O365 New Federated Domain Added

name: O365 New Federated Domain Added
id: e155876a-6048-11eb-ae93-0242ac130002
version: 11
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Rod Soto, Mauricio Velazco Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: The following analytic identifies the addition of a new federated domain in an Office 365 environment. This behavior is detected by analyzing Office 365 management activity logs, specifically filtering for Workload=Exchange and Operation="Add-FederatedDomain". The addition of a new federated domain is significant as it may indicate unauthorized changes or potential compromises. If confirmed malicious, attackers could establish a backdoor, bypass security measures, or exfiltrate data, leading to data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Immediate investigation is required to review the details of the added domain and any concurrent suspicious activities.
data_source:
    - O365
search: |-
    `o365_management_activity` Operation IN ("*add*", "*new*") AND Operation="*domain*"
      | eval src="NA"
      | fillnull
      | stats count values(ModifiedProperties{}.NewValue) as new_value
        BY user user_agent authentication_service
           signature Workload src
           vendor_account vendor_product dest
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `o365_new_federated_domain_added_filter`
how_to_implement: You must install splunk Microsoft Office 365 add-on. This search works with o365:management:activity.
known_false_positives: The creation of a new Federated domain is not necessarily malicious, however these events need to be followed closely, as it may indicate federated credential abuse or backdoor via federated identities at a similar or different cloud provider.
references:
    - https://www.fireeye.com/content/dam/fireeye-www/blog/pdfs/wp-m-unc2452-2021-000343-01.pdf
    - https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa21-008a
    - https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/security/a-golden-saml-journey-solarwinds-continued.html
    - https://blog.sygnia.co/detection-and-hunting-of-golden-saml-attack?hsLang=en
    - https://o365blog.com/post/aadbackdoor/
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 ("$user$") starthoursago=168  | 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: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: User $user$ has added a new federated domain $new_value$
    risk_objects:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 50
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Office 365 Persistence Mechanisms
        - Cloud Federated Credential Abuse
    asset_type: O365 Tenant
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1136.003
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: threat
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1136.003/o365_new_federated_domain_added/o365_add_federated_domain.log
          sourcetype: o365:management:activity
          source: o365