redact-secret · Report
Personal access token
84-character PAT with a fixed AZDO signature at positions 76-80.
Research record
From credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0. It describes the research on the format, not what any scanner or the product does, and not a support status.
3 events in the review history: 2 observed, 1 reviewed. Latest: observed on 2026-10-03 by automation, project maintainer. Project-maintained review is not independent validation. The family record at this release.
Format
Provider format research from credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0.
What it looks like
- Descriptive pattern
^[A-Za-z0-9]{76}AZDO[A-Za-z0-9]{4}$
Parts are shown as recorded. Evidence classes belong to the facts below; no class is assigned to a part.
Format facts
Provider documented ·
provider-source· current · observed 2026-09-2384-character PAT with AZDO signature: tokens are 84 characters long with a fixed AZDO signature at positions 76-80; Microsoft Purview separately supplies the alphanumeric detail used by the pattern
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/organizations/accounts/use-personal-access-tokens-to-authenticateprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports tokens are 84 characters long with a fixed AZDO signature at positions 76-80; Microsoft Purview separately supplies the alphanumeric detail used by the pattern · #pat-format
Provider documented ·
field-total-length· current · observed 2026-09-23total-length: 84 characters
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/organizations/accounts/use-personal-access-tokens-to-authenticateprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports "PATs are 84 characters long" · #pat-format
Provider documented ·
field-signature· current · observed 2026-09-23signature: literal AZDO at 0-based offsets 76-79 (the page's "positions 76 through 80")
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/organizations/accounts/use-personal-access-tokens-to-authenticateprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports signature: literal AZDO at 0-based offsets 76-79 (the page's "positions 76 through 80") · #pat-format
Provider documented ·
field-alphabet· current · observed 2026-09-23alphabet: [A-Za-z0-9] in every non-signature position (The same Purview page's Format summary says "letters, digits, and special characters". The detailed pattern and the credential example agree with this contract; the contradiction is kept on record (redact-secret#642) and no alphabet twin is authored on it.)
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-defn-azure-devops-personal-access-tokenprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports detailed pattern: a-z, A-Z or 0-9
Unresolved ·
field-legacy-52-character-generation· current · observed 2026-09-22legacy-52-character-generation: the pre-2024 52-character lowercase-base32 PAT that trufflehog 3.97.4 still targets (Outside this contract; no fixture relies on it.)
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret/issues/642scanner-rule-source · last read 2026-09-22 · latest outcome read · supports legacy-52-character-generation: the pre-2024 52-character lowercase-base32 PAT that trufflehog 3.97.4 still targets
Unresolved ·
listed-references· current · observed 2026-09-22The legacy contract lists 1 reference without stating which property each supports.
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-defn-azure-devops-personal-access-tokenprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports Listed as a reference by the legacy contract
Provider documented ·
dossier-research· current · observed 2026-09-23Legacy dossier research (verdict ready, tier T1) cited 3 sources; the dossier does not attribute sources to individual properties.
- redact-secret/redact-secret @ 8b6a5fde52ecb4dfce13f09c7a947062d21483c7: docs/audits/evidence/642/README.mdproject-research-note · last read 2026-09-23 · latest outcome read · supports Final research evidence recorded by the legacy dossier
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-defn-azure-devops-personal-access-tokenprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/organizations/accounts/use-personal-access-tokens-to-authenticateprovider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome unchanged · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family · #pat-format
Open questions
No open question is recorded for this revision.
Benchmark dossier notes
From the provider dossier, as written. The evidence level above says how well the format is backed; a fact the dossier does not record is not shown.
- Shape
- 84 alphanumeric characters (
[A-Za-z0-9], case-sensitive) with the fixed signatureAZDOat zero-based offsets 76 to 79, so 76 characters, thenAZDO, then 4 characters. The provider says 52 of the 84 are random and does not say what the other 32 hold, so only the length, marker position and alphabet are claims here. - Basis
- T1. The Azure DevOps PAT article states "PATs are 84 characters long" with a fixed
AZDOsignature at positions 76 through 80. Microsoft Purview's sensitive-information-type page gives the alphabet in its detailed pattern. That page's ownFormatsummary says "letters, digits, and special characters", which contradicts the detailed pattern and its worked example; the detailed pattern was followed. The positions wording spans five positions for a four-character marker, and only the zero-based half-open reading fits the Purview example. - Issuance
- not attempted.
