Azure AD Service Principal Created
The following analytic detects the creation of a Service Principal in an Azure AD environment. It leverages Azure Active Directory events ingested through EventHub, specifically monitoring the "Add service principal"…
Description
The following analytic detects the creation of a Service Principal in an Azure AD environment. It leverages Azure Active Directory events ingested through EventHub, specifically monitoring the "Add service principal" operation. This activity is significant because Service Principals can be used by adversaries to establish persistence and bypass multi-factor authentication and conditional access policies. If confirmed malicious, this could allow attackers to maintain single-factor access to the Azure AD environment, potentially leading to unauthorized access to resources and prolonged undetected activity.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- IaaSIdentity ProviderOffice SuiteSaaS
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- azure_active_directory_add_service_principal
Known benign triggers
- Administrator may legitimately create Service Principal. Filter as needed.
MITRE ATT&CK mappings
0 exclusive techniques.This is coverage no other published rule has; it is not this rule's total technique count.
References
| Reference | Cited by |
|---|---|
| attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1136/003/ | 9 |
| docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/develop/app-objects-and-service-principals | 2from 2 sources |
| docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/azure/create-azure-service-principal-azureps?view=azps-8.2.0 | Only this detection cites it |
| www.inversecos.com/2021/10/how-to-backdoor-azure-applications-and.html | 2 |
| www.truesec.com/hub/blog/using-a-legitimate-application-to-create-persistence-and-initiate-email-campaigns | Only this detection cites it |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- f8ba49e7-ffd3-4b53-8f61-e73974583c5d
- Tagged by the source as
- Azure Active Directory PersistenceNOBELIUM GroupAzure Active DirectorycloudSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securitythreat
Licence
- Published under
- Apache License 2.0Read the licence
- Attribution
- Required
- Obtained under
- Apache-2.0Read the origin licence
Authorship
- Published
- Aug 26, 2026
- Version
- 1