Microsoft AI research SAS token exposed 38 TB of internal data
A Microsoft AI research team published a GitHub repository with a link to open-source models that embedded an Azure Storage shared access signature (SAS) token. The token granted full control over an entire storage account, not just the models, and had been exposed since July 2020. Wiz reported it in June 2023, Microsoft revoked it, and both disclosed on September 18, 2023.
- Victim
- Microsoft
- Industry
- Technology
- Country
- United States
- Intrusion began
- Jul 2020
- First disclosed
- Sep 18, 2023
- Actor
- Wiz Research (discovered) (Researcher)
- Initial access
- Exposed secrets
- Identity control that failed
- Non-human identity
- MFA
- Not applicable (no interactive login)
- Abused identity
- Non-human (service account, token, key or app)
- Records affected
- Not disclosed
- Disclosed cost
- Not disclosed
The identity lesson
A SAS token is a bearer credential with whatever scope and lifetime it was minted with. Scoping tokens to the specific container, setting short expiry and scanning public repos for signed URLs would have prevented the exposure.
Go deeper on SWI
- Technique: Secrets in repositories and CI
Sources
- 38TB of data accidentally exposed by Microsoft AI researchers, Wiz Research, Sep 18, 2023
- Microsoft mitigated exposure of internal information in a storage account due to overly-permissive SAS token, Microsoft Security Response Center, Sep 18, 2023
Record verified Oct 31, 2026 against the sources above. Corrections: contact us.
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- Zeabur shared cluster breached with a non-expiring admin token and plaintext AWS keys 2026 · Exposed secrets
- JadePuffer wipes Azure resources with compromised service principals 2026 · Exposed secrets
Cite this record
SWI Community Team. (2026). Microsoft AI research SAS token exposed 38 TB of internal data. Identity Breach Database, Start with Identity. https://startwithidentity.com/breaches/incidents/2023-microsoft-ai-research-sas-token-exposure/
Part of the Identity Breach Database, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Analysis across every record: Identity Breach Report 2026.