDescriptionFormat: |
    User '{{User}}' made {{ChangeCount}} configuration changes across {{DomainCount}} domain(s) within one hour.
incidentConfiguration:
  createIncident: true
  groupingConfiguration:
    enabled: true
    reopenClosedIncident: false
    lookbackDuration: 1d
    matchingMethod: Selected
    groupByEntities:
      - Account
version: 1.0.0
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let threshold = 3;
let timeWindow = 1h;

Stage 1: `source`

ValimailEnforceEvents_CL

Stage 2: `where`

| where EventCategory in (
    "DMARCPolicy",
    "SPFConfiguration",
    "DKIMConfiguration",
    "DomainManagement",
    "UserManagement"
  )

Stage 3: `summarize`

| summarize
    ChangeCount       = count(),
    HighValueCount    = countif(IsHighValueEvent == true),
    Domains           = make_set(Subject),
    DomainCount       = dcount(Subject),
    Actions           = make_set(EventType),
    Categories        = make_set(EventCategory),
    FirstSeen         = min(PerformedAt),
    LastSeen          = max(PerformedAt)
  by User, bin(PerformedAt, timeWindow)

Threshold: gt 3

Stage 4: `where`

| where ChangeCount > threshold

Stage 5: `extend`

| extend
    AccountName   = tostring(split(User, "@")[0]),
    AccountDomain = tostring(split(User, "@")[1]),
    DomainName    = tostring(Domains[0]),
    ChangesPerMin = round(todouble(ChangeCount) / 60.0, 2)

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
`ChangeCount`	gt	`3` transforms: `cased`
`EventCategory`	in	`DKIMConfiguration` transforms: `cased` `DMARCPolicy` transforms: `cased` `DomainManagement` transforms: `cased` `SPFConfiguration` transforms: `cased` `UserManagement` 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
`Actions`	`summarize`
`Categories`	`summarize`
`ChangeCount`	`summarize`
`DomainCount`	`summarize`
`Domains`	`summarize`
`FirstSeen`	`summarize`
`HighValueCount`	`summarize`
`LastSeen`	`summarize`
`User`	`summarize`
`AccountDomain`	`extend`
`AccountName`	`extend`
`ChangesPerMin`	`extend`
`DomainName`	`extend`

`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)

Valimail Enforce - Unusual Rate of Configuration Changes or User Additions

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `summarize`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Valimail Enforce - Unusual Rate of Configuration Changes or User Additions

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: summarize

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: extend

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `summarize`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `extend`