Elastic Security Detection Rules

Microsoft Entra ID Service Principal Created

Last updated 9 days ago on 2025-05-05
Created 4 years ago on 2020-12-14

About

Identifies when a new service principal is added in Microsoft Entra ID. An application, hosted service, or automated tool that accesses or modifies resources needs an identity created. This identity is known as a service principal. For security reasons, it's always recommended to use service principals with automated tools rather than allowing them to log in with a user identity.
Tags
Domain: CloudData Source: AzureData Source: Microsoft Entra IDData Source: Microsoft Entra ID Audit LogsUse Case: Identity and Access AuditTactic: PersistenceLanguage: kuery
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Persistence (TA0003)(opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Create Account (T1136)(opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
A service principal may be created by a system or network administrator. Verify whether the username, hostname, and/or resource name should be making changes in your environment. Service principal additions from unfamiliar users or hosts should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.
License
Elastic License v2(opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Query (Kibana Query Language)
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
filebeat-*logs-azure.auditlogs-*
Related Integrations

azure(opens in a new tab or window)

Query
event.dataset:azure.auditlogs
    and azure.auditlogs.operation_name:"Add service principal"
    and event.outcome:(success or Success)
    and not azure.auditlogs.identity: (
        "Managed Service Identity" or
        "Windows Azure Service Management API" or
        "Microsoft Azure AD Internal - Jit Provisioning" or
        "AAD App Management" or
        "Power Virtual Agents Service"
        )

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Microsoft Entra ID Service Principal Created in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(opens in a new tab or window).