Elastic Security Detection Rules

Google Workspace Role Modified

Last updated a month ago on 2026-05-29
Created 6 years ago on 2020-11-17

About

Detects when a custom admin role or its privileges are modified in Google Workspace. Adversaries may add or expand privileges on an existing role to elevate access for assigned users or groups without creating a new role or directly assigning a well-known admin role. Because privilege changes take effect for all principals assigned the role, modifying role permissions can silently expand access across multiple accounts.
Tags
Domain: CloudData Source: Google WorkspaceUse Case: Identity and Access AuditTactic: PersistenceTactic: Privilege EscalationLanguage: kuery
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

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

↳ Account Manipulation (T1098)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Privilege Escalation (TA0004)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ Account Manipulation (T1098)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Google Workspace admin roles may be modified by system administrators. Verify that the configuration change was expected. Exceptions can be added to this rule to filter expected behavior.
License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

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

google_workspace(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
data_stream.dataset:google_workspace.admin and event.provider:admin and event.category:iam and event.action:(ADD_PRIVILEGE or UPDATE_ROLE)

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Google Workspace Role Modified 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(external, opens in a new tab or window).