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Entra ID Windows Hello or Passkey Sign-in from Unregistered Device

Identifies a Microsoft Entra ID sign-in that is satisfied by a phishing-resistant, device-bound credential (Windows Hello for Business, FIDO2 security key, or passkey) while carrying no device identifier. Windows…

Description

Identifies a Microsoft Entra ID sign-in that is satisfied by a phishing-resistant, device-bound credential (Windows Hello for Business, FIDO2 security key, or passkey) while carrying no device identifier. Windows Hello for Business (WHfB) and passkey credentials are bound to a device's TPM, so a genuine sign-in with one of these methods is normally accompanied by the registered device it lives on. A WHfB or passkey assertion that authenticates with an empty `device_detail.device_id` indicates the underlying key material is being used away from its bound device, for example by an adversary who extracted the key (or signed an assertion with it) and replayed it from attacker infrastructure to mint device-agnostic tokens. This is the core primitive of the "borrowing Windows Hello keys" technique and is a strong precursor to attacker device registration and Primary Refresh Token (PRT) issuance. Cross-tenant (B2B) sign-ins are excluded because they are a common benign source of empty device identifiers.

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 2 ATT&CK techniques it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • Rare edge cases during initial passwordless onboarding may briefly produce a Windows Hello for Business or passkey sign-in before the device is fully registered. Validate against the user's device registration timeline. Genuine WHfB and passkey sign-ins are otherwise accompanied by a populated device identifier.

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