MITRE ATT&CKtechnique
T1621 Multi-Factor Authentication Request Generation
- Domain
- enterprise
- Tactics
- Credential Access
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, macOS, IaaS, SaaS, Office Suite, Identity Provider
- Version
- 1.2
- Created
- 2022-04-01
Description
Adversaries may attempt to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) mechanisms and gain access to accounts by generating MFA requests sent to users.
Adversaries in possession of credentials to Valid Accounts may be unable to complete the login process if they lack access to the 2FA or MFA mechanisms required as an additional credential and security control. To circumvent this, adversaries may abuse the automatic generation of push notifications to MFA services such as Duo Push, Microsoft Authenticator, Okta, or similar services to have the user grant access to their account. If adversaries lack credentials to victim accounts, they may also abuse automatic push notification generation when this option is configured for self-service password reset (SSPR).
In some cases, adversaries may continuously repeat login attempts in order to bombard users with MFA push notifications, SMS messages, and phone calls, potentially resulting in the user finally accepting the authentication request in response to “MFA fatigue.”
Related
Tactic · MITRE ATT&CK (1)
- TA0006 Credential Access tactic
Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · mitigates (3)
Referenced by MITRE ATT&CK · uses (4)
Referenced by Compliance · mitigates (8)
- CIS-13.5 Manage Access Control for Remote Access CIS Safeguard v8.1
- NIST-AC-2 Account Management NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-AC-6 Least Privilege NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-CM-5 Access Restrictions for Change NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-IA-13 Identity Providers and Authorization Servers NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users) NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-IA-3 Device Identification and Authentication NIST 800-53 control
- NIST-IA-5 Authenticator Management NIST 800-53 control
References
- https://therecord.media/russian-hackers-bypass-2fa-by-annoying-victims-with-repeated-push-notifications/ Russian 2FA Push Annoyance - Cimpanu
- https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/mfa-fatigue-attacks-users-tricked-into-allowing-device-access-due-to-overload-of-push-notifications MFA Fatigue Attacks - PortSwigger
- https://www.mandiant.com/resources/russian-targeting-gov-business Suspected Russian Activity Targeting Government and Business Entities Around the Globe
- https://www.obsidiansecurity.com/blog/behind-the-breach-self-service-password-reset-azure-ad/ Obsidian SSPR Abuse 2023