Suspicious Github Outside Collaborator Detected (via audit)

This rule detects when an organization member or an outside collaborator is added to or removed from a project board or has their permission level changed or when an owner removes an outside collaborator from an organization or when two-factor authentication is required in an organization and an outside collaborator does not use 2FA or disables 2FA.

Sigmamediumv1
sigma
title: Suspicious Github Outside Collaborator Detected (via audit)
id: 713ddc28-798d-5f43-a481-1a022253bfb9
status: stable
description: This rule detects when an organization member or an outside collaborator is added to or removed from a project board or has their permission level changed or when an owner removes an outside collaborator from an organization or when two-factor authentication is required in an organization and an outside collaborator does not use 2FA or disables 2FA.
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-06-05
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1213/003/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/003/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1098/001/
    - https://docs.github.com/en/organizations/keeping-your-organization-secure/managing-security-settings-for-your-organization/reviewing-the-audit-log-for-your-organization#audit-log-actions
    - https://docs.github.com/en/organizations/keeping-your-organization-secure/managing-two-factor-authentication-for-your-organization/requiring-two-factor-authentication-in-your-organization
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.persistence
    - attack.collection
    - attack.t1098.001
    - attack.t1098.003
    - attack.t1213.003
logsource:
    product: github
    service: audit
    definition: 'Requirements: The audit log streaming feature must be enabled to be able to receive such logs. You can enable following the documentation here: https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/monitoring-activity-in-your-enterprise/reviewing-audit-logs-for-your-enterprise/streaming-the-audit-log-for-your-enterprise#setting-up-audit-log-streaming'
detection:
    selection:
        action:
            - 'org.remove_outside_collaborator'
            - 'project.update_user_permission'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium

Known false positives

  • Unknown

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.