Detection rules › Panther

Azure Firewall Policy Deleted

Severity
high
Log types
Azure.MonitorActivity
Tags
Defense Evasion, Impair Defenses, Disable or Modify System Firewall
Reference
https://github.com/elastic/detection-rules/blob/main/rules/integrations/azure/defense_evasion_azure_firewall_policy_deletion.toml
Source
github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when an Azure Firewall policy is deleted. Firewall policies define critical network security rules that control traffic flow and protect resources. Adversaries may delete firewall policies to disable network security controls, allow malicious traffic, or enable data exfiltration. This activity is a strong indicator of defense evasion or preparation for follow-on attacks.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: azure_firewall_policy_deleted.py
RuleID: "Azure.MonitorActivity.Network.FirewallPolicyDeleted"
DisplayName: "Azure Firewall Policy Deleted"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - Azure.MonitorActivity
Severity: High
Description: >
  Detects when an Azure Firewall policy is deleted. Firewall policies define critical network security
  rules that control traffic flow and protect resources. Adversaries may delete firewall policies to
  disable network security controls, allow malicious traffic, or enable data exfiltration. This activity
  is a strong indicator of defense evasion or preparation for follow-on attacks.
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0005:T1562.004 # Defense Evasion: Impair Defenses - Disable or Modify System Firewall
Tags:
  - Defense Evasion
  - Impair Defenses
  - Disable or Modify System Firewall
Runbook: |
  1. Query Azure Monitor Activity logs for all network security operations (firewall policy changes, NSG deletions, network watcher deletions) by the callerIpAddress in the 24 hours before and after the alert
  2. Find all firewall policy deletions and modifications in the past 6 hours to determine if this is part of a coordinated attack on network security controls
  3. Check if the callerIpAddress has performed similar network security changes in the past 90 days to establish if this is typical operational activity
Reference: https://github.com/elastic/detection-rules/blob/main/rules/integrations/azure/defense_evasion_azure_firewall_policy_deletion.toml
SummaryAttributes:
  - resourceId
  - callerIpAddress
  - correlationId
  - location
Tests:
  - Name: Firewall Policy Deleted Successfully
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2025-12-22T10:30:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/network-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/firewallPolicies/production-firewall-policy",
        "operationName": "MICROSOFT.NETWORK/FIREWALLPOLICIES/DELETE",
        "operationVersion": "2021-05-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "resultSignature": "200",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.1.1.1",
        "correlationId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
        "level": "Informational",
        "location": "eastus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-111111111111"
      }
  - Name: Firewall Policy Deleted Case Insensitive
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2025-12-22T11:15:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111/resourceGroups/security-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/firewallPolicies/default-policy",
        "operationName": "microsoft.network/firewallpolicies/delete",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Succeeded",
        "callerIpAddress": "2.2.2.2",
        "correlationId": "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f23456789012",
        "level": "Information",
        "location": "westeurope",
        "tenantId": "22222222-2222-2222-2222-222222222222"
      }
  - Name: Different Operation
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2025-12-22T13:00:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/44444444-4444-4444-4444-444444444444/resourceGroups/network-rg/providers/Microsoft.Network/firewallPolicies/new-policy",
        "operationName": "MICROSOFT.NETWORK/FIREWALLPOLICIES/WRITE",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "callerIpAddress": "4.4.4.4",
        "correlationId": "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-0123-def0-456789012345",
        "tenantId": "44444444-4444-4444-4444-444444444444"
      }

Detection logic

Condition

operationName eq "MICROSOFT.NETWORK/FIREWALLPOLICIES/DELETE"
resultType in ["Success", "Succeeded"]

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.

FieldKindValues
operationNameeq
  • MICROSOFT.NETWORK/FIREWALLPOLICIES/DELETE
resultTypein
  • Succeeded
  • Success