Azure PIM Approval or Denial Recorded in Audit Logs
Flags Azure PIM elevation requests that are approved or denied in audit logs for investigation.
- Product
- azure
- Service
- auditlogs
- Author
- Mark Morowczynski '@markmorow', Yochana Henderson, '@Yochana-H' (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2022-08-09
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Initial Access → Defense EvasionRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule flags audit log events where a Privileged Identity Management (PIM) request is explicitly approved or denied. Such authorization actions are high-impact because attackers can use PIM to gain temporary elevated privileges, and denial/approval events may indicate either legitimate administration or suspicious access attempts. The detection relies on Azure audit log telemetry containing a message field with the exact approval/denial status.
Reporting behind it
Changelog
v5- v5Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v4Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v3Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v2Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
- v1No 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.
title: Azure PIM Approval or Denial Recorded in Audit Logs
id: 8a6eb45a-c603-4b92-b347-31649232d9d3
status: test
description: This rule flags audit log events where a Privileged Identity Management (PIM) request is explicitly approved or denied. Such authorization actions are high-impact because attackers can use PIM to gain temporary elevated privileges, and denial/approval events may indicate either legitimate administration or suspicious access attempts. The detection relies on Azure audit log telemetry containing a message field with the exact approval/denial status.
references:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/architecture/security-operations-privileged-identity-management#azure-ad-roles-assignment
- https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/azure/audit_logs/azure_pim_activation_approve_deny.yml
author: Mark Morowczynski '@markmorow', Yochana Henderson, '@Yochana-H', Huntrule Team
date: 2022-08-09
tags:
- attack.persistence
- attack.initial-access
- attack.privilege-escalation
- attack.stealth
- attack.t1078.004
logsource:
product: azure
service: auditlogs
detection:
selection:
properties.message: Request Approved/Denied
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Actual admin using PIM.
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
- id: 039a7469-0296-4450-84c0-f6966b16dc6d
type: derived