MT.1118: AI agents should not use author (maker) authentication for connections.
| ID | MT.1118 |
| Severity | Medium |
| Suite | Mito |
| Product | Copilot Studio |
| Feature | Agents |
| Security area | AI and agents |
| Resource type | Agent |
| User impact of fixing | Medium |
| Effort to fix | Medium |
| Framework controls | nist-800-53-r5:AC-6 Least Privilege |
| MITRE ATT&CK | T1550.001, T1213 |
| Reads from | Microsoft Graph |
What this checks and how to fix it
Section titled “What this checks and how to fix it”AI agents should not use author (maker) authentication for their connector tools.
When a connector tool uses author authentication, the agent accesses external services (SharePoint, SQL, Outlook, etc.) using the authors stored credentials instead of requiring the end user to authenticate. This creates a privilege escalation risk — the agent operates with the maker’s full permissions regardless of who is chatting with it, and it bypasses separation of duties controls.
How to fix
Section titled “How to fix”In Copilot Studio, review the agent’s tools and change each connector’s authentication setting from Agent author authentication to User authentication. This ensures the agent accesses external services using the chatting user’s own credentials and permission scope.
Learn more: Configure user authentication in Copilot Studio
Mito check. Author: lnfernux. Open-source licences.
Open-source licences. CIS Benchmark material © Center for Internet Security, Inc.; CISA SCuBA baselines are public domain (CC0).
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