Enable SSPR

Overview

Without Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) enabled, users with password-related issues must contact help desk support, which can cause in operational delays and lost productivity. There are also potential security vulnerabilities during the extended timeframe required for administrative password resets. These delays not only reduce employee efficiency (especially in time-sensitive roles), but also increase support costs and strain IT resources. During these periods, threat actors might exploit locked accounts through social engineering attacks targeting help desk personnel. Threat actors can potentially convince support staff to reset passwords for accounts they don’t legitimately control, enabling initial access to user credentials.

When users are unable to reset their own passwords through secure, automated processes, they frequently resort to insecure workarounds. Examples include sharing accounts with colleagues, using weak passwords that are easier to remember, or writing down passwords in discoverable locations, all of which expand the attack surface for credential harvesting techniques. The lack of SSPR forces users to maintain static passwords for longer periods between administrative resets. This type of password policy increases the likelihood that compromised credentials from previous breaches or password spray attacks remain valid and usable by threat actors. The absence of user-controlled password reset capabilities also delays the response time for users to secure their accounts when they suspect compromise. This delay allows threat actors extended persistence within compromised accounts to perform reconnaissance, establish other access methods, or exfiltrate sensitive data before the account is eventually reset through administrative channels

Remediation

• Enable Self-Service Password Reset

Run it

The check runs as part of the whole assessment, with the ZeroTrustAssessment module installed:

Install-Module ZeroTrustAssessment -Scope CurrentUser
Connect-Maester
Invoke-Maester -Pack ZTA -SkipBuiltIn

Leave out -SkipBuiltIn to run Maester’s own checks in the same run.

About this check

Severity	Low
Effort to fix	Low
Impact on users	Low
Pillar	Identity
Category	Access control
Product	Entra ID
Feature	Authentication methods
Area	Authentication
Licence	P1
Tenant	Workforce, External

Product, feature, area and ATT&CK are Maester’s: the assessment does not record them, so Maester keeps them in the pack’s taxonomy.json.

A Microsoft check, part of the Zero Trust Assessment pack. Text from ZeroTrustAssessment 3.1.0, © Microsoft, MIT licence.