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Security Operations · Intermediate

Password Spraying

Trying a few common passwords against many accounts to avoid lockout thresholds.

Definition

Instead of many attempts per account, the attacker tries one password like "Winter2026!" across hundreds of accounts, staying below lockout limits. It is common against cloud identity providers and VPNs. Detection looks for one source failing logins across many accounts; MFA and banned password lists mitigate it.

Example

Trying "Password1!" once against every account in an Entra ID tenant.

Exam tip

Many accounts, few passwords, low and slow - that is spraying, not brute force.

Don't confuse it with

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