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Azure DevOps Token

Azure DevOps tokens are authentication credentials used to access Azure DevOps services, which include source code repositories, build pipelines, and deployment environments. These tokens are critical for automating workflows and integrating with other services. However, if exposed, they can grant unauthorized access to sensitive resources, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized code changes, or infrastructure manipulation.

How Does It Look​

Azure DevOps tokens can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export AZURE_DEVOPS_TOKEN="eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..."

  • Configuration files (JSON, YAML, .env):

    {
      "azureDevOps": {
        "token": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..."
      }
    }

  • Code snippets:

    import requests

    headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..."}
    response = requests.get("https://dev.azure.com/organization/_apis/projects", headers=headers)

  • Connection strings (if applicable):

    https://dev.azure.com/organization?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9...

Severity​

  • 🔴 Critical

This severity level is due to the extensive access these tokens can provide. Azure DevOps tokens can grant access to source code, build pipelines, and deployment environments. The blast radius includes potential unauthorized code changes, data exfiltration, and infrastructure manipulation, which can severely impact an organization's operations and security posture.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to an Azure DevOps token, an attacker can perform a range of malicious activities:

An attacker can immediately access Azure DevOps services, potentially leading to unauthorized actions.

Key actions an attacker can perform:

  • Modify source code: Alter or inject malicious code (if the token has write permissions to repositories)
  • Access sensitive data: Download or view proprietary code and configurations (if the token has read access)
  • Disrupt CI/CD pipelines: Trigger or halt builds and deployments (if pipeline permissions are granted)
  • Escalate privileges: Create new tokens or users (if administrative permissions are available)

Beyond immediate access, an attacker could leverage the token to move laterally within the organization, potentially compromising additional systems or services connected to Azure DevOps.

Real-World Impact​

The exposure of an Azure DevOps token poses significant business risks, including:

The primary impact is the potential for unauthorized access to critical development and deployment resources.

Potential consequences include:

  • Data Exposure: Proprietary source code and configurations (if the credential has read access to repositories)
  • Financial Loss: Increased costs from unauthorized resource usage (if billing/resource creation is permitted)
  • Operational Disruption: Interrupted or sabotaged build and deployment processes (if the attacker has modify permissions)
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of customer trust and brand integrity

In the worst-case scenario, an attacker could use the token to deploy malicious code into production environments, leading to widespread operational failures and data breaches.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit an Azure DevOps token, an attacker needs:

  • Network access: Ability to connect to Azure DevOps services
  • Additional context: Knowledge of the organization or project structure (e.g., organization name, project IDs)
  • No rate limits: Exploitation is easier if there are no strict rate limits or IP restrictions in place

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if an Azure DevOps token is active, use the following command:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer [TOKEN]" https://dev.azure.com/[ORGANIZATION]/_apis/projects?api-version=6.0

Valid credential response: A successful response will return a list of projects in JSON format.

Invalid/expired credential response: An error message indicating unauthorized access or token expiration.

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • AZURE_DEVOPS_TOKEN
  • DEVOPS_TOKEN
  • AZURE_TOKEN
  • DEVOPS_PAT
  • AZURE_PAT
  • TOKEN

File Locations:

  • .env
  • config.json
  • settings.yaml
  • credentials.txt
  • devops-config.yml

Regex Pattern:

[A-Za-z0-9-_]{20,}

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to Azure DevOps > Organization Settings > Security > Personal Access Tokens and delete the compromised token.
  2. Audit access logs - Review Azure DevOps audit logs for unauthorized access or actions during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed token.
  4. Rotate credential - Create a new personal access token in Azure DevOps with least-privilege permissions.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new token to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP restrictions and enforce multi-factor authentication in Azure DevOps.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate tokens to a secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) to prevent hardcoding.
  8. Add detection controls - Set up pre-commit hooks and repository scanning to catch token leaks before they reach production.

Credential exposures often go undetected for extended periods, increasing the window for exploitation. As a long-term strategy, plan to establish an internal process or engage an external vendor for continuous external exposure monitoring. This helps identify leaked secrets across public repositories, paste sites, dark web forums, and other external sources before attackers can leverage them. Proactive detection and rapid response are essential to minimizing the impact of credential leaks.

References​