Don't let this Azure vulnerability expose your organization's secrets

Microsoft Azure recently made headlines with the discovery of a vulnerability that could potentially expose organizational secrets across the globe. This vulnerability involves Shared Key authorization, a default mechanism on Azure’s storage accounts which, if exploited, can lead to unauthorized access, lateral movement, and even remote code execution.

In this blog post, we will dive deep into the specifics of this vulnerability and explore ways you can mitigate the risks involved.

The Shared Key Authorization vulnerability

Orca Security recently uncovered a “by-design flaw” in Microsoft Azure that could leave organizations vulnerable to attack. The Azure vulnerability revolves around Shared Key authorization, a feature intrinsic to storage accounts. When a storage account is created, Azure generates two 512-bit storage account access keys. These keys can be used to authorize data access through Shared Key authorization or SAS tokens. While Shared Key authorization is a convenient way to manage data access, it poses a significant security risk. Microsoft notes in its documentation, “Access to the shared key grants a user full access to a storage account’s configuration and its data.”

The crux of the vulnerability lies in the manipulation of Azure Functions by an attacker with a Storage Account Contributor role. The attacker can exploit it to steal access tokens of higher-privileged identities, potentially access critical business assets, and execute remote code.

Source: Microsoft

Once an attacker locates the storage account of a Function app that is assigned with a strong managed identity, it can run code on its behalf and acquire subscription privilege escalation. By overriding function files in storage accounts, they can steal and exfiltrate a higher-privileged identity and use it to move laterally, exploit, and compromise victims’ most valuable crown jewels. They can execute a reverse shell on virtual machines, install malware, and even execute ransomware attacks.

Microsoft has acknowledged this flaw and plans to update how Functions client tools work with storage accounts. In the meantime, they have recommended that organizations consider disabling Azure Shared Key authorization and using Azure Active Directory authentication to mitigate the risk of an attack.

The importance of secrets management in a cloud-native stack

This vulnerability emphasizes the critical need for robust secrets management. The potential consequences of an attacker gaining access to a high-privileged managed identity are catastrophic. Thus, properly securing and managing access to Azure resources is paramount.

But this Azure vulnerability is just one among thousands of similar intrinsic design flaws that threaten organizations’ security today. Managing and securing secrets has become increasingly crucial to cybersecurity in modern cloud-native architectures. Traditional security measures such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems are no longer sufficient to combat today’s sophisticated cyber threats.

The repercussions of sensitive passwords, access tokens, and API keys ending up in the wrong hands can be extremely detrimental. These credentials are essential for accessing critical systems and resources, and their misuse can severely damage the security and integrity of those assets.

Although vaults have gained popularity as a secure way to store secrets, managing them involves more than just storage. To mitigate the risk of cyber threats, businesses need a comprehensive secrets security service that offers real-time tracking and management of every secret, from creation to retirement. Entro is designed to address these challenges, providing comprehensive secret security for cloud-native organizations.

Secrets management with Entro

Entro offers a centralized hub for secrets management, facilitating improved discovery, audit, and access control. This is particularly beneficial in scenarios like the Azure vulnerability, where an attacker can manipulate access tokens of higher-privileged identities. Entro’s platform supports any secret store or vault, whether it’s Hashicorp vault, AWS secrets manager, K8S secrets, or GitHub Secrets. This versatility means you can integrate your existing systems seamlessly into Entro’s security platform, and it will ensure the security and compliance of your vaults and the secrets within them.

Entro’s holistic approach to secret security spans all channels, including vaults, source code, and third-party tools. This is especially relevant in the context of the Azure vulnerability, where an attacker could potentially move laterally and access new resources. Entro’s advanced analytics and machine learning techniques enable real-time threat detection, identifying anomalies and unusual behavior to respond quickly to potential breaches.

With Entro, businesses can gain in-depth visibility of their secrets, including ownership, enablement status, permissions granted, correlated services, and associated risks. Entro’s machine learning algorithms continuously monitor for misuse or abnormal behavior, providing timely alerts for swift action.

Moreover, Entro provides misconfiguration alerts, notifying users of any issues surrounding vaults, secret stores, or the secrets themselves, a feature essential in light of the Azure vulnerability where misconfiguration can lead to unauthorized access.

Entro also offers granular access controls, empowering businesses to maintain a robust security posture and protect against data breaches. This is particularly valuable in mitigating risks like the Azure vulnerability, providing an additional layer of security to prevent unauthorized access.

Through the combined power of these features, Entro aids organizations in enhancing their secret security and staying ahead of potential threats like the flaw in the shared key authorization.

Conclusion

The recent Azure vulnerability underlines the critical need for superior secrets management in the rapidly changing sphere of cyber threats. It highlights the potential perils of unsecured cloud-native environments and the importance of proactive protection and points towards the possibility of other latent vulnerabilities waiting to be unearthed. While Microsoft is working towards mitigating this flaw, organizations must not underestimate the importance of an effective secrets management strategy. Traditional security measures are no longer a sufficient safeguard, and this is where Entro comes into play.

Entro offers a comprehensive secrets security solution, ensuring real-time threat detection, in-depth visibility of secrets, misconfiguration alerts, and granular access controls. It equips organizations with the tools to stay ahead of emerging threats and secure their digital assets effectively. Don’t let vulnerabilities become liabilities. Harness the power of Entro to transform your secrets management strategy from the point of vulnerability to a pillar of strength. Discover a new benchmark in cloud-native protection. 

Click here to know more.