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

Last updated a month ago on 2026-08-07
Created a month ago on 2026-08-07

About

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.
Tags
Domain: CloudDomain: IdentityPlatform: Entra IDUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: Defense EvasionTactic: Initial AccessRule Type: New TermsData Source: AzureData Source: Microsoft Entra IDData Source: Microsoft Entra ID Sign-in LogsLanguage: kuery
Severity
medium
Risk Score
47
MITRE ATT&CK™

Defense Evasion (TA0005)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Initial Access (TA0001)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
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.
License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
New Terms Rule
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-azure.signinlogs-*
Related Integrations

azure(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
data_stream.dataset: "azure.signinlogs" and event.category: "authentication" and azure.signinlogs.result_signature: "SUCCESS" and azure.signinlogs.properties.user_type: "Member" and azure.signinlogs.properties.authentication_details.authentication_method: ( "Windows Hello for Business" or *passkey* or FIDO2* or *Passkey* ) and azure.signinlogs.properties.device_detail.device_id: ("" or not *) and azure.signinlogs.properties.cross_tenant_access_type: "none" and azure.signinlogs.properties.user_principal_name: *

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect Entra ID Windows Hello or Passkey Sign-in from Unregistered Device in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).