Unable to Access Orphaned Azure Subscription – AADSTS160021

Question

Hello,

I am requesting assistance with an orphaned Azure subscription and its associated Azure AD (Entra ID) tenant.

The subscription was created under a user account that has since been deleted.

The subscription remains active, but there are no remaining users or administrators associated with the tenant.

As a result, the subscription is currently orphaned.

I would like guidance on permanently closing and deleting the subscription and its associated tenant to prevent any further billing. I can provide billing details privately to verify ownership if required.

Additionally, I cannot create a support ticket in the Azure portal due to the following error:

{

"sessionId": "``<redacted>",

"errors": [

{

"errorMessage": "interaction_required: AADSTS160021: Application requested a user session which does not exist.",

"clientId": "``<redacted>",

"scopes": [``"<redacted>"]

}

]

}

Thank you for your assistance!

.

[Moderator edit: Changed tags from: Azure | Azure Storage ]

Answer 1

Hello @Danil,

Based on your description, it appears that the user account previously assigned the Owner role on the subscription has been deleted. As a result, no other users in the tenant currently have sufficient permissions to manage or modify the subscription.

To regain access and to obtain Owner rights on the subscription, you must have the Global Administrator role in Microsoft Entra ID.

• Sign in to the Azure portal using a Global Administrator account.
• Navigate to: Microsoft Entra ID → Properties
• Enable “Access management for Azure resources.”

Enabling this setting assigns you the User Access Administrator role at the root scope (/) in Azure RBAC. This grants permission to manage role assignments across all subscriptions and management groups associated with the tenant.

• Return to the affected subscription.
• Assign yourself the Owner role.

You can follow the detailed steps here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-portal#step-2-open-the-add-role-assignment-page

Once you’ve assigned yourself the Owner role, you will have full permissions to manage or delete the subscription.