CI lookup rules for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration for Security Operations and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of CI lookup rules for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration for Security Operations and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

    CI lookup rules facilitate accurate matching of assets from Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud to Configuration Items (CIs) in the ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB). These rules define which fields in the CMDB contain matching data, enabling identification of applications and application releases. Each asset is uniquely identified by a combination of object ID, cloud account, and logical datacenter within ServiceNow.

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    ServiceNow Discovery populates the Objectid column of the CMDB with resource IDs formatted specifically for different resource types. Correct matching depends on using the proper object ID format corresponding to the resource type, which can be verified by examining existing CMDB entries and constructing the object ID accordingly.

    Key Object ID Formats

    • AWS::EC2::Instance: Object ID format used by discovery
    • AWS::ElasticLoadBalancing::LoadBalancer: Load balancer name
    • AWS::S3::Bucket: Format is arn:aws:s3:::<Bucket Name>

    Using the correct object ID format is essential to ensure the CI lookup rules accurately find corresponding CIs for test results in the CMDB.

    CI Lookup Rules Specific to Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud

    • S3 Bucket Lookup Rule: Matches CIs by concatenating arn:aws:s3::: and the resource name, then searching the objectid column in the cmdbcicloudobjectstorage table. This rule applies only for AWS::S3::Bucket resources.
    • Name Lookup Rule: Matches CIs by name in the objectid column for resource types listed in sncapiresourcetype. For Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, this rule runs only for AWS::RDS::DBInstance, AWS::ElasticLoadBalancing::LoadBalancer, and AWS::CloudTrail::Trail resource types, but additional types can be added as needed.
    • Resource Id Lookup Rule: Matches CIs by resource ID in the objectid column corresponding to resource types in sncapiresourcetype.

    Each CI lookup rule has an Order field that controls execution priority; rules with lower order values execute first.

    Practical Guidance for ServiceNow Customers

    • Verify and use the correct object ID format for your resource types to ensure accurate CI matching.
    • If out-of-the-box CI lookup rules do not find matches for your test results, create custom CI lookup rules following the object ID formats appropriate for your assets.
    • Adjust the priority of CI lookup rules via the Order field to optimize matching behavior according to your environment.

    You can use the configuration item (CI) lookup rules for the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud integrations to find a correct match to commonly used resource types in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

    Overview

    The CI Lookup rules module contains the rules that help you to define the fields that have the matching data in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). You can use these rules to identify the applications and application releases. All Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud assets are uniquely identified by the combination of their object ID, cloud account, and logical datacenter in the ServiceNow platform. ServiceNow discovery populates the resource ID in the Object_id column of the CMDB in different formats for the different resource types. The following table shows the object ID formats of commonly used resource types that the discovery service uses to populate in the Object_id column of the CI. Any scanner that wants to look up an asset of a particular resource type must search by using the right object ID format. You can get the right object ID format by looking into the object ID column of corresponding CMDB CI class and then try to construct the object ID using the values that are received from scanner.
    Table 1. Object ID format for various resource types
    Resource Type Format
    AWS::EC2::Instance Object ID
    AWS::ElasticLoadBalancing::LoadBalancer Load balancer name
    AWS::S3::Bucket arn:aws:s3:::<Bucket Name>

    The CI match for a test result may not be found accurately in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) unless the same format of the object_id is used in the lookup rule. Most of the times, the OOB CI lookup rules find a match for the most commonly used resource types for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud. If the following CI lookup rules aren’t finding the CIs in the CMDB for your test results, you can create a CI lookup rule for a resource type. For more information on how to create a CI lookup rule, see Create a CI lookup rule.

    CI lookup rules

    The following CI lookup rules are specific to the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Integration and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud.
    S3 Bucket
    This lookup rule attempts to find the CI in the CMDB by the value that was obtained by concatenating the arn:aws:s3::: and resource name. The obtained value is looked up in the object_id column of the cmdb_ci_cloud_object_storage table. This lookup rule applies only when the resource type is AWS::S3::Bucket.​
    Name
    This lookup rule attempts to find the CI in the CMDB by name. The name, which is looked up in the Object_id column of the CI class, corresponds to a resource type in the sn_capi_resource_type table.
    Note:
    For the Palo Alto Prisma Cloud application, this CI lookup rule runs only for the AWS::RDS::DBInstance, AWS::ElasticLoadBalancing::LoadBalancer, and AWS::CloudTrail::Trail resource types​. You can add the resource types that you want to execute this CI lookup rule for.
    Resource Id
    This lookup rule attempts to find the CI in the CMDB by the resource ID. The resource ID, which is looked up in the Object_id column of the CI class, corresponds to a resource type in the sn_capi_resource_type table.
    Note:
    You can set the priority for a CI lookup rule in the Order field. The CI lookup rule with the least order value is executed first.