User account created and deleted within 10 mins

Severity: medium
Time window: 25h
Author: Microsoft Security Research
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

Identifies when a user account is created and then deleted within 10 minutes. This can be an indication of compromise and an adversary attempting to hide in the noise.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Persistence	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1098` Account Manipulation
Privilege Escalation	`T1078` Valid Accounts, `T1098` Account Manipulation

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4720	A user account was created.
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4726	A user account was deleted.

Rule body kusto

id: 4b93c5af-d20b-4236-b696-a28b8c51407f
name: User account created and deleted within 10 mins
description: |
  'Identifies when a user account is created and then deleted within 10 minutes. This can be an indication of compromise and an adversary attempting to hide in the noise.'
severity: Medium
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: WindowsSecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: WindowsForwardedEvents
    dataTypes:
      - WindowsEvent
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 25h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - Persistence
  - PrivilegeEscalation
relevantTechniques:
  - T1098
  - T1078
query: |
  let timeframe = 1d;
  let spanoftime = 10m;
  let threshold = 0;
  (union isfuzzy=true
      (SecurityEvent
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe+spanoftime)
      // A user account was created
      | where EventID == 4720
      | where AccountType =~ "User"
      | project creationTime = TimeGenerated, CreateEventID = EventID, CreateActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToCreate = SubjectAccount, CreatedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
      ),
      (
      WindowsEvent
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe+spanoftime)
      // A user account was created
      | where EventID == 4720
      | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
      | extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
      | where AccountType =~ "User"
      | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
      | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
      | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
      | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
      | extend UserPrincipalName = tostring(EventData.UserPrincipalName)
      | extend Activity = "4720 - A user account was created."
      | extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName) 
      | project creationTime = TimeGenerated, CreateEventID = EventID, CreateActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToCreate = SubjectAccount, CreatedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
      )
    )
  | join kind = inner 
  (
    (union isfuzzy=true
      (SecurityEvent
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)
      // A user account was deleted
      | where EventID == 4726
      | where AccountType == "User"
      | project deletionTime = TimeGenerated, DeleteEventID = EventID, DeleteActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToDelete = SubjectAccount, DeletedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
      ),
      (WindowsEvent
      | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)
      // A user account was deleted
      | where EventID == 4726
      | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
      | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
      | extend AccountType=case(SubjectAccount endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
      | where AccountType == "User"
      | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
      | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
      | extend UserPrincipalName = tostring(EventData.UserPrincipalName)
      | extend Activity = "4726 - A user account was deleted."
      | extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName) 
      | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
      | project deletionTime = TimeGenerated, DeleteEventID = EventID, DeleteActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
      TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
      AccountUsedToDelete = SubjectAccount, DeletedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
      )
    )
  ) on Computer, TargetAccount
  | where deletionTime - creationTime < spanoftime
  | extend TimeDelta = deletionTime - creationTime
  | where tolong(TimeDelta) >= threshold
  | project TimeDelta, creationTime, CreateEventID, CreateActivity, Computer, TargetAccount, TargetSid, UserPrincipalName, AccountUsedToCreate, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate,
  deletionTime, DeleteEventID, DeleteActivity, AccountUsedToDelete, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete, TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, 
  CreatedBySubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName, DeletedBySubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | project-away DomainIndex
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: AccountUsedToCreate
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: CreatedBySubjectUserName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: CreatedBySubjectDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: AccountUsedToDelete
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: DeletedBySubjectUserName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: DeletedBySubjectDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: TargetAccount
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: TargetUserName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: TargetDomainName
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Sid
        columnName: TargetSid
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain
version: 1.2.2
kind: Scheduled
metadata:
    source:
        kind: Community
    author:
        name: Microsoft Security Research
    support:
        tier: Community
    categories:
        domains: [ "Security - Others", "Identity" ]

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `let`

let timeframe = 1d;
let spanoftime = 10m;
let threshold = 0;

Stage 1: `union`

union isfuzzy=true

Stage 2: `source` time_window=90000s

SecurityEvent

Stage 3: `where`

| where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe+spanoftime)

Stage 4: `where`

| where EventID == 4720

Stage 5: `where`

| where AccountType =~ "User"

Stage 6: `project`

| project creationTime = TimeGenerated, CreateEventID = EventID, CreateActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToCreate = SubjectAccount, CreatedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName

Stage 7: `source`

WindowsEvent

Stage 8: `where`

| where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe+spanoftime)

Stage 9: `where`

| where EventID == 4720

Stage 10: `extend`

| extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)

Stage 11: `extend`

| extend AccountType=case(EventData.SubjectUserName endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")

Stage 12: `where`

| where AccountType =~ "User"

Stage 13: `extend`

| extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))

Stage 14: `extend`

| extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)

Stage 15: `extend`

| extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)

Stage 16: `extend`

| extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)

Stage 17: `extend`

| extend UserPrincipalName = tostring(EventData.UserPrincipalName)

Stage 18: `extend`

| extend Activity = "4720 - A user account was created."

