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Microsoft Entra ID Impossible Travel Sign-in

Detects successful Microsoft Entra ID interactive sign-ins for the same user from two geographically separated locations within a 90-minute window, where the implied travel speed between the two points exceeds what…

Description

Detects successful Microsoft Entra ID interactive sign-ins for the same user from two geographically separated locations within a 90-minute window, where the implied travel speed between the two points exceeds what is physically possible (>=800 km/h, faster than modern commercial airliners) and the geographic separation is at least 500 km. This pattern indicates either VPN/proxy use or an adversary signing in to a compromised account from a different location than the legitimate user. Non-interactive sign-in categories are excluded because backend token refresh activity routinely egresses through cloud regions unrelated to the user. This activity is often observed from AiTM phishing kits or successful phishing campaigns.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.

Detection requirements

Platform
ContainersESXiIaaSIdentity ProviderLinuxmacOSNetwork DevicesOffice SuiteSaaSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the 3 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.

Known benign triggers

  • Users on VPN or proxy egress that geo-resolves through a region distant from the user's physical location. Mobile clients on cellular carrier networks that peer through regional hubs may geo-resolve to a different region than the user's physical location. Corporate AWS Workspaces / VDI deployments where employees interactively sign in from a cloud-provider ASN.

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