Azure AD Successful PowerShell Authentication

SPLUNK detection rule by Mauricio Velazco, Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Splunk · Apache-2.0

The following analytic identifies a successful authentication event against an Azure AD tenant using PowerShell cmdlets. This detection leverages Azure AD SignInLogs to identify successful logins where the appDisplayName is "Microsoft Azure PowerShell." This activity is significant because it is uncommon for regular, non-administrative users to authenticate using PowerShell, and it may indicate enumeration and discovery techniques by an attacker. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to perform extensive reconnaissance, potentially leading to privilege escalation or further exploitation within the Azure environment.

name: Azure AD Successful PowerShell Authentication
id: 62f10052-d7b3-4e48-b57b-56f8e3ac7ceb
version: 13
creation_date: '2022-07-12'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Mauricio Velazco, Gowthamaraj Rajendran, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies a successful authentication event against an Azure AD tenant using PowerShell cmdlets. This detection leverages Azure AD SignInLogs to identify successful logins where the appDisplayName is "Microsoft Azure PowerShell." This activity is significant because it is uncommon for regular, non-administrative users to authenticate using PowerShell, and it may indicate enumeration and discovery techniques by an attacker. If confirmed malicious, this activity could allow attackers to perform extensive reconnaissance, potentially leading to privilege escalation or further exploitation within the Azure environment.
data_source:
    - Azure Active Directory
search: |-
    `azure_monitor_aad` category=SignInLogs properties.authenticationDetails{}.succeeded=true properties.appDisplayName="Microsoft Azure PowerShell"
      | rename properties.* as *
      | rename userAgent as user_agent
      | fillnull
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY dest user src
           vendor_account vendor_product user_agent
           signature
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `azure_ad_successful_powershell_authentication_filter`
how_to_implement: You must install the latest version of Splunk Add-on for Microsoft Cloud Services from Splunkbase (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3110/#/details). You must be ingesting Azure Active Directory events into your Splunk environment through an EventHub. This analytic was written to be used with the azure:monitor:aad sourcetype leveraging the Signin log category.
known_false_positives: Administrative users will likely use PowerShell commandlets to troubleshoot and maintain the environment. Filter as needed.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078/004/
    - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/azuread/connect-azuread?view=azureadps-2.0
    - https://securitycafe.ro/2022/04/29/pentesting-azure-recon-techniques/
    - https://github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/master/Methodology%20and%20Resources/Cloud%20-%20Azure%20Pentest.md
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$") | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
finding:
    title: Successful authentication for user $user$ using PowerShell.
    entity:
        field: user
        type: user
        score: 50
threat_objects:
    - field: src
      type: ip_address
analytic_story:
    - Azure Active Directory Account Takeover
asset_type: Azure Active Directory
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1078.004
    - T1586.003
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: cloud
security_domain: identity
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1078.004/azuread_pws/azure-audit.log
          source: Azure AD
          sourcetype: azure:monitor:aad
      test_type: unit

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