Privileged Roles Get Explicit: New ‘isPrivileged’ Property in Entra ID Unified Role Definitions and RBAC Resource Actions

WHAT JUST CHANGED

Microsoft has added the isPrivileged property to two critical Microsoft Graph resources: unifiedRoleDefinition and unifiedRbacResourceAction.
Rollout status: Public Preview as of June 2024.

• unifiedRoleDefinition: Defines custom and built-in Entra roles.
• unifiedRbacResourceAction: Defines RBAC actions attached to roles.

The isPrivileged property explicitly marks whether a given role or action is privileged. This feature is currently available for tenants using Microsoft Graph /beta endpoints, and will roll into GA and v1.0 endpoints later in 2024.

Tenants affected: All tenants with custom or built-in roles, including those with delegated/admin privileges, are impacted. Security, Identity, or Global Admins should pay attention.

WHAT’S NEXT ON THE ROADMAP

• General Availability: Expect isPrivileged to arrive on /v1.0 endpoints by late 2024. Start testing in Preview now.
• Privileged Access Reporting: Deeper integration with Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and Conditional Access reporting is inbound, leveraging isPrivileged for more accurate risk scoring.
• Role Granularity Enhancements: Custom roles will gain more granular privilege tagging. This change aligns with Microsoft’s drive towards least privilege and actionable role analytics.
• Adjacent Preview Features: Recent announcements include expanded role assignment policies, default role expiration, and improved assignment reviews—these will all leverage privilege tracking.

WHY THIS DIRECTION IS BETTER

• Explicit Privilege Tagging: Previously, admins had to manually infer privilege status from role descriptions or permissions. The new property enables direct querying, filtering, and automated reporting.
• Compliance & Audit: Security teams can now audit privileged roles/actions with ease, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy for SOX, ISO, and GDPR reporting.
• Role Lifecycle Management: Custom roles—often overlooked—are now tracked for privilege, closing a compliance blind spot.
• Competing Solutions: Azure AD, Okta, and Google Workspace rely on indirect privilege inference; Entra’s explicit approach is more robust and automation-friendly.
• Operational Improvements: PIM, Conditional Access, and access review workflows will soon be privilege-aware, delivering more targeted risk controls.

RELATED ENTRA ID CHANGES TO KNOW NOW

• PIM role assignment policies: Now support custom expiration and scope controls for privileged roles identified with isPrivileged.
• Conditional Access: Policy templates are rolling out that auto-target privileged roles; the new property enables precision targeting.
• Entra Admin Center UI: Role analytics dashboards will soon surface ‘privileged’ status as a column and filter, streamlining admin workflows.
• Microsoft Graph Module: PowerShell and Graph API queries now support privilege filters—making bulk reviews and automation easier.

WHAT TO DO: STEP-BY-STEP ADMIN ACTIONS

1. Test in Preview: Use Microsoft Graph /beta endpoints or the latest Microsoft.Graph PowerShell module to query roles/actions with isPrivileged.
2. Identify Privileged Custom Roles: Audit custom roles for privilege status; update descriptions and assignment policies if needed.
3. Update Access Reviews: Ensure your reviews cover all roles/actions marked isPrivileged.
4. Review Conditional Access Policies: Ensure privileged roles are properly included/excluded per your organization’s risk posture.
5. Prepare for GA: Monitor Microsoft 365 and Entra release notes for GA rollout dates; plan policy and automation updates.

CHECK IT YOURSELF: POWERSHELL AUDIT

Below is a production-ready script using the Microsoft.Graph PowerShell module to enumerate all unifiedRoleDefinitions and report their isPrivileged status. Handles pagination and errors, does NOT modify anything. Run in beta endpoint.

# Requires Microsoft.Graph (v2.x). Connect with the right scopes: RoleManagement.Read.All
Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'RoleManagement.Read.All' -Environment 'AzureCloud'
$uri = 'https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleDefinitions?$select=id,displayName,isPrivileged&$top=100'
$privilegedRoles = @()
while ($uri) {
    try {
        $resp = Invoke-MgGraphRequest -Method GET -Uri $uri
        if ($resp.value) {
            $privilegedRoles += $resp.value | Where-Object { $_.isPrivileged -eq $true }
        }
        $uri = $resp.'@odata.nextLink'
    } catch {
        Write-Warning "Error querying role definitions: $_"
        break
    }
}
if ($privilegedRoles.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Host "No privileged roles found."
} else {
    Write-Host "Privileged roles found:"
    $privilegedRoles | Format-Table id, displayName, isPrivileged
}

To audit unifiedRbacResourceAction resources, substitute the endpoint as:

$uri = 'https://graph.microsoft.com/beta/roleManagement/directory/roleAssignments?$select=id,roleDefinitionId,isPrivileged&$top=100'

This script is read-only, paginates through all results, and surfaces any errors or empty results.

PORTAL PATH

• Entra Admin Center:
  1. Go to Identity > Roles & Administrators.
  2. Select Role Definitions or Custom Roles.
  3. Look for the new isPrivileged column (in Preview tenants), or open a role to see its privilege flag.
• Role Analytics: Under Roles & Administrators > Role Analytics, filter by ‘Privileged’ status (preview feature).

BOTTOM LINE: PRIORITISED RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Start auditing custom/built-in roles for privilege status using Microsoft Graph and portal filters.
2. Update access review and Conditional Access policies to target explicitly privileged roles.
3. Monitor roadmap and prepare for automation when isPrivileged hits GA later in 2024.
4. Leverage privilege tagging for compliance and risk reduction—close gaps in role lifecycle management now.

Act now: Preview this feature, update your role management processes, and get ready for privilege-aware automation at scale.