Cisco Duo Policy Skip 2FA for Other Countries

name: Cisco Duo Policy Skip 2FA for Other Countries
id: ab59d5ee-8694-4832-a332-cefcf66a9057
version: 4
date: '2026-03-10'
author: Patrick Bareiss, Splunk
data_source:
    - Cisco Duo Administrator
type: TTP
status: production
description: |
    The following analytic detects when a Duo policy is created or updated to allow access without two-factor authentication (2FA)
    for users in countries other than the default. It identifies this behavior by searching Duo administrator activity logs for policy
    creation or update actions where the policy description indicates that access is permitted without 2FA for certain user locations.
    This is achieved by parsing the relevant fields in the logs and filtering for the specific condition of 'Allow access without 2FA.'
    This behavior is significant for a Security Operations Center (SOC) because bypassing 2FA for any user group or location weakens
    the organization's security posture and increases the risk of unauthorized access. Attackers or malicious insiders may exploit
    such policy changes to circumvent strong authentication controls, potentially leading to account compromise, data breaches, or
    lateral movement within the environment. Early detection of these policy modifications enables the SOC to investigate and respond
    before attackers can leverage the weakened controls, thereby reducing the risk and impact of a successful attack.
search: |-
    `cisco_duo_administrator` action=policy_update OR action=policy_create
      | spath input=description
      | search user_locations_default_action="Allow access without 2FA"
      | rename object as user
      | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime
        BY action actionlabel description
           user admin_email
      | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
      | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
      | `cisco_duo_policy_skip_2fa_for_other_countries_filter`
how_to_implement: The analytic leverages Duo activity logs to be ingested using the Cisco Security Cloud App (https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404).
known_false_positives: No false positives have been identified at this time.
references:
    - https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/7404
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$user$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  user = "$user$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$user$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$user$") starthoursago=168  | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
rba:
    message: A policy has been created or updated to allow access without 2FA for other countries by user $user$ with email $admin_email$
    risk_objects:
        - field: user
          type: user
          score: 50
    threat_objects: []
tags:
    analytic_story:
        - Cisco Duo Suspicious Activity
    asset_type: Identity
    mitre_attack_id:
        - T1556
    product:
        - Splunk Enterprise
        - Splunk Enterprise Security
        - Splunk Cloud
    security_domain: identity
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1556/cisco_duo_policy_bypass_2FA_other_countries/cisco_duo_administrator.json
          source: duo
          sourcetype: cisco:duo:administrator