auditing-azure-active-directory-configuration

What this skill does

# Auditing Azure Active Directory Configuration

## When to Use

- When performing a security assessment of an Azure tenant's identity configuration
- When compliance audits require review of authentication policies, MFA enforcement, and role assignments
- When onboarding a new Azure tenant after merger or acquisition
- When investigating suspicious sign-in activity or compromised accounts
- When validating conditional access policies adequately protect against identity-based attacks

**Do not use** for on-premises Active Directory auditing (use PingCastle or BloodHound AD), for Azure resource-level RBAC auditing without identity context, or for real-time threat detection (use Microsoft Defender for Identity).

## Prerequisites

- Global Reader or Security Reader role in the target Microsoft Entra ID tenant
- Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK installed (`Install-Module Microsoft.Graph`)
- Az CLI authenticated to the target tenant (`az login --tenant TENANT_ID`)
- ScoutSuite with Azure provider configured for automated assessment
- Access to Azure AD audit logs and sign-in logs (requires Azure AD Premium P1/P2)

## Workflow

### Step 1: Enumerate Tenant Configuration and Security Defaults

Assess the tenant's baseline identity security settings including security defaults and legacy authentication status.

```powershell
# Connect to Microsoft Graph
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes "Directory.Read.All","Policy.Read.All","AuditLog.Read.All"

# Get tenant details
Get-MgOrganization | Select-Object DisplayName, Id, VerifiedDomains

# Check if Security Defaults are enabled
Get-MgPolicyIdentitySecurityDefaultEnforcementPolicy | Select-Object IsEnabled

# List authentication methods policies
Get-MgPolicyAuthenticationMethodPolicy | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 5

# Check legacy authentication status via Conditional Access
Get-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy | Where-Object {
    $_.Conditions.ClientAppTypes -contains "exchangeActiveSync" -or
    $_.Conditions.ClientAppTypes -contains "other"
} | Select-Object DisplayName, State
```

### Step 2: Audit Privileged Role Assignments

Review directory role assignments to identify over-privileged users, permanent admin accounts, and risky role configurations.

```bash
# List all Global Administrator assignments
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryRoles/filterByIds" \
  --body '{"ids":["62e90394-69f5-4237-9190-012177145e10"]}' | \
  az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/directoryRoles?filter=displayName eq 'Global Administrator'" \
  --query "value[0].id" -o tsv

# List all privileged role assignments using Graph API
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments?\$expand=principal" \
  --query "value[*].{Role:roleDefinitionId, Principal:principal.displayName, PrincipalType:[email protected]}" \
  -o table

# Check for users with multiple admin roles
az ad user list --query "[].{UPN:userPrincipalName, DisplayName:displayName}" -o table

# List service principals with admin role assignments
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments?\$filter=principalOrganizationId eq 'TENANT_ID'" \
  -o json
```

### Step 3: Review Conditional Access Policies

Audit conditional access policies for coverage gaps, particularly around MFA enforcement, device compliance, and location-based restrictions.

```powershell
# List all Conditional Access policies
Get-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy | Select-Object DisplayName, State, @{
    N='GrantControls'; E={$_.GrantControls.BuiltInControls -join ', '}
} | Format-Table -AutoSize

# Identify policies in report-only mode (not enforced)
Get-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy | Where-Object {$_.State -eq "enabledForReportingButNotEnforced"} |
    Select-Object DisplayName

# Check MFA enforcement coverage
Get-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy | Where-Object {
    $_.GrantControls.BuiltInControls -contains "mfa"
} | Select-Object DisplayName, State, @{
    N='Users'; E={$_.Conditions.Users.IncludeUsers -join ', '}
}

# Find policies that exclude groups (potential bypass)
Get-MgIdentityConditionalAccessPolicy | Where-Object {
    $_.Conditions.Users.ExcludeGroups.Count -gt 0
} | Select-Object DisplayName, @{
    N='ExcludedGroups'; E={$_.Conditions.Users.ExcludeGroups -join ', '}
}
```

### Step 4: Identify Stale Accounts and Guest Users

Find accounts that have not signed in recently, disabled accounts with active role assignments, and risky guest user configurations.

```bash
# Find users who haven't signed in for 90+ days
az ad user list --query "[?signInActivity.lastSignInDateTime < '2025-11-25T00:00:00Z'].{UPN:userPrincipalName, LastSignIn:signInActivity.lastSignInDateTime, Enabled:accountEnabled}" -o table

# List all guest users
az ad user list --filter "userType eq 'Guest'" \
  --query "[].{UPN:userPrincipalName, DisplayName:displayName, CreatedDate:createdDateTime}" \
  -o table

# Find guest users with privileged roles
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments?\$expand=principal" \
  --query "value[?principal.userType=='Guest'].{Role:roleDefinitionId,Guest:principal.userPrincipalName}" \
  -o table

# Check for accounts with disabled MFA
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/reports/authenticationMethods/userRegistrationDetails" \
  --query "value[?!isMfaRegistered].{UPN:userPrincipalName,MfaRegistered:isMfaRegistered}" \
  -o table
```

### Step 5: Analyze Sign-In Logs for Risky Activity

Review sign-in logs to identify anomalous authentication patterns, failed MFA challenges, and risky sign-in detections.

```bash
# Get risky sign-ins from last 7 days
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/auditLogs/signIns?\$filter=riskLevelDuringSignIn ne 'none' and createdDateTime ge 2026-02-16T00:00:00Z" \
  --query "value[*].{User:userPrincipalName,Risk:riskLevelDuringSignIn,IP:ipAddress,App:appDisplayName,Status:status.errorCode}" \
  -o table

# Get sign-ins from unfamiliar locations
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/auditLogs/signIns?\$filter=riskEventTypes_v2/any(r:r eq 'unfamiliarFeatures')" \
  --query "value[*].{User:userPrincipalName,Location:location.city,IP:ipAddress}" \
  -o table

# Check for legacy authentication sign-ins
az rest --method GET \
  --url "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/auditLogs/signIns?\$filter=clientAppUsed ne 'Browser' and clientAppUsed ne 'Mobile Apps and Desktop clients'" \
  --query "value[*].{User:userPrincipalName,ClientApp:clientAppUsed,Status:status.errorCode}" \
  -o table
```

### Step 6: Run ScoutSuite Automated Assessment

Execute ScoutSuite for comprehensive automated checks across the Azure tenant configuration.

```bash
# Run ScoutSuite against Azure
python3 -m ScoutSuite azure --cli \
  --report-dir ./scoutsuite-azure-report \
  --all-subscriptions

# Review the generated HTML report
open ./scoutsuite-azure-report/azure-report.html
```

## Key Concepts

| Term | Definition |
|------|------------|
| Microsoft Entra ID | Microsoft's cloud identity and access management service, formerly Azure Active Directory, providing authentication and authorization |
| Conditional Access | Policy engine that evaluates signals (user, device, location, risk) to enforce access controls like MFA, device compliance, or block access |
| Security Defaults | Microsoft's baseline identity protection settings that enforce MFA registration, block legacy auth, and protect privileged actions |
| Privileged Identity Management | Azure AD Premium P2 feature enabling just-in-time privileged access with approval workflows and time-bound role activation |
| Legacy Authentication | Older authentication protocols (POP3, IMAP, SMTP, ActiveSync) that do not support MFA and are commonly exploited for credential attacks |
| Risky Sign-In | Microsoft Entra Identity Pro