Azure Key Vault secret modified or deleted activity

Flags Azure Key Vault secret write, update, delete, purge, and restore operations in Activity Logs.

FreeReviewedSigma · Medium · v5

Product: azure
Service: activitylogs
Author: Austin Songer @austinsonger (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2021-08-16
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1552Unsecured Credentials
- T1552.001Credentials In Files
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule flags Azure Activity Log events where Key Vault secrets are written or updated, deleted, purged, backed up, recovered, or restored. Secret changes matter because they can be used to alter application credentials or disrupt access, impacting credential access and availability. It relies on Azure Activity Log telemetry capturing Key Vault secret-related operationName values tied to user or service activity.

Reporting behind it

Related detections9 linkedT1552.001 — drag to rearrange

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Suspicious AWS GetCallerIdentity From TruffleHog User Agent via Cloudtrail

Suspicious AWS API Call from TruffleHog Credential Scanner User Agent

Suspicious GitHub CLI Auth Token Extraction via Command Line

Suspicious Access to macOS Login Keychain by Slow Pisces (via process_creation)

Azure Key Vault secret modified or deleted activity

Pivot detection · T1552.001 · 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-key-vault-secrets-modified-or-deleted-via-activity-logs-b831353c

title: Azure Key Vault secret modified or deleted activity
id: 03876359-aa93-43f8-94fd-a6c72195ae32
status: test
description: This rule flags Azure Activity Log events where Key Vault secrets are written or updated, deleted, purged, backed up, recovered, or restored. Secret changes matter because they can be used to alter application credentials or disrupt access, impacting credential access and availability. It relies on Azure Activity Log telemetry capturing Key Vault secret-related operationName values tied to user or service activity.
references:
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/resource-provider-operations
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules/cloud/azure/activity_logs/azure_keyvault_secrets_modified_or_deleted.yml
author: Austin Songer @austinsonger, Huntrule Team
date: 2021-08-16
modified: 2022-08-23
tags:
  - attack.impact
  - attack.credential-access
  - attack.t1552
  - attack.t1552.001
logsource:
  product: azure
  service: activitylogs
detection:
  selection:
    operationName:
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/WRITE
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/DELETE
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/BACKUP/ACTION
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/PURGE/ACTION
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/UPDATE/ACTION
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/RECOVER/ACTION
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/RESTORE/ACTION
      - MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/SECRETS/SETSECRET/ACTION
  condition: selection
falsepositives:
  - Secrets 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.
  - Secrets modified or deleted 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: b831353c-1971-477b-abb6-2828edc3bca1
    type: derived

Convert

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