- Contract in core
- detector-families.md.
In this benchmark
Fixture rows on the current run. Counts are for redact-secret in published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14 mode.
- Fixtures
- 29
- Left readable
- 0
- Redacted too much
- 0
- False alarms
- 0
29 fixtures: 9 expect a redaction, 17 must stay quiet, 3 record project policy. See every row
| Evidence level | Fixtures | Left readable | Too much | False alarms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1Provider-documented | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T3Project policy | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Every scanner on the same fixtures
In run order. Counts are what each scanner recorded on this family's fixtures, whichever rules it has; a scanner with no rule for the family has nothing to report on it.
| Scanner | Fixtures | Left readable | Too much | False alarms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| flare-redactRuntime library · 1.6.1 · Published npm package · secrets-only (pii, generic_assignment disabled) · JavaScript engineNo rule maps to it | 29 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| gitleaksRepository scanner · 8.30.1 · Directory scan · default rulesNo rule maps to it | 29 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| redact-secretProduct measured here · 0.1.0-beta.14 · Published npm package · default detectors1 detector mapped | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| trufflehogRepository scanner · 3.97.4 · Filesystem scan · verification disabled1 rule targets it | 29 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
Looks like it, but isn't
Values the dossier records as resembling this credential without being one.
- Collisions
- the legacy PAT format is a 52-character alphanumeric value with no embedded marker and no distinguishing structure.
Scanner rules for this family
Mapped by hand (reviewed 2026-09-30) from each scanner's pinned rule file, never from what a scanner found on the fixtures.
| Scanner | Rule | What the rule matches |
|---|---|---|
| trufflehog · rules 3.97.4 | azuredevopspersonalaccesstoken | azure keyword + 52 characters |
No rule maps to this family in flare-redact, gitleaks, openredaction.
Fixtures in this family
29 rows, redact-secret's outcome on each. Rows that need a look come first (0), then the rest in corpus order. Choose "Every scanner" to see each scanner's outcome for the same rows.
| Fixture | Kind and evidence | redact-secret |
|---|---|---|
azure-devops-personal-access-token-az-devops-login-stdinazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-bareazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Project policyT3 · Project policy | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-quotedazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Project policyT3 · Project policy | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-unicode-crlfazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Project policyT3 · Project policy | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-env-ext-patazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-git-remote-urlazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-github-actions-boards-syncazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-nuget-config-passwordazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-python-sdk-connectionazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-self-hosted-agent-composeazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-shell-export-ext-patazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-terraform-providerazure-devops · documented-format-literal | Must redactT1 · Provider-documented | Redacted |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-bare-twinazure-devops · wrong-length | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-quoted-twinazure-devops · wrong-length | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-signature-bare-twinazure-devops · boundary-violation | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-signature-quoted-twinazure-devops · boundary-violation | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-signature-unicode-crlf-twinazure-devops · boundary-violation | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-azdo-marker-unicode-crlf-twinazure-devops · wrong-length | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-env-ext-pat-signature-offset-twinazure-devops · boundary-violation | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-ext-pat-template-placeholderazure-devops · documentation-placeholder | Must not flagT3 · Project policy | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-git-remote-url-length-twinazure-devops · wrong-length | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-label-proseazure-devops · benign-lookalike | Must not flagT3 · Project policy | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-maskazure-devops · benign-lookalike | Must not flagT3 · Project policy | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-missing-markerazure-devops · benign-lookalike | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-nuget-config-password-signature-case-twinazure-devops · boundary-violation | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-pipeline-ids-public-idazure-devops · public-identifier | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-referenceazure-devops · benign-lookalike | Must not flagT3 · Project policy | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-rotation-note-proseazure-devops · prose-mention | Must not flagT3 · Project policy | Quiet |
azure-devops-personal-access-token-short-bodyazure-devops · benign-lookalike | Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented | Quiet |
Sources
Researched 2026-09-23.
Documentation and code
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/organizations/accounts/use-personal-access-tokens-to-authenticate#pat-format
- learn.microsoft.com/en-us/purview/sit-defn-azure-devops-personal-access-token
Research log
- redact-secret/redact-secret#298Research issue
- redact-secret/redact-secret#642Research issue
- Final evidence, pinned to a commit/redact-secret/redact-secret/blob/8b6a5fde52ecb4dfce13f09c7a947062d21483c7/docs/audits/evidence/642/README.md