Azure AD Domain Federation Settings Modified via Audit Logs

Alerts when federation settings on an Azure AD domain are modified, indicating potential identity trust tampering.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5

Product: azure
Service: auditlogs
Author: Austin Songer (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2021-09-06
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access → Defense Evasion

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1078Valid Accounts
Execution
Persistence
- T1078Valid Accounts
Priv Esc
- T1078Valid Accounts
Defense Evasion
- T1078Valid Accounts
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies events where federation settings on a domain are changed, specifically when the activity is recorded as setting federation settings on the domain. Altering federation configuration can help attackers redirect authentication flows or maintain persistence by changing how identities are trusted. It relies on Azure audit log telemetry that records the activity display name for federation setting modifications.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1078 — drag to rearrange

Suspicious Login Shell Assigned to Service Account games on Linux

Suspicious SSH Daemon Configuration Change Enabling Root Login

Suspicious NTLM Network Logon From Attacker Controlled Workstation Names (via security)

Suspicious dMSA Object Access with Migration AccessMask

Malicious ESX Admins Group Added to Privileged Directory Group

Malicious ESX Admins Group Creation via WinRM Host

Suspicious BrightMetricAgent Remote Tool Execution Associated With Volt Typhoon

Suspicious SmarterMail Force Password Reset API Request Indicating Account Takeover

Suspicious Mailbox Forwarding Rule Creation Following AiTM Phishing

Azure AD Domain Federation Settings Modified via Audit Logs

Pivot detection · T1078 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v4
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v3
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
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.

azure-ad-federation-settings-modified-via-audit-logs-352a54e1

title: Azure AD Domain Federation Settings Modified via Audit Logs
id: 65c2b2d2-7988-4fbc-be20-97a6e4d4244c
status: test
description: This rule identifies events where federation settings on a domain are changed, specifically when the activity is recorded as setting federation settings on the domain. Altering federation configuration can help attackers redirect authentication flows or maintain persistence by changing how identities are trusted. It relies on Azure audit log telemetry that records the activity display name for federation setting modifications.
references:
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/hybrid/how-to-connect-monitor-federation-changes
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/azure/audit_logs/azure_federation_modified.yml
author: Austin Songer, Huntrule Team
date: 2021-09-06
modified: 2022-06-08
tags:
  - attack.privilege-escalation
  - attack.persistence
  - attack.initial-access
  - attack.stealth
  - attack.t1078
logsource:
  product: azure
  service: auditlogs
detection:
  selection:
    ActivityDisplayName: Set federation settings on domain
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Federation Settings being modified or deleted may be performed by a system administrator.
  - Verify whether the user identity, user agent, and/or hostname should be making changes in your environment.
  - Federation Settings modified from unfamiliar users should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.
level: medium
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: 352a54e1-74ba-4929-9d47-8193d67aba1e
    type: derived

Convert

This rule as a query you can run. Uses no unlock credit.

SplunkSPL