Detection rules › Splunk
O365 User Consent Blocked for Risky Application
The following analytic identifies instances where Office 365 has blocked a user's attempt to grant consent to an application deemed risky or potentially malicious. This detection leverages O365 audit logs, specifically focusing on failed user consent actions due to system-driven blocks. Monitoring these blocked consent attempts is crucial as it highlights potential threats early on, indicating that a user might be targeted or that malicious applications are attempting to infiltrate the organization. If confirmed malicious, this activity suggests that O365's security measures successfully prevented a harmful application from accessing organizational data, warranting immediate investigation.
Known false positives
- Microsofts algorithm to identify risky applications is unknown and may flag legitimate applications.
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 User Consent Blocked for Risky Application
id: 242e4d30-cb59-4051-b0cf-58895e218f40
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 Office 365 has blocked a user's attempt to grant consent to an application deemed risky or potentially malicious. This detection leverages O365 audit logs, specifically focusing on failed user consent actions due to system-driven blocks. Monitoring these blocked consent attempts is crucial as it highlights potential threats early on, indicating that a user might be targeted or that malicious applications are attempting to infiltrate the organization. If confirmed malicious, this activity suggests that O365's security measures successfully prevented a harmful application from accessing organizational data, warranting immediate investigation.
data_source:
- O365 Consent to application.
search: "`o365_management_activity` Workload=AzureActiveDirectory Operation=\"Consent to application.\" ResultStatus=Failure | eval permissions =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue', 4) | eval reason =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue', 5) | search reason = \"Risky application detected\" | rex field=permissions \"Scope: (?<Scope>[^,]+)\" | fillnull | stats max(_time) as lastTime by user, reason, object, Scope, dest, src, vendor_account, vendor_product, signature | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `o365_user_consent_blocked_for_risky_application_filter`"
how_to_implement: You must install the Splunk Microsoft Office 365 Add-on and ingest Office 365 management activity events.
known_false_positives: Microsofts algorithm to identify risky applications is unknown and may flag legitimate applications.
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/azure/active-directory/manage-apps/protect-against-consent-phishing
- 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: O365 has blocked $user$ attempt to grant to consent to an application deemed risky.
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=Failure
Stage 2: eval
| eval permissions =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue', 4)
Stage 3: eval
| eval reason =mvindex('ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue', 5)
Stage 4: search
| search reason = "Risky application detected"
Stage 5: rex
| rex field=permissions "Scope: (?<Scope>[^,]+)"
Stage 6: fillnull
| fillnull
Stage 7: stats
| stats max(_time) as lastTime by user, reason, object, Scope, dest, src, vendor_account, vendor_product, signature
Stage 8: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 9: search
| `o365_user_consent_blocked_for_risky_application_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:"Failure" |
Workload | eq |
| field:"Workload" kind:eq value:"AzureActiveDirectory" |
reason | eq |
| field:"reason" kind:eq |
sourcetype | eq |
| field:"sourcetype" kind:eq value:"o365:management:activity" |