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Microsoft Learn page titled Revoke user access in Microsoft Entra ID.
Screenshot: Microsoft Learn, Revoke user access in an emergency in Microsoft Entra ID, last updated June 19, 2026 (fair use).

Response

Did You Know: A Password Reset Does Not Revoke Every Microsoft Entra Session

Microsoft's token documentation shows that a password change can leave some refresh tokens and session cookies alive, issued access tokens run until they expire, and app-issued sessions sit outside Entra's reach. Evicting an attacker from a compromised account takes explicit revocation, not just a reset.

Noah Park, ResponseNew York3 min read

LONDON - When an account is compromised, the reflex in many security operations centers is to reset the password and move on. Microsoft's own identity documentation describes a more complicated picture. In its guide to revoking user access in Microsoft Entra ID, last updated June 19, 2026, Microsoft says there could be a period between the start of access revocation and the moment access is effectively revoked, and that administrators must understand how tokens work to mitigate that risk.

The refresh token documentation for the Microsoft identity platform shows where the gap sits. Its token revocation table says that when a user changes a password or completes self-service password reset, password-based cookies and tokens are revoked, while non-password-based cookies, non-password-based tokens, and tokens issued to confidential clients stay alive. An admin reset in the Azure portal leaves the same three classes alive. An admin reset in the Microsoft Entra admin center or the Microsoft 365 admin center revokes non-password-based tokens and confidential client tokens but still leaves non-password-based cookies alive. Only two changes in the table revoke every class: a user revoking their own refresh tokens, and an administrator revoking all refresh tokens for the user. By default, refresh tokens last 90 days, except for single-page apps and email one-time passcode flows, where the default is 24 hours.

Microsoft Learn token revocation table showing which refresh tokens are revoked or stay alive after password changes and admin actions.
Screenshot: Microsoft Learn, token revocation table from Refresh tokens in the Microsoft identity platform (fair use).

Revocation is therefore an explicit step. For a Microsoft Entra environment, Microsoft's guidance is to clear Account enabled to block new sign-ins and then select Revoke sessions, or to run Update-MgUser and Revoke-MgUserSignInSession in Microsoft Graph PowerShell and disable the user's registered devices. For hybrid accounts it adds disabling the user in on-premises Active Directory and resetting the password there twice, to mitigate the risk of pass-the-hash. The Microsoft Graph revokeSignInSessions API invalidates the refresh tokens issued to applications for a user, and session cookies in the user's browser, by resetting the signInSessionsValidFromDateTime property. Microsoft notes a small delay of a few minutes before tokens are revoked, and the API does not revoke sign-in sessions for external users, who sign in through their home tenant.

Microsoft Learn reference page for the Microsoft Graph revokeSignInSessions API.
Screenshot: Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Graph user: revokeSignInSessions API reference (fair use).

Even then, tokens already issued can keep working for a while. Microsoft's access token documentation says the default lifetime is a random value between 60 and 90 minutes. The revoke-access guide says applications that use access tokens lose access when the token expires, and that Microsoft Entra ID can't directly revoke a session token issued by an application. Continuous access evaluation narrows that window for services that support it, such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams, which subscribe to critical events including a deleted or disabled account, a changed or reset password, and an administrator explicitly revoking all refresh tokens. Microsoft says the goal is near real time enforcement, but latency of up to 15 minutes might be observed.

Microsoft Learn continuous access evaluation page listing the critical events that are evaluated.
Screenshot: Microsoft Learn, critical event evaluation in Continuous access evaluation in Microsoft Entra (fair use).

For responders, the takeaway is sequence, not a single button. Block new sign-ins, revoke sessions explicitly, find the applications that hold their own sessions and revoke or deprovision there, and treat the remaining access token lifetime as a window to keep watching rather than an all-clear. A password reset is one step in evicting an attacker from an identity, not the eviction itself.

SOCtember diagram of four response steps: block new sign-ins, revoke sessions, wait out or cut access tokens, close app sessions.
Illustration: SOCtember, a password reset is one step, not the whole eviction; sequence paraphrased from Microsoft Learn.

Sources:


Noah Park covers incident response, containment, and blue-team operations for SOCtember from New York.

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