Suspicious Certificate-Based Authentication Enabled (via auditlogs)

title: Suspicious Certificate-Based Authentication Enabled (via auditlogs)
id: eb8c47d2-d2d6-5ef6-8ebb-559567d07aad
status: stable
description: This rule detects when certificate based authentication has been enabled in an Azure Active Directory tenant.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1556/
    - https://posts.specterops.io/passwordless-persistence-and-privilege-escalation-in-azure-98a01310be3f
    - https://goodworkaround.com/2022/02/15/digging-into-azure-ad-certificate-based-authentication/
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-04-15
tags:
    - attack.credential-access
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1556
logsource:
    product: azure
    service: auditlogs
detection:
    selection:
        OperationName: 'Authentication Methods Policy Update'
        TargetResources.modifiedProperties|contains: 'AuthenticationMethodsPolicy'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium