Detection: Azure AD PIM Role Assigned

Description

The following analytic detects the assignment of an Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) role. It leverages Azure Active Directory events to identify when a user is added as an eligible member to a PIM role. This activity is significant because PIM roles grant elevated privileges, and their assignment should be closely monitored to prevent unauthorized access. If confirmed malicious, an attacker could exploit this to gain privileged access, potentially leading to unauthorized actions, data breaches, or further compromise of the environment.

1`azure_monitor_aad` operationName="Add eligible member to role in PIM completed*" 
2| rename properties.* as * 
3| stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(user) as user values(targetResources{}.displayName) as displayName  by result, operationName, initiatedBy.user.displayName 
4| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` 
5| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` 
6| `azure_ad_pim_role_assigned_filter`

Data Source

Name Platform Sourcetype Source Supported App
Azure Active Directory Azure icon Azure 'azure:monitor:aad' 'Azure AD' N/A

Macros Used

Name Value
azure_monitor_aad sourcetype=azure:monitor:aad
azure_ad_pim_role_assigned_filter search *
azure_ad_pim_role_assigned_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
T1098 Account Manipulation Persistence
T1098.003 Additional Cloud Roles Privilege Escalation
KillChainPhase.EXPLOITAITON
KillChainPhase.INSTALLATION
NistCategory.DE_CM
Cis18Value.CIS_10
APT3
APT41
APT5
Dragonfly
FIN13
HAFNIUM
Kimsuky
Lazarus Group
Magic Hound
LAPSUS$
Scattered Spider

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. This analytic was written to be used with the azure:monitor:aad sourcetype leveraging the AuditLog log category.

Known False Positives

As part of legitimate administrative behavior, users may be assigned PIM roles. Filter as needed

Associated Analytic Story

Risk Based Analytics (RBA)

Risk Message Risk Score Impact Confidence
An Azure AD PIM role assignment was assiged to $user$ 35 70 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