Azure AD Service Principal Owner Added
The following analytic detects the addition of a new owner to a Service Principal within an Azure AD tenant. It leverages Azure Active Directory events from the AuditLog log category to identify this activity. This…
Description
The following analytic detects the addition of a new owner to a Service Principal within an Azure AD tenant. It leverages Azure Active Directory events from the AuditLog log category to identify this activity. This behavior is significant because Service Principals do not support multi-factor authentication or conditional access policies, making them a target for adversaries seeking persistence or privilege escalation. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to maintain access to the Azure AD environment with single-factor authentication, potentially leading to unauthorized access and control over critical resources.
Detection logic
Detection requirements
- Platform
- ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows
The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.
- Log source category
- azure_active_directory_add_owner_to_application
Known benign triggers
- Administrator may legitimately add new owners for Service Principals. 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/T1098/ | 10from 2 sources |
From the source
- At source
- Open at source
- Upstream identifier
- 7ddf2084-6cf3-4a44-be83-474f7b73c701
- Tagged by the source as
- Azure Active Directory PersistenceAzure Active Directory Privilege EscalationNOBELIUM GroupAzure Active DirectorycloudSplunk CloudSplunk EnterpriseSplunk Enterprise Securityaudit
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