Detection rules › Splunk
O365 File Permissioned Application Consent Granted by User
The following analytic identifies instances where a user in the Office 365 environment grants consent to an application requesting file permissions for OneDrive or SharePoint. It leverages O365 audit logs, focusing on OAuth application consent events. This activity is significant because granting such permissions can allow applications to access, modify, or delete files, posing a risk if the application is malicious or overly permissive. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, data loss, or unauthorized data manipulation, necessitating immediate investigation to validate the application's legitimacy and assess potential risks.
Known false positives
- OAuth applications that require file permissions may be legitimate, investigate and filter as needed.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Credential Access |
Telemetry coverage
| Platform | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 | Consent to application. |
Rules detecting the same action
These rules filter on the same operation.
Rule body
name: O365 File Permissioned Application Consent Granted by User
id: 6c382336-22b8-4023-9b80-1689e799f21f
version: 9
creation_date: '2023-12-06'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies instances where a user in the Office 365 environment grants consent to an application requesting file permissions for OneDrive or SharePoint. It leverages O365 audit logs, focusing on OAuth application consent events. This activity is significant because granting such permissions can allow applications to access, modify, or delete files, posing a risk if the application is malicious or overly permissive. If confirmed malicious, this could lead to data breaches, data loss, or unauthorized data manipulation, necessitating immediate investigation to validate the application's legitimacy and assess potential risks.
data_source:
- O365 Consent to application.
search: "`o365_management_activity` Workload=AzureActiveDirectory Operation=\"Consent to application.\" ResultStatus=Success | eval admin_consent =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue',0) | search admin_consent=False | eval permissions =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue',4) | rex field=permissions \"Scope:(?<Scope>[^,]+)\" | makemv delim=\" \" Scope | search Scope IN (\"Files.Read\", \"Files.Read.All\", \"Files.ReadWrite\", \"Files.ReadWrite.All\", \"Files.ReadWrite.AppFolder\") | fillnull | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(Scope) as Scope by signature dest user src vendor_account vendor_product object ObjectId | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `o365_file_permissioned_application_consent_granted_by_user_filter`"
how_to_implement: You must install the Splunk Microsoft Office 365 Add-on and ingest Office 365 management activity events.
known_false_positives: OAuth applications that require file permissions may be legitimate, investigate and filter as needed.
references:
- https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1528/
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2022/09/22/malicious-oauth-applications-used-to-compromise-email-servers-and-spread-spam/
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-cloud-apps/investigate-risky-oauth
- https://www.alteredsecurity.com/post/introduction-to-365-stealer
- https://github.com/AlteredSecurity/365-Stealer
finding:
title: User $user$ consented an OAuth application that requests file-related permissions.
entity:
field: user
type: user
score: 50
analytic_story:
- Office 365 Account Takeover
asset_type: O365 Tenant
mitre_attack_id:
- T1528
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: cloud
security_domain: identity
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`o365_management_activity` Workload=AzureActiveDirectory Operation="Consent to application." ResultStatus=Success
Stage 2: eval
| eval admin_consent =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue',0)
Stage 3: search
| search admin_consent=False
Stage 4: eval
| eval permissions =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue',4)
Stage 5: rex
| rex field=permissions "Scope:(?<Scope>[^,]+)"
Stage 6: makemv
| makemv delim=" " Scope
Stage 7: search
| search Scope IN ("Files.Read", "Files.Read.All", "Files.ReadWrite", "Files.ReadWrite.All", "Files.ReadWrite.AppFolder")
Stage 8: fillnull
| fillnull
Stage 9: stats
| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(Scope) as Scope by signature dest user src vendor_account vendor_product object ObjectId
Stage 10: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 11: search
| `o365_file_permissioned_application_consent_granted_by_user_filter`
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
Operation | eq |
| field:"Operation" kind:eq |
ResultStatus | eq |
| field:"ResultStatus" kind:eq value:"Success" |
Scope | in |
| field:"Scope" kind:in |
Workload | eq |
| field:"Workload" kind:eq value:"AzureActiveDirectory" |
admin_consent | eq |
| field:"admin_consent" kind:eq value:"False" |
sourcetype | eq |
| field:"sourcetype" kind:eq value:"o365:management:activity" |