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Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2025-09-19 12:32:01.085

Source: https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/19/microsoft_entra_id_bug/

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One token to pwn them all: Entra ID bug could have granted access to every tenant. Until Microsoft lobbed it into a virtual volcano. A security researcher claims to have found a flaw that could have handed him the keys to almost every Entra ID tenant worldwide. Dirk-jan Mollema reported the finding to the Microsoft Security Research Center (MSRC) in July. The issue was fixed and confirmed as mitigated, and a CVE was raised on September 4. It is, however, an alarming vulnerability involving flawed token validation that can result in cross-tenant access. "If you are an Entra ID admin," wrote Mollema, "that means complete access to your tenant." There are two main elements in the vulnerability. The first, according to Mollema, is undocumented impersonation tokens called "Actor tokens" that Microsoft uses for service-to-service communication. There was a flaw in the legacy Azure Active Directory Graph API that did not properly validate the originating tenant, allowing the tokens to be used for cross-tenant access. "Effectively," wrote Mollema, "this means that with a token I requested in my lab tenant I could authenticate as any user, including Global Admins, in any other tenant." The tokens allowed full access to the Azure AD Graph API in any tenant. Any hope that a log might save the day was also dashed – "requesting Actor tokens does not generate logs." "Even if it did, they would be generated in my tenant instead of in the victim tenant, which means there is no record of the existence of these tokens." The upshot of the flaw was a possible compromise for any service that uses Entra ID for authentication, such as SharePoint Online or Exchange Online. Mollema noted that access to resources hosted in Azure was also possible. Microsoft's swiftness in resolving the issue is to be commended, even if it's unfortunate that it was present in the first place. Additionally, Mollema noted that Microsoft had not detected any abuse of the vulnerability in its internal telemetry. That said, the researcher has provided some KQL for worried admins to use for tracking down evidence of possible abuse. Mollema called this "the most impactful vulnerability I will probably ever find," and it is difficult to dispute the claim. The CVE for the issue rates it as "Critical" with a "Low" Attack Complexity metric. The base score is 10. To reiterate, according to Microsoft, the vulnerability has been fully mitigated, and users do not need to take any further action. Still, before the vulnerability was found, there existed, in Mollema's words, "one token to rule them all."

Daily Brief Summary

VULNERABILITIES // Critical Entra ID Flaw Allowed Cross-Tenant Access, Now Mitigated

A security researcher discovered a critical flaw in Entra ID, potentially granting access to nearly every tenant worldwide, which Microsoft has since mitigated.

The vulnerability involved flawed token validation, allowing unauthorized cross-tenant access through undocumented "Actor tokens" used for service-to-service communication.

The flaw was linked to the legacy Azure Active Directory Graph API, which failed to validate the originating tenant of the tokens.

This issue could have compromised services using Entra ID for authentication, including SharePoint Online and Exchange Online, posing significant security risks.

The vulnerability was rated as "Critical" with a CVE issued on September 4, scoring a base of 10, indicating severe potential impact.

Microsoft swiftly addressed the issue, and no abuse was detected in their internal telemetry, ensuring users need not take further action.

The researcher provided KQL queries for administrators to check for potential past abuse, despite the lack of logs for the Actor tokens.