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Azure Search Credentials

Azure Search is a cloud-based search-as-a-service solution that provides powerful and scalable search capabilities for applications. Azure Search credentials are used to authenticate and authorize access to the Azure Search service, allowing users to perform operations such as indexing, querying, and managing search indexes. Exposure of these credentials can lead to unauthorized access to search data, potential data manipulation, and increased operational costs due to misuse.

How Does It Look​

Azure Search credentials can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export AZURE_SEARCH_API_KEY="1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef"

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

    {
      "azureSearch": {
        "apiKey": "1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef"
      }
    }

  • Code snippets:

    search_client = SearchClient(endpoint="https://example.search.windows.net", index_name="my-index", credential="1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef")

  • Connection strings:

    Endpoint=https://example.search.windows.net;ApiKey=1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef

Severity​

  • 🟠 High

The severity of Azure Search credential exposure is high because these credentials provide access to search indexes and data. An attacker with these credentials can read, modify, or delete search data, potentially leading to data breaches or service disruptions. The blast radius includes any application or service relying on Azure Search for data retrieval and indexing.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to Azure Search credentials, an attacker can perform several malicious actions:

  • Read or modify search data (if the credential has read/write permissions)
  • Delete search indexes (if the credential has delete permissions)
  • Access sensitive information stored within search indexes (if not encrypted or masked)
  • Increase operational costs by executing resource-intensive queries (if rate limits are not enforced)

An attacker could also use these credentials to escalate privileges or move laterally within the cloud environment, potentially compromising other services or data.

Real-World Impact​

Exposure of Azure Search credentials poses significant business risks, including:

  • Data Exposure: Sensitive search data could be accessed or leaked (if the credential has read access to sensitive data)
  • Financial Loss: Increased costs from unauthorized queries or index operations (if billing/resource creation is permitted)
  • Operational Disruption: Search functionality could be impaired or disabled (if the attacker has delete/modify permissions)
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of customer trust and brand reputation due to data breaches

In worst-case scenarios, compromised credentials could lead to cascading effects, affecting other integrated systems and services.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit Azure Search credentials, an attacker needs:

  • Network access to the Azure Search endpoint
  • Knowledge of the specific Azure Search service endpoint and index names
  • No IP restrictions or allowlists that limit access to the service

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if an Azure Search credential is active, use the following command:

curl -X GET "https://[HOST].search.windows.net/indexes?api-version=2021-04-30-Preview" -H "api-key: [API_KEY]"

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

Invalid/expired credential response: An error message indicating unauthorized access or invalid credentials.

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • AZURE_SEARCH_API_KEY
  • SEARCH_API_KEY
  • AZURE_SEARCH_KEY
  • SEARCH_KEY
  • AZURE_SEARCH_CREDENTIAL
  • SEARCH_CREDENTIAL

File Locations:

  • config.json
  • settings.yaml
  • .env
  • appsettings.json
  • search-config.json

Regex Pattern:

[A-Za-z0-9]{32}

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to Azure Portal > Azure Search > Keys and regenerate the compromised key.
  2. Audit access logs - Review Azure Search logs for unauthorized access or operations during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed credential.
  4. Rotate credential - Generate a new API key in Azure Search and update all dependent systems.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new credential to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP allowlisting in Azure Search and require secure connections.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate credentials to a secrets manager (Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) to prevent hardcoding.
  8. Add detection controls - Set up pre-commit hooks and repository scanning to catch credential 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​