huntrule

Azure Audit Logs: User Added to Global or Device Administrator Roles

Alerts when Azure AD role-management events add users to Global or Device Administrator roles.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v5
Product
azure
Service
auditlogs
Author
Michael Epping, '@mepples21' (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published
2022-06-28
Updated
2026-07-31
AnalysisDetection

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Defense Evasion

  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Defense Evasion

  8. Cred Access

  9. Discovery

  10. Lateral Movement

  11. Collection

  12. C2

  13. Exfiltration

  14. Impact

What it detects

This rule flags events where a user is added to administrative roles, specifically Global Administrator or Device Administrator, based on role-target resource IDs. Attackers commonly expand persistence and privilege by granting themselves or others high-impact admin roles. The detection relies on Azure audit log entries that include role management category, an add-member-to-role operation, and the affected role identifiers in the target resources.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1078.004 — drag to rearrange
Suspicious Google Cloud Function Create or Update Triggering Build
Possible Credential Stuffing Blocked by Conditional Access in Microsoft 365
Suspicious SES Account Sending Enablement and Identity Verification via CloudTrail
Possible Stolen AWS Credential Validation via STS GetCallerIdentity
Suspicious AWS Federated Console Login From Programmatic Credentials
Suspicious M365 Legacy Authentication via BAV2ROPC Client via m365
Suspicious STS AssumeRole With Exfil Session Name via CloudTrail (via cloudtrail)
Suspicious AWS Console Login Without MFA
Suspicious Cloud Sign-In From an Anonymizer or High-Risk Session (via signinlogs)
Azure Audit Logs: User Added to Global or Device Administrator Roles
Pivot detection · T1078.004 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
  1. v5
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  2. v4
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  3. v3
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  4. v2
    Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
  5. v1
    No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.