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Unauthorized disclosure of Azure AD Client Secrets: Privacy in the digital realm under threat due to exposure of cloud credentials

Attackers can exploit a vulnerability in Azure AD, stealing login credentials through client secret leaks and facilitating malicious application access.

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Cloud Key Breach: Exposed Azure AD Client Secret Threatens Cloud Security
Cloud Key Breach: Exposed Azure AD Client Secret Threatens Cloud Security

Unauthorized disclosure of Azure AD Client Secrets: Privacy in the digital realm under threat due to exposure of cloud credentials

In a concerning development, a critical security vulnerability has been discovered in Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), potentially affecting over 50,000 users. The issue, often caused by misconfigurations and poor secret management in cloud-native applications, has the potential to lead to significant data breaches and unauthorised access.

At the heart of the vulnerability lies a publicly accessible file containing application settings, specifically an "appsettings.json" file. This central configuration file, common in ASP.NET Core applications, stores key-value pairs crucial for the application's function. In this case, the file exposed highly sensitive data: ClientId and ClientSecret.

Attackers, upon obtaining these credentials, can authenticate directly at Microsoft's OAuth-2.0 endpoints using the exposed ClientId and ClientSecret. This access allows them to list users, groups, and directory roles in Azure AD, potentially enabling lateral movement across the entire Microsoft 365 tenant.

Moreover, with these credentials, attackers could potentially retrieve confidential data from SharePoint, OneDrive, or Exchange Online. They could also abuse the Microsoft Graph API to widen permissions or for persistence, leading to data exfiltration via the API, privilege escalation, and backdoor creation.

To mitigate these risks, best practices include limiting file access, removing secrets from code and configuration files, changing exposed login credentials immediately, enforcing the principle of least privilege, and monitoring and alerting on the use of login credentials. Companies must realise that cloud security is only as strong as its weakest exposed file, and the smallest file can trigger the biggest security breach.

It is essential to note that this vulnerability underscores the importance of secure cloud-native application development and the need for vigilant secret management. Leaked Azure AD application login credentials can be misused to silently enumerate users, groups, mailboxes, and permissions, posing compliance and regulatory risks, as well as potential supply chain exploitation and compromised identities.

As developers, it is crucial to ensure that sensitive files like "appsettings.json" are not mistakenly left exposed on web servers, which can contain sensitive information like database connections or API keys. By following best practices and staying vigilant, we can help protect our data and maintain the security of our cloud environments.

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