detecting-misconfigured-azure-storage

Detecting misconfigured Azure Storage accounts including publicly accessible blob containers, missing encryption settings, overly permissive SAS tokens, disabled logging, and network access violations using Azure CLI, PowerShell, and Microsoft Defender for Storage.

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Repository: AgentFlocks/flocks
Last source activity: May 5, 2026 at 05:45
Detected SKILL.md language: English
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name	detecting-misconfigured-azure-storage
description	Detecting misconfigured Azure Storage accounts including publicly accessible blob containers, missing encryption settings, overly permissive SAS tokens, disabled logging, and network access violations using Azure CLI, PowerShell, and Microsoft Defender for Storage.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	cloud-security
tags	["cloud-security","azure","storage-security","blob-storage","sas-tokens","data-protection"]
version	1.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0
nist_ai_rmf	["MEASURE-2.7","MAP-5.1","MANAGE-2.4"]
atlas_techniques	["AML.T0070","AML.T0066","AML.T0082"]
nist_csf	["PR.IR-01","ID.AM-08","GV.SC-06","DE.CM-01"]

Detecting Misconfigured Azure Storage

When to Use

When performing a security audit of Azure Storage accounts across subscriptions
When responding to Microsoft Defender for Storage alerts about anonymous access or data exfiltration
When compliance requires verification of encryption, network restrictions, and access logging
When investigating potential data exposure through publicly accessible blob containers
When onboarding Azure subscriptions and establishing storage security baselines

Do not use for Azure SQL or Cosmos DB security auditing (use dedicated database security tools), for real-time threat detection on storage operations (use Defender for Storage), or for Azure Files or Data Lake Gen2 specific auditing without adapting the checks.

Prerequisites

Azure CLI installed and authenticated (az login) with Reader and Storage Account Contributor roles
Az PowerShell module installed for advanced queries (Install-Module Az.Storage)
Microsoft Defender for Storage enabled for threat detection
Access to Azure Resource Graph for cross-subscription queries
ScoutSuite or Prowler Azure provider for automated assessment

Workflow

Step 1: Enumerate All Storage Accounts and Basic Configuration

List all storage accounts across subscriptions and assess their baseline security settings.

# List all storage accounts across all subscriptions
az storage account list \
  --query "[].{Name:name, ResourceGroup:resourceGroup, Location:location, Kind:kind, Sku:sku.name, HttpsOnly:enableHttpsTrafficOnly, MinTLS:minimumTlsVersion, PublicAccess:allowBlobPublicAccess}" \
  -o table

# Use Resource Graph for cross-subscription enumeration
az graph query -q "
  Resources
  | where type == 'microsoft.storage/storageaccounts'
  | project name, resourceGroup, subscriptionId, location,
    properties.allowBlobPublicAccess,
    properties.enableHttpsTrafficOnly,
    properties.minimumTlsVersion,
    properties.networkAcls.defaultAction
" -o table

Step 2: Detect Publicly Accessible Blob Containers

Identify storage accounts and containers allowing anonymous public access to blob data.

# Check each storage account for public blob access setting
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); 
  public=$(az storage account show --name  --query  -o tsv)
   



 account  $(az storage account list --query  -o tsv); 
  key=$(az storage account keys list --account-name  --query  -o tsv)
   
  az storage container list \
    --account-name  \
    --account-key  \
    --query  \
    -o table 2>/dev/null



curl -s  |  -50

# Find storage accounts with default network action set to Allow (open to all networks)
az storage account list \
  --query "[?networkRuleSet.defaultAction=='Allow'].{Name:name, DefaultAction:networkRuleSet.defaultAction, VNetRules:networkRuleSet.virtualNetworkRules}" \
  -o table

# Detailed network rule audit
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  echo "=== $account ==="
  az storage account show --name "$account" \
    --query "{DefaultAction:networkRuleSet.defaultAction, IPRules:networkRuleSet.ipRules[*].ipAddressOrRange, VNetRules:networkRuleSet.virtualNetworkRules[*].virtualNetworkResourceId, Bypass:networkRuleSet.bypass}" \
    -o json
done

# Find storage accounts with private endpoints
az network private-endpoint list \
  --query "[?privateLinkServiceConnections[0].groupIds[0]=='blob'].{Name:name, Storage:privateLinkServiceConnections[0].privateLinkServiceId}" \
  -o table

