BP-039 SaaS-to-SaaS Lateral Movement via Compromised Integration Tokens
A critical breach pattern where attackers exploit compromised integration tokens to chain lateral movement across interconnected SaaS platforms, bypassing traditional perimeter defenses.
Understanding the Breach Pattern
This breach pattern exploits the trust relationships built into modern SaaS ecosystems. When attackers compromise integration tokens connecting platforms like Slack to Jira or GitHub to Azure DevOps, they gain the ability to move laterally across multiple business-critical systems without triggering traditional security controls.
Integration tokens typically bypass standard authentication mechanisms including MFA and Conditional Access policies. These tokens often carry elevated permissions with read/write access across entire enterprise environments, making them high-value targets for sophisticated threat actors.
Critical Token Characteristics
Elevated permissions
Long-lived validity
No MFA enforcement
No Conditional Access
Full enterprise access
Common SaaS Integration Chains
Slack → Jira
Project management and collaboration integration enabling ticket creation and updates
Jira → GitHub
Code repository integration linking issues to commits and pull requests
GitHub → Azure DevOps
CI/CD pipeline integration for automated deployment and infrastructure access
Additional high-risk integration chains include Salesforce to ServiceNow, M365 to analytics platforms, HR systems to IGA platforms, and automation tools connecting to cloud resource APIs. Each connection point represents a potential pivot path for attackers.
Attacker Objectives and Tactics
Data Exfiltration
Read and modify sensitive data across multiple SaaS platforms simultaneously, aggregating intelligence from disconnected systems
Privilege Escalation
Leverage inherited app permissions to escalate privileges and impersonate integration apps or bots with elevated access
Security Evasion
Disable security connectors, alerting pipelines, and monitoring tools to maintain persistent access undetected
Cloud Pivot
Pivot into cloud environments connected to SaaS apps, harvest secrets, and propagate malicious configuration changes
Attack Result: Compromise 1 system → compromise many others in a cascading breach scenario
Integration tokens configured with overly broad scopes such as read_all, write_all, or admin, granting unrestricted access across entire platforms without granular permission boundaries.
MC-322: Long-Lived Secrets
Tokens remain valid for years without mandatory rotation policies, creating persistent exposure windows that attackers can exploit over extended timeframes.
MC-323: Flat Trust Architecture
SaaS platforms trust other SaaS applications without implementing granular filtering, context-aware validation, or zero-trust principles between integration endpoints.
MC-204: Cross-SaaS Governance Gap
Lack of systematic review processes for inherited privileges across SaaS integrations, resulting in privilege creep and unmonitored access paths across federated environments.
Detect API calls to platforms the identity never historically interacts with, indicating potential token abuse or lateral movement attempts across SaaS boundaries.
DL-041: Unauthorized Token Usage
Identify integration tokens being used unexpectedly across multiple SaaS applications, particularly from anomalous geographic locations or unusual time windows.
DL-092: Multi-SaaS Token Replay
Detect identical tokens replayed across federated SaaS environments, suggesting token theft and coordinated multi-platform compromise campaigns.
DL-088: Configuration Privilege Escalation
Monitor unauthorized configuration changes executed via integration tokens, including permission modifications, security control disablement, or resource provisioning.
This breach pattern serves as a major driver of multi-SaaS compromise scenarios, enabling attackers to maintain persistent access across interconnected business systems while evading detection through legitimate integration channels.