Privilege Escalation through App Ownership
The question it answers: Which users own an app that holds high privileges, and so can act with that app’s access?
Whoever owns an app registration or enterprise app can add a client secret and sign in as the app. If the app holds Directory.ReadWrite.All, Mail.Read or a directory role, a regular user who owns it effectively holds that access too. Every user owner is listed, guests included (Guests with Elevated Access lists guests’ other elevated access).
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”| Where in the app | Entra ID › Identity Configuration › Escalation via App Ownership |
| Workload | Entra ID |
| Kind | Findings list · dashboard tile |
| Data | Read from Microsoft 365 when someone first opens it, then kept for the report cache lifetime (Settings > Data & cache, 1 hour unless changed). |
| Licence | No extra licence needed. |
| Report id (API and MCP) | entra.configuration.app-owner-escalation |
Columns
Section titled “Columns”| Column | Key | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Severity | Severity | Status |
| Owner type | Category | Text |
| App | Subject | Link |
| Check | Setting | Text |
| High-privilege rights | Value | Text |
| Finding | Finding | Text |
| Owner | Detail | Text |
| Date | When | Date |
| Count | Number | Number |
A findings list hides columns that no row fills. Severity is Critical, Serious, Warning, OK or Info; rows rated Critical, Serious or Warning need attention (Working with findings).
What it needs
Section titled “What it needs”Licence: No extra licence needed.
Application permissions on the IntensiveReports app registration (all permissions):
| Permission | API | What it allows | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
Application.Read.All | Microsoft Graph | Read all applications | |
RoleManagement.Read.Directory | Microsoft Graph | Read all directory RBAC settings |
Data sources it reads
GET /v1.0/servicePrincipals/{resource}/appRoleAssignedTo (cached)GET /v1.0/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments (cached)GET /v1.0/servicePrincipals/{id}/owners ($batch)GET /v1.0/applications?$expand=owners (cached)
Through the API and MCP
Section titled “Through the API and MCP”GET /ir-api/v1/reports/entra.configuration.app-owner-escalation?size=100An AI assistant reads it with the MCP tool get_report and the id entra.configuration.app-owner-escalation. The client needs the Read grant for Entra ID. See Using the API.