# Check encryption configuration for all storage accounts
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  echo "=== $account ==="
  az storage account show --name "$account" \
    --query "{Encryption:encryption.services, KeySource:encryption.keySource, KeyVaultUri:encryption.keyVaultProperties.keyVaultUri, InfraEncryption:encryption.requireInfrastructureEncryption}" \
    -o json
done

# Find accounts without infrastructure encryption (double encryption)
az storage account list \
  --query "[?encryption.requireInfrastructureEncryption!=true].{Name:name, KeySource:encryption.keySource}" \
  -o table

# Check for accounts using TLS version below 1.2
az storage account list \
  --query "[?minimumTlsVersion!='TLS1_2'].{Name:name, TLS:minimumTlsVersion}" \
  -o table

# Check when storage account keys were last rotated
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  echo "=== $account ==="
  az storage account keys list \
    --account-name "$account" \
    --query "[].{KeyName:keyName, CreationTime:creationTime}" \
    -o table
done

# Check if storage account allows shared key access (should be disabled for AAD-only)
az storage account list \
  --query "[].{Name:name, AllowSharedKeyAccess:allowSharedKeyAccess}" \
  -o table

# Review stored access policies on containers (SAS governance)
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  key=$(az storage account keys list --account-name "$account" --query "[0].value" -o tsv 2>/dev/null)
  for container in $(az storage container list --account-name "$account" --account-key "$key" --query "[].name" -o tsv 2>/dev/null); do
    policies=$(az storage container policy list --container-name "$container" --account-name "$account" --account-key "$key" 2>/dev/null)
    [ -n "$policies" ] && echo "$account/$container: $policies"
  done
done

# Check diagnostic settings for storage accounts
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  rg=$(az storage account show --name "$account" --query "resourceGroup" -o tsv)
  echo "=== $account ==="
  az monitor diagnostic-settings list \
    --resource "/subscriptions/$(az account show --query id -o tsv)/resourceGroups/$rg/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/$account" \
    --query "[].{Name:name, Logs:logs[*].category, Metrics:metrics[*].category}" \
    -o json 2>/dev/null || echo "  No diagnostic settings configured"
done

# Check blob service logging properties
for account in $(az storage account list --query "[].name" -o tsv); do
  key=$(az storage account keys list --account-name "$account" --query "[0].value" -o tsv 2>/dev/null)
  az storage logging show \
    --account-name "$account" \
    --account-key "$key" \
    --services b 2>/dev/null
done

Term	Definition
Blob Public Access	Storage account setting that allows anonymous read access to blob containers and their contents without authentication
Shared Access Signature	Time-limited URI with embedded authentication tokens granting delegated access to Azure Storage resources with specific permissions
Network ACL Default Action	Storage firewall setting that determines whether traffic is allowed or denied by default, with exceptions for specified IPs and VNets
Customer-Managed Key	Encryption key stored in Azure Key Vault that the customer controls for storage encryption instead of Microsoft-managed keys
Stored Access Policy	Named policy on a container that defines SAS permissions, start/expiry times, and can be revoked independently of individual SAS tokens
Defender for Storage	Microsoft Defender plan providing threat detection for anomalous storage access patterns, malware uploads, and data exfiltration

Azure Storage Security Audit Report
======================================
Subscription: Production (SUB-ID)
Assessment Date: 2026-02-23
Storage Accounts Audited: 24

CRITICAL FINDINGS:
[STOR-001] Public Blob Access Enabled
  Account: webapp-static-prod
  Container: uploads (PublicAccess: blob)
  Risk: Anonymous users can read all blobs in the container
  Contents: 1,247 files including .env and config.json
  Remediation: Disable allowBlobPublicAccess, use Azure CDN with SAS

[STOR-002] Storage Account Open to All Networks
  Account: data-lake-analytics
  Default Action: Allow (no network restrictions)
  Risk: Accessible from any network including the internet
  Remediation: Set default action to Deny, add VNet rules

SUMMARY:
  Public blob access enabled:           3 / 24
  Open to all networks:                 8 / 24
  Missing infrastructure encryption:   12 / 24
  TLS version below 1.2:                2 / 24
  No diagnostic logging:               10 / 24
  Shared key access enabled:           18 / 24
  Keys not rotated in 90+ days:        14 / 24