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SharePoint Online Access & Sensitive Data Auditing Configuration

Netwrix Access Analyzer (formerly Enterprise Auditor) uses Modern Authentication to execute Access Auditing (SPAA) and/or Sensitive Data Discovery Auditing scans for the target SharePoint Online & OneDrive for Business environments. This involves creating and defining a Microsoft Entra ID application for app–only access to SharePoint Online.

NOTE: A user account with the Global Administrator role is required to register an app with Microsoft Entra ID.

Configuration Settings from the Registered Application

The following settings are needed from your tenant once you have registered the application:

  • Client ID – This is the Application (client) ID for the registered application
  • Key – The comma delimited string containing the path to the certificate PFX file, certificate password, and the Microsoft Entra ID environment identifier ( CertPath,CertPassword,AzureEnvironment)

Configure Modern Authentication for SharePoint Online using SP_RegisterAzureAppAuth Instant Job

Registering a Microsoft Entra ID application and provisioning it to grant permissions to SharePoint Online can be automated using the SP_RegisterAzureAppAuth job from the Access Analyzer Instant Job Library. The SP_RegisterAzureAppAuth job uses the PowerShell Data Collector to automatically configure modern authentication for SharePoint Online. It requires:

  • A Connection Profile containing the following two user credentials, both with an Account Type of Task (Local):

    • Microsoft Entra ID Global Admin credential
    • A credential with the username newapp that contains the password for the new application

  • Microsoft Graph API PowerShell module to be installed on targeted hosts

See the SP_RegisterAzureAppAuth Job topic for additional information.

Permissions​

The following permissions are required:

Permissions for Microsoft Graph API

  • Application Permissions:

    • Application.Read.All – Read all applications
    • AuditLog.Read.All – Read all audit log data
    • Directory.Read.All – Read directory data
    • Domain.Read.All – Read domains
    • Files.Read.All – Read files in all site collections
    • GroupMember.Read.All – Read all group memberships
    • InformationProtectionPolicy.Read.All – Read all published labels and label policies for an organization
    • Member.Read.Hidden – Read all hidden memberships
    • Organization.Read.All – Read organization information
    • OrgContact.Read.All – Read organization contact
    • Policy.Read.All – Read your organization's policies
    • Policy.Read.ConditionalAccess – Read you organization's conditional access policies
    • Policy.Read.PermissionGrant – Read consent and permission grant policies
    • ServiceHealth.Read.All – Read service health
    • ServiceMessage.Read.All – Read service messages
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • Team.ReadBasic.All – Get a list of all teamss
    • TeamMember.Read.All – Read the members of all teams

  • Delegated Permissions:

    • Group.Read.All – Read all groups
    • User.Read.All – Read all users' full profiles

Permissions for Office 365 Management APIs

  • Application Permissions:

    • ActivityFeed.Read – Read activity data for your organization
    • ActivityFeed.ReadDlp – Read DLP policy events including detected sensitive data
    • ServiceHealth.Read – Read service health information for your organization

Permissions for SharePoint

  • Application Permissions:

    • Sites.FullControl.All – Have full control of all site collections
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • TermStore.Read.All – Read managed metadata
    • User.Read.All – Read user profiles

Create Self–Signed Certificate​

To configure the Entra ID Application for invoking SharePoint Online with an App Only access token, create and configure a self–signed X.509 certificate. This certificate authenticates the application against Entra ID while requesting the App Only access token. See the Microsoft Granting access via Azure AD App-Only article for additional information.

Follow the steps create the self-signed X.509 certificate.

Step 1 – To generate a certificate, use the sample PowerShell command below:

  • Change the following parameters in the sample PowerShell command. See the Microsoft New-SelfSignedCertificate article for additional information.

    • DNS Name – Specifies a DNS name to put into the subject alternative name extension of the certificate
    • Subject – A unique name for the new App (always starts with CN=, to denote a canonical name)
    • FriendlyName – Same as Subject name minus the canonical name prefix
    • NotAfter – A datetime string denoting the certificate's expiration date - in the above sample, Get-Date.AddYears(11) specifies that the certificate will expire 11 years from the current datetime

Example PowerShell:

$cert=New-SelfSignedCertificate -CertStoreLocation Cert:\CurrentUser\My -DnsName stealthbits.com -Subject "CN=StealthAUDIT SharePoint Auditor" -FriendlyName "StealthAUDIT SharePoint Auditor" -KeyAlgorithm RSA -KeyLength 2048 -KeyExportPolicy Exportable -Provider "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider" -NotAfter (Get-Date).AddYears(11)

Step 2 – Export the certificate public key as a .cer file to the PrivateAssemblies folder in Access Analyzer with the Export–Certificate cmdlet using the certificate path stored in the $certPath variable (see Step 1).

