Detection rules › Sigma
Disabled MFA to Bypass Authentication Mechanisms
Detection for when multi factor authentication has been disabled, which might indicate a malicious activity to bypass authentication mechanisms.
Known false positives
- Authorized modification by administrators
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Persistence | |
| Defense Impairment | |
| Credential Access |
Telemetry coverage
| Platform | Record / event type |
|---|---|
| Azure | Disable Strong Authentication |
Rules detecting the same action
These rules filter on the same operation.
- [Entra ID] Authentication Method Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Account Created and Deleted in Short Timeframe (Kusto)
- Account Created And Deleted Within A Close Time Frame (Sigma)
- Account created from non-approved sources (Kusto)
- Account created or deleted by non-approved user (Kusto)
- Addition of a Temporary Access Pass to a Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Authentication Method Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
- Authentication Methods Changed for Privileged Account (Kusto)
Rule body
title: Disabled MFA to Bypass Authentication Mechanisms
id: 7ea78478-a4f9-42a6-9dcd-f861816122bf
status: test
description: Detection for when multi factor authentication has been disabled, which might indicate a malicious activity to bypass authentication mechanisms.
references:
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/howto-mfa-userstates
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/monitoring-health/reference-audit-activities#core-directory
- https://research.splunk.com/cloud/482dd42a-acfa-486b-a0bb-d6fcda27318e/
- https://analyticsrules.exchange/analyticrules/65c78944-930b-4cae-bd79-c3664ae30ba7/
- https://www.elastic.co/docs/reference/security/prebuilt-rules/rules/integrations/azure/persistence_entra_id_mfa_disabled_for_user
author: '@ionsor'
date: 2022-02-08
modified: 2026-04-30
tags:
- attack.credential-access
- attack.persistence
- attack.defense-impairment
- attack.t1556
logsource:
product: azure
service: auditlogs
detection:
selection:
operationName: 'Disable Strong Authentication'
properties.result: 'success'
condition: selection
falsepositives:
- Authorized modification by administrators
level: medium
Stages and Predicates
Stage 0: condition
selectionStage 1: selection
selection:
operationName: 'Disable Strong Authentication'
properties.result: 'success'
Indicators
These rows show field, operator, and value matches.
| Field | Kind | Values | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
operationName | eq |
| field:"operationName" kind:eq value:"Disable Strong Authentication" |
properties.result | eq |
| field:"properties.result" kind:eq value:"success" |