Detection rules › Panther

Azure Key Vault Deleted

Severity
medium
Log types
Azure.MonitorActivity
Tags
Impact, Data Destruction, Inhibit System Recovery, Ransomware
Reference
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/general/soft-delete-overview
Source
github.com/panther-labs/panther-analysis

Detects when an Azure Key Vault is deleted. Key Vault deletion is a destructive operation that may indicate ransomware activity or malicious destruction of secrets and encryption keys.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body yaml

AnalysisType: rule
Filename: azure_keyvault_deleted.py
RuleID: "Azure.MonitorActivity.KeyVault.Deleted"
DisplayName: "Azure Key Vault Deleted"
Enabled: true
LogTypes:
  - Azure.MonitorActivity
Severity: Medium
Description: >
  Detects when an Azure Key Vault is deleted.
  Key Vault deletion is a destructive operation that may indicate ransomware activity or malicious destruction of secrets and encryption keys.
Reports:
  MITRE ATT&CK:
    - TA0040:T1485 # Impact: Data Destruction
    - TA0040:T1490 # Impact: Inhibit System Recovery
Tags:
  - Impact
  - Data Destruction
  - Inhibit System Recovery
  - Ransomware
Runbook: |
  1. Query Azure Monitor Activity logs for all Key Vault operations by the callerIpAddress in the 24 hours before this alert to establish if this is part of a larger attack pattern
  2. Check if the source IP is associated with known cloud providers, VPN services, or corporate network ranges using threat intelligence
  3. Search for other Azure resource deletions or key/secret access events from the same user or IP in the past 7 days to assess the scope of potential impact
Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/general/soft-delete-overview
SummaryAttributes:
  - resourceId
  - callerIpAddress
  - correlationId
Tests:
  - Name: Key Vault Deleted
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T10:30:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/mykeyvault",
        "operationName": "Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/delete",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "resultSignature": "200",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.1.1.1",
        "correlationId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
        "location": "eastus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-111111111111"
      }
  - Name: Case Insensitive Match
    ExpectedResult: true
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T11:45:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/prod-rg/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/prodvault",
        "operationName": "microsoft.keyvault/vaults/delete",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Succeeded",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "correlationId": "f9e8d7c6-b5a4-3210-9876-fedcba098765",
        "location": "eastus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-111111111111"
      }
  - Name: Different Operation
    ExpectedResult: false
    Log:
      {
        "time": "2024-12-17T13:30:00.0000000Z",
        "resourceId": "/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc/resourceGroups/myresourcegroup/providers/Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/mykeyvault",
        "operationName": "Microsoft.KeyVault/vaults/write",
        "operationVersion": "2021-04-01",
        "category": "Administrative",
        "resultType": "Success",
        "callerIpAddress": "1.2.3.4",
        "correlationId": "d4e5f6a7-b8c9-0123-def0-234567890123",
        "location": "eastus",
        "tenantId": "87654321-4321-4321-4321-210987654321"
      }

Detection logic

Condition

operationName eq "MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/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.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/DELETE
resultTypein
  • Succeeded
  • Success

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
callerIpAddress