ID | Technique | Tactic |
---|---|---|
T1136.003 | Cloud Account | Persistence |
T1136 | Create Account | Persistence |
Detection: O365 Added Service Principal
Description
The following analytic detects the addition of new service principal accounts in O365 tenants. It leverages data from the o365_management_activity
dataset, specifically monitoring for operations related to adding or creating service principals. This activity is significant because attackers can exploit service principals to gain unauthorized access and perform malicious actions within an organization's environment. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to interact with APIs, access resources, and execute operations on behalf of the organization, potentially leading to data breaches or further compromise.
Search
1`o365_management_activity` Workload=AzureActiveDirectory Operation="*Add service principal*" OR (Operation = "*principal*" AND action = "created")
2| stats count values(ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue) as new_value by src_user src_user_type action Operation authentication_service Workload
3| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
4| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
5| `o365_added_service_principal_filter`
Data Source
Name | Platform | Sourcetype | Source | Supported App |
---|---|---|---|---|
O365 | N/A | 'o365:management:activity' |
'o365' |
N/A |
Macros Used
Name | Value |
---|---|
o365_management_activity | sourcetype=o365:management:activity |
o365_added_service_principal_filter | search * |
o365_added_service_principal_filter
is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.
Annotations
Default Configuration
This detection is configured by default in Splunk Enterprise Security to run with the following settings:
Setting | Value |
---|---|
Disabled | true |
Cron Schedule | 0 * * * * |
Earliest Time | -70m@m |
Latest Time | -10m@m |
Schedule Window | auto |
Creates Notable | Yes |
Rule Title | %name% |
Rule Description | %description% |
Notable Event Fields | user, dest |
Creates Risk Event | True |
Implementation
You must install splunk Microsoft Office 365 add-on. This search works with o365:management:activity
Known False Positives
The creation of a new Federation is not necessarily malicious, however these events need to be followed closely, as it may indicate federated credential abuse or backdoor via federated identities at a different cloud provider.
Associated Analytic Story
Risk Based Analytics (RBA)
Risk Message | Risk Score | Impact | Confidence |
---|---|---|---|
User $src_user$ has created new service principal $new_value$ in AzureActiveDirectory | 42 | 70 | 60 |
References
-
https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/blog/pdfs/wp-m-unc2452-2021-000343-01.pdf
-
https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security/a-golden-saml-journey-solarwinds-continued.html
-
https://blog.sygnia.co/detection-and-hunting-of-golden-saml-attack?hsLang=en
Detection Testing
Test Type | Status | Dataset | Source | Sourcetype |
---|---|---|---|---|
Validation | ✅ Passing | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Unit | ✅ Passing | Dataset | o365 |
o365:management:activity |
Integration | ✅ Passing | Dataset | o365 |
o365:management:activity |
Replay any dataset to Splunk Enterprise by using our replay.py
tool or the UI.
Alternatively you can replay a dataset into a Splunk Attack Range
Source: GitHub | Version: 4