Elastic Security Detection Rules

Google Workspace Custom Admin Role Created

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

About

Detects when a custom administrative role is created in Google Workspace. Unlike prebuilt admin roles, custom roles allow granular selection of privileges across Google services and can be assigned to users or groups. Adversaries may create a custom admin role to craft elevated permissions tailored to their objectives, then assign that role to a compromised or attacker-controlled account to establish persistence and enable follow-on actions such as modifying security controls, granting OAuth access, or changing mail routing.
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
Custom Google Workspace admin roles may be created 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.admin-*
Related Integrations

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

Query
text code block:
data_stream.dataset:google_workspace.admin and event.action:CREATE_ROLE

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

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