Stage 19: `extend`

| extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName)

Stage 20: `project`

| project creationTime = TimeGenerated, CreateEventID = EventID, CreateActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToCreate = SubjectAccount, CreatedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName

Stage 21: `join`

| join kind = inner 
(
  (union isfuzzy=true
    (SecurityEvent
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)
    | where EventID == 4726
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | project deletionTime = TimeGenerated, DeleteEventID = EventID, DeleteActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToDelete = SubjectAccount, DeletedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
    ),
    (WindowsEvent
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(timeframe)
    | where EventID == 4726
    | extend SubjectUserSid = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserSid)
    | extend SubjectAccount = strcat(tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName),"\\", tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName))
    | extend AccountType=case(SubjectAccount endswith "$" or SubjectUserSid in ("S-1-5-18", "S-1-5-19", "S-1-5-20"), "Machine", isempty(SubjectUserSid), "", "User")
    | where AccountType == "User"
    | extend SubjectDomainName = tostring(EventData.SubjectDomainName), SubjectUserName = tostring(EventData.SubjectUserName)
    | extend TargetSid = tostring(EventData.TargetSid)
    | extend UserPrincipalName = tostring(EventData.UserPrincipalName)
    | extend Activity = "4726 - A user account was deleted."
    | extend TargetUserName = tostring(EventData.TargetUserName), TargetDomainName = tostring(EventData.TargetDomainName) 
    | extend TargetAccount = strcat(EventData.TargetDomainName,"\\", EventData.TargetUserName)
    | project deletionTime = TimeGenerated, DeleteEventID = EventID, DeleteActivity = Activity, Computer = toupper(Computer), 
    TargetAccount = tolower(TargetAccount), TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, TargetSid, 
    AccountUsedToDelete = SubjectAccount, DeletedBySubjectUserName = SubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName = SubjectDomainName, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete = SubjectUserSid, UserPrincipalName
    )
  )
) on Computer, TargetAccount

Stage 22: `where` where deletionTime - creationTime < 10m

| where deletionTime - creationTime < spanoftime

Stage 23: `extend`

| extend TimeDelta = deletionTime - creationTime

Stage 24: `where`

| where tolong(TimeDelta) >= threshold

Stage 25: `project`

| project TimeDelta, creationTime, CreateEventID, CreateActivity, Computer, TargetAccount, TargetSid, UserPrincipalName, AccountUsedToCreate, SIDofAccountUsedToCreate,
deletionTime, DeleteEventID, DeleteActivity, AccountUsedToDelete, SIDofAccountUsedToDelete, TargetUserName, TargetDomainName, 
CreatedBySubjectUserName, CreatedBySubjectDomainName, DeletedBySubjectUserName, DeletedBySubjectDomainName

Stage 26: `extend`

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))

Stage 27: `extend`

| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)

Stage 28: `project-away`

| project-away DomainIndex

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`AccountType`	eq	`User` corpus 9 (kusto 9)
`EventID`	eq	`4720` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (kusto 3, splunk 2) `4726` transforms: `cased` corpus 2 (splunk 1, kusto 1)
`TimeDelta`	ge	`0` transforms: `tolong`, `cased` corpus 2 (kusto 2)

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`AccountUsedToCreate`	`project`
`AccountUsedToDelete`	`project`
`Computer`	`project`
`CreateActivity`	`project`
`CreateEventID`	`project`
`CreatedBySubjectDomainName`	`project`
`CreatedBySubjectUserName`	`project`
`DeleteActivity`	`project`
`DeleteEventID`	`project`
`DeletedBySubjectDomainName`	`project`
`DeletedBySubjectUserName`	`project`
`SIDofAccountUsedToCreate`	`project`
`SIDofAccountUsedToDelete`	`project`
`TargetAccount`	`project`
`TargetDomainName`	`project`
`TargetSid`	`project`
`TargetUserName`	`project`
`TimeDelta`	`project`
`UserPrincipalName`	`project`
`creationTime`	`project`
`deletionTime`	`project`
`HostName`	`extend`
`HostNameDomain`	`extend`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

User account created and deleted within 10 mins

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `let`

Stage 1: `union`

Stage 2: `source` time_window=90000s

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `project`

Stage 7: `source`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `extend`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `where`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `extend`

Stage 16: `extend`

Stage 17: `extend`

Stage 18: `extend`

Stage 19: `extend`

Stage 20: `project`

Stage 21: `join`

Stage 22: `where` where deletionTime - creationTime < 10m

Stage 23: `extend`

Stage 24: `where`

Stage 25: `project`

Stage 26: `extend`

Stage 27: `extend`

Stage 28: `project-away`

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

User account created and deleted within 10 mins

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: let

Stage 1: union

Stage 2: source time_window=90000s

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: project

Stage 7: source

Stage 8: where

Stage 9: where

Stage 10: extend

Stage 11: extend

Stage 12: where

Stage 13: extend

Stage 14: extend

Stage 15: extend

Stage 16: extend

Stage 17: extend

Stage 18: extend

Stage 19: extend

Stage 20: project

Stage 21: join

Stage 22: where where deletionTime - creationTime < 10m

Stage 23: extend

Stage 24: where

Stage 25: project

Stage 26: extend

Stage 27: extend

Stage 28: project-away

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 0: `let`

Stage 1: `union`

Stage 2: `source` time_window=90000s

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `project`

Stage 7: `source`

Stage 8: `where`

Stage 9: `where`

Stage 10: `extend`

Stage 11: `extend`

Stage 12: `where`

Stage 13: `extend`

Stage 14: `extend`

Stage 15: `extend`

Stage 16: `extend`

Stage 17: `extend`

Stage 18: `extend`

Stage 19: `extend`

Stage 20: `project`

Stage 21: `join`

Stage 22: `where` where deletionTime - creationTime < 10m

Stage 23: `extend`

Stage 24: `where`

Stage 25: `project`

Stage 26: `extend`

Stage 27: `extend`

Stage 28: `project-away`