Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessReach exposed Entra App Proxy endpoint
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DeliverySend crafted authentication request
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ExploitBypass improper authentication check
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ExecutionElevate to authorized principal
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ImpactAccess published applications and data
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Authentication mechanism validation
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Defense Evasion, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | The limiting precondition is deployment-specific rather than configuration-toggle-specific: the target organization must actually be using Microsoft Entra Application Proxy (the connector-based service that publishes on-premises/internal applications for remote access), and the attacker must be able to reach that proxy endpoint over the network. Within that deployment, the CVSS vector indicates no further gating - PR:N/UI:N/AC:L means no authentication, no user interaction and low complexity against the service. The precise feature state, protocol or request that triggers the improper authentication is not described in the available sources, so beyond 'Application Proxy is in use and network-reachable' no additional configuration requirement can be confirmed. Organizations not using Entra Application Proxy are not exposed to this specific flaw. |
| Impact | All severity signals point the same direction: the supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N) scores 10.0 - network-reachable, low attack complexity, no privileges and no user interaction, with a scope change and high confidentiality and integrity impact, consistent with an improper-authentication (CWE-287) privilege elevation in an identity broker. The vuln.today decision label is act_now, the product is core Microsoft identity infrastructure, and the fix is confirmed (RL:O, RC:C) and reported by Microsoft itself, so this is a genuine high priority rather than a high-CVSS-but-low-real-risk issue. That said, the exploitation-maturity metrics qualify the urgency: the input carries E:U (exploit code unproven), there is no CISA KEV listing and no EPSS score was provided, so there is no evidence of active or widespread exploitation at time of analysis - the priority is driven by severity and the criticality of the affected component, not by observed in-the-wild activity. No key signals conflict; the main gap is the absence of EPSS data, so the near-term exploitation probability cannot be quantified from the input. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote, unauthenticated attacker who can reach an organization's Microsoft Entra Application Proxy endpoint sends a request that abuses the improper authentication check to be treated as an authorized principal, elevating privileges across the trust boundary and reaching applications published through the proxy. Because the flaw requires no credentials, no user interaction and low complexity, exploitation is straightforward for any attacker with network access to the exposed service. No public exploit identified at time of analysis (exploit code is marked unproven), so this remains a theoretical chain rather than a demonstrated one. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 22, 2026
Improper authentication in Microsoft Entra Application Proxy (formerly AAD App Proxy) allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges across a trust boundary, with the supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N) scoring 10.0 - no privileges, no user interaction and low complexity, with high confidentiality and integrity impact and a scope change. Exposure is deployment-specific: the target organization must actually run Application Proxy to publish internal applications for remote access, and the proxy endpoint must be reachable by the attacker; organizations not using the service are not exposed to this flaw. Microsoft is the reporting party and a vendor patch is available per the MSRC update guide, and the vuln.today decision label is act_now; no public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified in the supplied data, although the trigger conditions themselves are not described in the available sources.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor fix documented in the Microsoft Security Response Center update guide for CVE-2026-97785 (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97785); the governing patch status is 'Patch available per vendor advisory', and the supplied data does not name an exact fixed build, so confirm the applicable update for your tenant and connector version directly in the MSRC advisory before closing the item. Treat this as an act_now priority given the 10.0 CVSS vector and the unauthenticated, low-complexity path into published applications, and inventory which internal applications are currently exposed through Application Proxy so their owners can be notified. Where the update cannot be deployed immediately, the available compensating control follows from the assessed precondition of network reachability: restrict access to the Application Proxy endpoints to known trusted networks or source ranges (for example via conditional access, network controls or an allowlist) - the trade-off is that legitimate remote and mobile users outside those ranges lose access to the published applications until the restriction is lifted. Organizations that do not use Entra Application Proxy do not need to act on this specific flaw.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Microsoft Entra Application Proxy (historically Azure AD / AAD App Proxy) is the connector-based identity-brokering service that publishes on-premises or internal web applications to remote users, authenticating them against Entra ID and then relaying requests through a connector to the internal application. The flaw is classified as CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), meaning the service fails to correctly establish or verify the identity of a caller at some point in that brokering path, so a request that should be rejected is instead treated as legitimate - consistent with the assessed privilege elevation over the network. The scope-change metric (S:C) indicates the impact crosses from the proxy/identity layer into components that are assumed to be protected by it, which in this architecture means published backend applications and the identity context attached to them; confidentiality and integrity are rated high while availability is rated none. The supplied CPE entry (cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_entra_application_proxy, version fields wildcarded) identifies the affected product without pinning a version range, and the precise feature state, protocol or request that triggers the authentication failure is not described in the available sources.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Improper authentication allows unauthenticated network privilege elevation (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) crossing a trust boundary (S:C) with high confidentiality and integrity impact but no stated availability effect (A:N).
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
Improper authentication in AAD App Proxy allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
Executive ViewAI
A critical authentication bypass in Microsoft Entra Application Proxy (CVSS 10.0) can allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to cross a trust boundary and gain high-impact access to internal applications published through the service. Leadership should care because organizations that use Entra Application Proxy to expose internal systems to remote users face potential unauthorized access to sensitive data and integrity compromise, with potential for lateral movement into internal networks.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
EUVD-2026-108539
GHSA-5vq4-h6h5-3gjg
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB