SAML Tokens

T1606.002

Sub-technique of T1606 Forge Web Credentials.View on attack.mitre.org

About this technique

An adversary may forge SAML tokens with any permissions claims and lifetimes if they possess a valid SAML token-signing certificate. The default lifetime of a SAML token is one hour, but the validity period can be specified in the NotOnOrAfter value of the conditions ... element in a token. This value can be changed using the AccessTokenLifetime in a LifetimeTokenPolicy. Forged SAML tokens enable adversaries to authenticate across services that use SAML 2.0 as an SSO (single sign-on) mechanism.

An adversary may utilize Private Keys to compromise an organization's token-signing certificate to create forged SAML tokens. If the adversary has sufficient permissions to establish a new federation trust with their own Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) server, they may instead generate their own trusted token-signing certificate. This differs from Steal Application Access Token and other similar behaviors in that the tokens are new and forged by the adversary, rather than stolen or intercepted from legitimate users.

An adversary may gain administrative Entra ID privileges if a SAML token is forged which claims to represent a highly privileged account. This may lead to Use Alternate Authentication Material, which may bypass multi-factor and other authentication protection mechanisms.

Detection rules0

Rules on DetectionCode tagged with T1606.002.

Sigma0

No Sigma rules are mapped to this technique yet.

Splunk0

No Splunk rules are mapped to this technique yet.

Groups0

None recorded.

Software1

AADInternals

Campaigns1

SolarWinds Compromise

Procedure examples2

Software1

Used by	Procedure example
ToolAADInternals	AADInternals can be used to create SAML tokens using the AD Federated Services token signing certificate. AADInternals Documentation

Campaigns1

Used by	Procedure example
CampaignSolarWinds Compromise	During the SolarWinds Compromise, APT29 created tokens using compromised SAML signing certificates. Microsoft - Customer Guidance on Recent Nation-State Cyber Attacks Secureworks IRON RITUAL Profile

References4

Cyberark Golden SAML Open source
Reiner, S. (2017, November 21). Golden SAML: Newly Discovered Attack Technique Forges Authentication to Cloud Apps. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
Microsoft SAML Token Lifetimes Open source
Microsoft. (2020, December 14). Configurable token lifetimes in Microsoft Identity Platform. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
Microsoft SolarWinds Customer Guidance Open source
MSRC. (2020, December 13). Customer Guidance on Recent Nation-State Cyber Attacks. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
Microsoft SolarWinds Steps Open source
Lambert, J. (2020, December 13). Important steps for customers to protect themselves from recent nation-state cyberattacks. Retrieved December 17, 2020.

Data from MITRE ATT&CK® (Enterprise). ATT&CK® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.