Ensure No Custom Subscription Administrator Roles Exist

Overview

The principle of least privilege should be followed, and only necessary privileges should be assigned instead of allowing full administrative access.

Rationale

Classic subscription admin roles offer basic access management and include Account Administrator, Service Administrator, and Co-Administrators. It is recommended the least necessary permissions be given initially. Permissions can be added as needed by the account holder. This ensures the account holder cannot perform actions that were not intended.

Impact

Subscriptions will need to be handled by Administrators with permission.

Default Value

By default, no custom owner roles are created.

Remediation guidance

From Azure Portal

Open the subscription using the Open in Azure option and go to Access control (IAM).
Select Roles.
Click Type and select CustomRole from the drop-down menu.
Check the box next to each role that grants subscription administrator privileges.
Select Remove.
Select Yes.

From Azure CLI

List custom roles:

az role definition list --custom-role-only True

Check for entries with assignableScope of / or the subscription and action of *. To remove a violating role:

az role definition delete --name <role_name>

Note that any role assignments must be removed before a custom role can be deleted. Ensure impact is assessed before deleting a custom role granting subscription administrator privileges.

Multiple Remediation Paths

Azure

SERVICE-WIDE (RECOMMENDED when many resources are affected): Assign Azure Policy initiatives at management group/subscription scope and trigger remediation tasks.

az policy assignment create --name <assignment-name> --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id> --policy-set-definition <initiative-id>
az policy remediation create --name <remediation-name> --policy-assignment <assignment-id>

ASSET-LEVEL: Apply the resource-specific remediation steps above to the listed non-compliant resources.

PREVENTIVE: Embed Azure Policy checks into landing zones and IaC workflows to block or auto-remediate drift.

References for Service-Wide Patterns

Azure Policy overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/overview
Azure Policy remediation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/how-to/remediate-resources
Azure Policy initiative structure: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/concepts/initiative-definition-structure

Operational Rollout Workflow

Use this sequence to reduce risk and avoid repeated drift.

1. Contain at Service-Wide Scope First (Recommended)

Azure: assign policy initiatives at management group/subscription scope and run remediation tasks.

az policy assignment create --name <assignment-name> --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id> --policy-set-definition <initiative-id>
az policy remediation create --name <remediation-name> --policy-assignment <assignment-id>

2. Remediate Existing Affected Assets

Execute the control-specific Console/CLI steps documented above for each flagged resource.
Prioritize internet-exposed and production assets first.

3. Validate and Prevent Recurrence

Re-scan after each remediation batch.
Track exceptions with owner and expiry date.
Add preventive checks in IaC/CI pipelines.

Query logic

These are the stored checks tied to this control.

Azure Custom Subscription Administrator Roles

Connectors

Microsoft Azure

Covered asset types

IAMRole

Expected check: eq []

query ($subscriptionResourceId: String!) {
  iamRoles(
    where: {
      type: "CustomRole"
      permissions_INCLUDES: "*"
      assignableScopes_INCLUDES: $subscriptionResourceId
    }
  ) {
    ...AssetFragment
  }
}