Critical threat intelligence on MitM attacks targeting identity infrastructure—designed for security engineers defending modern authentication systems.
🔍 What This Breach Pattern Is
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Credential Interception occurs when adversaries position themselves between users and authentication endpoints to intercept sensitive authentication material in real-time. Attackers capture usernames, passwords, MFA prompts, session cookies, OAuth authorization codes, and device tokens as they traverse the network.
Modern MitM toolkits like Evilginx, Modlishka, Greatness, and Nimble enable sophisticated real-time interception of MFA codes, token injection, session cookie harvesting, device ID spoofing, and seamless passthrough of legitimate login pages—making detection extremely challenging.
Rogue Wi-Fi networks that intercept authentication traffic at public locations, conferences, or compromised enterprise networks.
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Reverse-Proxy Phishing
Transparent proxy servers that clone legitimate login pages while capturing credentials and MFA tokens in real-time.
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Adversary-in-the-Browser
Malware that operates within browser contexts to intercept session data, cookies, and authentication flows directly.
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SSL/TLS Manipulation
Stripping encryption on misconfigured sites or using compromised routers and firewalls to downgrade connections.
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DNS Poisoning
Redirecting authentication requests to attacker-controlled infrastructure through DNS manipulation or cache poisoning.
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QR Code Phishing
Malicious QR codes that direct users to reverse-proxy SaaS login clones designed to capture credentials and session data.
🧠 Attacker Objectives
MitM Credential Interception is one of the most dangerous forms of credential theft because it enables immediate, invisible compromise even when strong authentication controls are in place.
Immediate Access
Steal valid credentials plus MFA codes
Harvest session cookies for instant takeover
Capture OAuth authorization codes
Evasion & Control
Impersonate victims invisibly
Bypass Conditional Access policies
Inject malicious OAuth permissions
Escalation
Escalate privileges via valid sessions
Pivot into SaaS admin portals
Access cloud management consoles
Critical Reality: Even strong MFA cannot prevent MitM attacks if adversaries successfully steal session cookies. Session hijacking bypasses authentication entirely.
⚠️ Misconfigurations That Enable BP-015
These identity misconfigurations create exploitable gaps that MitM attackers leverage to intercept credentials and maintain persistent access.
MC-018: Poor Browser Session Governance
Stolen session cookies become long-lived sessions without proper timeout policies, refresh token rotation, or device binding controls.
MC-143: No User Consent Restrictions
Allows malicious OAuth scope injection during MitM attacks, enabling attackers to request excessive permissions without user awareness.
MC-111: Incomplete MFA Configuration
Weak MFA methods like push notifications and SMS are easily intercepted or approved through social engineering during MitM sessions.
MC-147: Weak App Registration Governance
Enables malicious app redirect endpoints during MitM phishing campaigns, allowing attackers to capture authorization codes seamlessly.
MitM Credential Interception operates across multiple stages of the Identity Attack Chain, serving as a direct gateway to session hijacking and complete identity compromise.
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Stage 2
Identity Enumeration
Identifying valid targets for credential interception campaigns
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Stage 3
Credential Acquisition
Active interception of authentication material during MitM session
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Stage 4
Authentication Abuse
Using captured credentials to establish authenticated sessions
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Stage 6
Token Tampering / Session Hijack
Replaying stolen session tokens to maintain persistent access
These executive storylines illustrate real-world attack scenarios where MitM credential interception serves as the initial compromise vector leading to significant organizational impact.
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ETS-003: Machine Token Theft → Cloud Escalation
Adversaries intercept service principal tokens during MitM attacks, then escalate privileges across cloud infrastructure to access sensitive workloads and data repositories. This pattern demonstrates how compromised machine identities enable automated lateral movement.
Threat actors capture privileged user session cookies via MitM techniques, then leverage those sessions to execute automated data exfiltration at scale. The hijacked administrative context bypasses detection controls designed for anomalous authentication patterns.