Detection rules › Sigma
Azure Service Principal Created
Identifies when a service principal is created in Azure.
Known false positives
- Service principal being created may be performed by a system administrator.
- Verify whether the user identity, user agent, and/or hostname should be making changes in your environment.
- Service principal created from unfamiliar users should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Stealth | No specific technique |
Telemetry coverage
| Platform | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Azure | Add service principal |
Rules detecting the same action
These rules filter on the same operation.
- [Entra ID] Application Assigned Administrator Permissions Immediately After Obtaining Role Management Permissions (Kusto)
- [Entra ID] Application Granted Administrative Permission to Assign Microsoft Entra ID Roles (Kusto)
- Added Credentials to Existing Application (Sigma)
- Added Owner To Application (Sigma)
- Admin promotion after Role Management Application Permission Grant (Kusto)
- App Granted Microsoft Permissions (Sigma)
- App Granted Privileged Delegated Or App Permissions (Sigma)
- Application AppID Uri Configuration Changes (Sigma)
Rule body
title: Azure Service Principal Created
id: 0ddcff6d-d262-40b0-804b-80eb592de8e3
status: test
description: Identifies when a service principal is created in Azure.
references:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/monitoring-health/reference-audit-activities#core-directory
- https://analyticsrules.exchange/analyticrules/79566f41-df67-4e10-a703-c38a6213afd8/
author: Austin Songer @austinsonger
date: 2021-09-02
modified: 2026-04-30
tags:
- attack.stealth
logsource:
product: azure
service: auditlogs
detection:
selection:
operationName: 'Add service principal'
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Service principal being created may be performed by a system administrator.
- Verify whether the user identity, user agent, and/or hostname should be making changes in your environment.
- Service principal created from unfamiliar users should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selectionStage 1: selection
selection:
operationName: 'Add service principal'
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
operationName | eq |
| field:"operationName" kind:eq value:"Add service principal" |