Detection: Azure AD Service Principal Authentication

Updated Date: 2024-09-30 ID: 5a2ec401-60bb-474e-b936-1e66e7aa4060 Author: Mauricio Velazco, Splunk Type: TTP Product: Splunk Enterprise Security

Description

The following analytic identifies authentication events of service principals in Azure Active Directory. It leverages the azure_monitor_aad data source, specifically targeting "Sign-in activity" within ServicePrincipalSignInLogs. This detection gathers details such as sign-in frequency, timing, source IPs, and accessed resources. Monitoring these events is significant for SOC teams to distinguish between normal application authentication and potential anomalies, which could indicate compromised credentials or malicious activities. If confirmed malicious, attackers could gain unauthorized access to resources, leading to data breaches or further exploitation within the environment.

Search

1`azure_monitor_aad` operationName="Sign-in activity" category=ServicePrincipalSignInLogs 
2| rename properties.* as * 
3| stats count earliest(_time) as firstTime latest(_time) as lastTime by user, user_id, src_ip, resourceDisplayName, resourceId 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `azure_ad_service_principal_authentication_filter`

Data Source

Name	Platform	Sourcetype	Source
Azure Active Directory Sign-in activity	Azure	`'azure:monitor:aad'`	`'Azure AD'`

Macros Used

Name	Value
azure_monitor_aad	`sourcetype=azure:monitor:aad`
azure_ad_service_principal_authentication_filter	`search *`

azure_ad_service_principal_authentication_filter is an empty macro by default. It allows the user to filter out any results (false positives) without editing the SPL.

Annotations

- MITRE ATT&CK

+ Kill Chain Phases

+ NIST

+ CIS

- Threat Actors

ID	Technique	Tactic
T1078.004	Cloud Accounts	Defense Evasion

KillChainPhase.DELIVERY

KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON

KillChainPhase.INSTALLATION

NistCategory.DE_CM

Cis18Value.CIS_10

APT28

APT29

APT33

APT5

Ke3chang

LAPSUS$

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

This configuration file applies to all detections of type TTP. These detections will use Risk Based Alerting and generate Notable Events.

Implementation

You must install the latest version of Splunk Add-on for Microsoft Cloud Services from Splunkbase (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3110/#/details). You must be ingesting Azure Active Directory events into your Splunk environment through an EventHub. This analytic was written to be used with the azure:monitor:aad sourcetype leveraging the SignInLogs log category.

Known False Positives

Service Principals will legitimally authenticate remotely to your tenant. Implementing this detection after establishing a baseline enables a more accurate identification of security threats, ensuring proactive and informed responses to safeguard the Azure AD environment. source ips.

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message	Risk Score	Impact	Confidence
Service Principal $user$ authenticated from $src_ip$	25	50	50

The Risk Score is calculated by the following formula: Risk Score = (Impact * Confidence/100). Initial Confidence and Impact is set by the analytic author.

References

Detection Testing

Test Type	Status	Dataset	Source	Sourcetype
Validation	✅ Passing	N/A	N/A	N/A
Unit	✅ Passing	Dataset	`Azure AD`	`azure:monitor:aad`
Integration	✅ Passing	Dataset	`Azure AD`	`azure:monitor:aad`

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