Azure Key Vault Modified or Deleted via Activity Log Operations
Alerts on Azure Activity Log Key Vault management operations: write, delete, deploy actions, or access policy changes.
- Product
- azure
- Service
- activitylogs
- Author
- Austin Songer @austinsonger (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
- Published
- 2021-08-16
- Updated
- 2026-07-31
ATT&CK techniques
Cred AccessRecon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact
What it detects
This rule identifies Azure Activity Log events where a Key Vault is modified or deleted, based on specific Key Vault management operation names. Such changes can impact confidentiality and availability by altering vault configuration, access policies, or removing the vault. It relies on Azure Activity Log telemetry containing operationName values for write, delete, deploy action, and access policy updates.
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 Key Vault Modified or Deleted via Activity Log Operations
id: ae220ad4-d5fa-4bf2-b7fa-f718587a8a8d
status: test
description: This rule identifies Azure Activity Log events where a Key Vault is modified or deleted, based on specific Key Vault management operation names. Such changes can impact confidentiality and availability by altering vault configuration, access policies, or removing the vault. It relies on Azure Activity Log telemetry containing operationName values for write, delete, deploy action, and access policy updates.
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_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/WRITE
- MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/DELETE
- MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/DEPLOY/ACTION
- MICROSOFT.KEYVAULT/VAULTS/ACCESSPOLICIES/WRITE
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Key Vault 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.
- Key Vault 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: 459a2970-bb84-4e6a-a32e-ff0fbd99448d
type: derived