Sigma rule: Azure Service Principal Created

A detection rule from the SigmaHQ repository, shown as its author published it. Dataset version ref-5e3dda297436, updated 2026-04-30T00:00:00.000Z.

Rule

Title
Azure Service Principal Created
Status
test
Level
medium
Author
Austin Songer @austinsonger
Date
2021-09-02
Modified
2026-04-30
File
rules/cloud/azure/audit_logs/azure_service_principal_created.yml
Commit
ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Identifies when a service principal is created in Azure.

Log source

product
azure
service
auditlogs

Detection

selection:
    operationName: 'Add service principal'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

  • Service principal being created may be performed by a system administrator.
  • Verify whether the user identity, user agent, and/or hostname should be making changes in your environment.
  • Service principal created from unfamiliar users should be investigated. If known behavior is causing false positives, it can be exempted from the rule.

Tags

  • attack.stealth

References

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/azure/audit_logs/azure_service_principal_created.yml

Sources and licences

  • SigmaHQ

    "Azure Service Principal Created" by Austin Songer @austinsonger (SigmaHQ). Rule: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/cloud/azure/audit_logs/azure_service_principal_created.yml.
    Licensed under the Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1: https://github.com/SigmaHQ/Detection-Rule-License

    Detection Rule License (DRL) 1.1

Cite this page

Dragons Eye Ransomware Tracker, "Sigma rule: Azure Service Principal Created",
entity page, dataset version ref-5e3dda297436, updated 2026-04-30T00:00:00.000Z,
https://ransomware-tracker.com/detections/sigma/0ddcff6d-d262-40b0-804b-80eb592de8e3 (accessed 2026-11-03).
Underlying source: SigmaHQ rule 0ddcff6d-d262-40b0-804b-80eb592de8e3, commit ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84.

Pages change. The dataset version identifies the data, but no archive of old versions is kept, so this citation cannot be replayed later.