NOTE: The environment variable SAINSTALLDIR always points to the base Access Analyzer install directory; simply append the PrivateAssemblies to point to that folder with the following cmdlet:

Export-Certificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "$($env:SAINSTALLDIR)PrivateAssemblies\spaa_cert.cer" -Type CERT

Step 3 – Export the certificate private key as a .pfx file to the same folder by running the following cmdlet:

Export-PfxCertificate -Cert $cert -FilePath "$($env:SAINSTALLDIR)PrivateAssemblies\spaa_cert.pfx" -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -String "PasswordGoesHere" -Force -AsPlainText)

RECOMMENDED: Change the string in the Password parameter from "PasswordGoesHere" to something more secure before running this cmdlet.

Register a Microsoft Entra ID Application​

Follow the steps to register Access Analyzer with Microsoft Entra ID.

NOTE: The steps below are for registering an app through the Microsoft Entra admin center. These steps may vary slightly if you use a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Sign in to the Microsoft Entra admin center.

Step 2 – On the left navigation menu, navigate to Identity > Applications and click App registrations.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click New registration.

Step 4 – Enter the following information in the Register an application page:

  • Name – Enter a user-facing display name for the application, for example Netwrix Access Analyzer (formerly Enterprise Auditor) Entra ID for SharePoint
  • Supported account types – Select Accounts in this organizational directory only

Step 5 – Click Register.

The Overview page for the newly registered app opens. Review the newly created registered application. Now that the application has been registered, permissions need to be granted to it.

Upload Self-Signed Certificate​

Follow the steps to provision the upload your self-signed certificate.

NOTE: The steps below are for registering an app through the Microsoft Entra admin center. These steps may vary slightly if you use a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click Certificates & secrets in the Manage section.

Step 3 – Select the Certificates tab.

Step 4 – In the tool bar, click Upload Certificate.

Step 5 – Navigate to the to PrivateAssemblies folder and select the spaa_cert.cer file. Optionally add a Description.

Step 6 – Click Add.

The upload certificate public key .cer file is an application key credential.

Grant Permissions to the Registered Application​

Follow the steps to grant permissions to the registered application.

NOTE: The steps below are for registering an app through the Microsoft Entra admin center. These steps may vary slightly if you use a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – On the registered app blade, click API permissions in the Manage section.

Step 3 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 4 – On the Request API permissions blade, select Microsoft Graph on the Microsoft APIs tab. Select the following permissions:

  • Application Permissions:

    • Application.Read.All – Read all applications
    • AuditLog.Read.All – Read all audit log data
    • Directory.Read.All – Read directory data
    • Domain.Read.All – Read domains
    • Files.Read.All – Read files in all site collections
    • GroupMember.Read.All – Read all group memberships
    • InformationProtectionPolicy.Read.All – Read all published labels and label policies for an organization
    • Member.Read.Hidden – Read all hidden memberships
    • Organization.Read.All – Read organization information
    • OrgContact.Read.All – Read organization contact
    • Policy.Read.All – Read your organization's policies
    • Policy.Read.ConditionalAccess – Read you organization's conditional access policies
    • Policy.Read.PermissionGrant – Read consent and permission grant policies
    • ServiceHealth.Read.All – Read service health
    • ServiceMessage.Read.All – Read service messages
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • Team.ReadBasic.All – Get a list of all teamss
    • TeamMember.Read.All – Read the members of all teams

  • Delegated Permissions:

    • Group.Read.All – Read all groups
    • User.Read.All – Read all users' full profiles

Step 5 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 6 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 7 – On the Request API permissions blade, select Office 365 Management APIs on the Microsoft APIs tab. Select the following permissions:

  • Application Permissions:

    • ActivityFeed.Read – Read activity data for your organization
    • ActivityFeed.ReadDlp – Read DLP policy events including detected sensitive data
    • ServiceHealth.Read – Read service health information for your organization

Step 8 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 9 – In the top toolbar, click Add a permission.

Step 10 – On the Request API permissions blade, select SharePoint on the Microsoft APIs tab. Select the following permissions:

  • Application Permissions:

    • Sites.FullControl.All – Have full control of all site collections
    • Sites.Read.All – Read items in all site collections
    • TermStore.Read.All – Read managed metadata
    • User.Read.All – Read user profiles

Step 11 – At the bottom of the page, click Add Permissions.

Step 12 – Click Grant Admin Consent for [tenant]. Then click Yes in the confirmation window.

Now that the permissions have been granted to it, the Connection Profile and host settings for Access Analyzer need to be collected.

Identify the Client ID​

Follow the steps to find the registered application's Client ID.

NOTE: The steps below are for registering an app through the Microsoft Entra admin center. These steps may vary slightly if you use a different Microsoft portal. See the relevant Microsoft documentation for additional information.

Step 1 – Select the newly-created, registered application. If you left the Overview page, it will be listed in the Identity > Applications > App registrations > All applications list.

Step 2 – Copy the Application (client) ID value.

Step 3 – Save this value in a text file.

This is needed for the Access Analyzer Connection Profile. See the Azure Active Directory for User Credentials topic for additional information.