Description
MFA fatigue attack is a cybersecurity threat where attackers exploit user exhaustion from multi-factor authentication prompts to trick them into approving multi-factor authentication prompts, potentially compromising their own security. The query identifies MFA fatigue attempts in Okta by correlating repeated Okta Verify push requests, denied pushes, and eventual successful MFA authentication within the same session.
Ref: https://www.okta.com/blog/identity-security/mfa-fatigue-growing-security-concern/.
- Rule type
- Scheduled
- Version
- 1.1.3
- Declared status
- Available
- Query frequency
- 1h
- Query period
- 1h
- Trigger
- gt 0
Declared MITRE coverage
Declared sources
Metadata from the source file. No dependencies inferred from KQL.
Connectors
Data types
KQL query
Original query, unchanged.
// Adjust threshold for MFA pushes to reduce noise
let PushThreshold = 10;
OktaSSO
| where ((eventType_s =="user.authentication.auth_via_mfa" and column_ifexists('debugContext_debugData_factor_s', '') == "OKTA_VERIFY_PUSH") or eventType_s == "system.push.send_factor_verify_push" or eventType_s == "user.mfa.okta_verify.deny_push")
| summarize IPAddress = make_set(client_ipAddress_s,100), City = make_set(client_geographicalContext_city_s,100),
successes = countif(eventType_s == "user.authentication.auth_via_mfa"),
denies = countif(eventType_s == "user.mfa.okta_verify.deny_push"),
pushes = countif(eventType_s == "system.push.send_factor_verify_push") by TimeGenerated, authenticationContext_externalSessionId_s, actor_alternateId_s,actor_displayName_s, outcome_result_s
| summarize lasttime = max(TimeGenerated), firsttime = min(TimeGenerated),
successes = sum(successes), failures = sum(denies), pushes = sum(pushes) by authenticationContext_externalSessionId_s, actor_alternateId_s,actor_displayName_s, outcome_result_s
| extend seconds = lasttime - firsttime
| where pushes > PushThreshold
| extend totalattempts = successes + failures
| extend finding = case(
failures == pushes and pushes > 1, "Authentication attempts not successful because multiple pushes denied",
totalattempts == 0, "Multiple pushes sent and ignored",
successes > 0 and pushes > 3, "Multiple pushes sent, eventual successful authentication!",
"Normal authentication pattern")
| project lasttime, firsttime, seconds, actor_alternateId_s, actor_displayName_s, authenticationContext_externalSessionId_s, pushes, successes, failures, totalattempts, finding, outcome_result_s
| extend AccountName = tostring(split(actor_alternateId_s, "@")[0]), AccountUPNSuffix = tostring(split(actor_alternateId_s, "@")[1])
Declared entities
Related content
Links established from declared identifiers and solution manifests.
Source provenance
GitHubDisplayed values come from files in Azure/Azure-Sentinel. They describe the published template, not your workspace configuration.
- Commit
9800e51↗- Source identifier
c2697b81-7fe9-4f57-ba1d-de46c6f91f9c
GSTEP / CATALOG TRACKING
Added to catalog : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC
Last change observed : 16 Sept 2026 · 05:49 UTC