SSO and Identity Security Testing
Single sign-on makes one login the key to everything, so we test the assertion handling, the token lifetime, the linking flows and the ways around conditional access. CREST-certified testers, fixed price from £3,150, scoped in 24 hours.
- Unlimited retesting
- No rescheduling or cancellation fees
- Fixed quote within 24 hours
“I would highly recommend EJN Labs to any organisation seeking reliable, detailed, and well-managed penetration testing services, particularly for government or enterprise-level projects.”
Imran SaghirProject Lead, SquareOne“There wasn’t another company we could find that could deliver what we needed in the timeframe we needed. The client loved it, and we got instant ROI from the engagement.”
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriWhen an application delegates authentication it also delegates trust. It believes the assertion it is handed, which makes signature validation, audience checks and replay protection the load-bearing controls. They are also the controls that libraries get wrong, and that custom integrations get wrong more often.
Single sign-on concentrates the risk. Test it like it matters.
The second area is the joins. Just in time provisioning that trusts an unverified email claim, account linking that merges two identities, and group claims that quietly grant an administrative role. Each of these is an account takeover that leaves normal-looking logs.
Then the exceptions. Legacy authentication endpoints that never got conditional access, service accounts with broad scopes and old secrets, and break glass accounts that exist for a good reason and are protected by hope.
ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS and Cyber Essentials Plus audits accept manual penetration test evidence. Scan-only evidence is generally insufficient.
IDENTITY SPECIFICS
What We Actually Test in an Identity Setup
Ten test areas that apply because single sign-on sits in front of your applications, on top of the standard application checks. Every finding is verified, reproducible and mapped to OWASP, CWE and CVSS 3.1.
SAML assertion handling
Signature validation, wrapping attacks, audience and recipient checks, timestamps and replay.
OIDC and OAuth flows
Redirect URI validation, PKCE, state and nonce handling, and implicit flow remnants.
Token handling
Lifetime, audience, algorithm and key handling, rotation, and whether revocation actually revokes.
Session management
Single logout across applications, concurrent sessions, and fixation between the provider and the application.
Account linking and provisioning
Just in time provisioning, unverified email claims, domain verification and identity merge paths.
Conditional access and MFA
Coverage against the applications that matter, legacy authentication paths, and device or location exceptions.
Claims and role mapping
Group and attribute claims that drive authorisation, and escalation through a claim the user can influence.
Federation trust
Trusted issuers, certificate rotation, and tenant boundaries in multi-tenant applications.
Machine identity
Client credentials, secret and certificate rotation, and scopes broader than the integration needs.
Recovery and break glass
Password reset, account recovery, help desk verification and emergency access accounts.
METHODOLOGY
What a single sign-on finding looks like
Written the way a finding appears in our reports. The example below is reconstructed from publicly documented research, with hosts, paths and identifiers redacted. We do not republish client findings, named or anonymised.
Signature verification bypassed by a parser difference in the SAML response
- Affected
- The service provider integration at [redacted], federated with the corporate identity provider and protected by multi-factor authentication at the provider.
- What we found
- The library used one XML parser to verify the signature and a different one to read the assertion. A response crafted so the two parsers disagreed passed verification while delivering an assertion we controlled, letting us sign in as any user including an administrator.
- Why it matters
- Authentication bypass against every application behind the single sign-on integration, with no password, no multi-factor prompt, and a sign-in event that looks legitimate in the logs.
- Fix
- Upgrade the SAML library, verify the signature and read the assertion from the same parsed document, pin the identity provider certificate, and enforce the response identifier, audience and recipient checks.
Reconstructed from public research: CVE-2025-25291 and CVE-2025-25292, authentication bypass in ruby-saml through a parser differential, reported by GitHub Security Lab.
Identity Penetration Testing: From Scope to Attestation
CREST-aligned methodology built on OWASP Web Security Testing Guide, OWASP ASVS, NIST SP 800-115, and PTES. Each finding maps to all four standards plus your specific compliance regime.
Reconnaissance
Application mapping, technology fingerprinting, content discovery, parameter enumeration, authentication-flow analysis, role-matrix construction.
Vulnerability Assessment
Authenticated and unauthenticated automated scanning across every user role, plus targeted manual checks for known weakness patterns.
Manual Exploitation
Hands-on testing by a CREST-certified pentester. Business-logic exploitation, chained vulnerabilities, privilege escalation, impact validation.
Reporting + Retest
Executive summary, technical report with CVSS scores and reproduction steps, walkthrough call, free retest after remediation, attestation letter.
CREDENTIALS
Verified Accreditations Auditors Accept
Every credential below is independently verifiable. UK procurement teams, FCA supervisors, ISO 27001 / SOC 2 auditors, and cyber insurance underwriters all recognise these standards.
GET YOUR QUOTE
Get a CREST Identity assessment pen test quote in 24 hours
A fixed-price quote back in one business day, from a named CREST assessor. No sales pipeline, no chasing.
- CREST and IASME accredited. Testing your auditors and clients already recognise.
- Fast-track testing within 24 hours where required. Free retest of every fix included.
- Live findings via your client portal, not a four-week PDF.
- Fixed price from £3,150 for a small, single-scope engagement, agreed up front. Most engagements run £4,730 and up. No day-rate surprises.
Dan WilcocksonCo-Founder, CelloriUnder NDA Further named references available on a scoping call.
- We reply within one business day with a fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
- You approve the scope and we book a start date, usually within 24 hours.
- Live findings land in your client portal as we test, with a free retest of every fix.
Get your fixed pen test quote in 24 hours
Quote request received
We will reply within one business day with your fixed-price quote from a named CREST assessor.
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COMPLIANCE READY
Reports Mapped to Every Framework
Findings are explicitly tagged to the relevant control reference. Your audit team submits the report directly without translation work.
ISO 27001:2022
Annex A.8.8 management of technical vulnerabilities plus A.5.15-5.18 and A.8.2-8.5 access control validation.
SOC 2 Type I & II
CC6 logical access, CC7 system operations, CC8 change management evidence.
PCI DSS
Requirement 11.4 application penetration testing across cardholder data environments, including ecommerce penetration testing for online retail platforms.
FCA SYSC
SYSC 4.1.1R, 6.1.1R, 13 mapped to each finding for FCA-regulated firms.
UK GDPR
Article 32 effectiveness testing, customer-data security controls, ICO-acceptable evidence.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Direct certification through our IASME body status, single-vendor delivery.
PRICING
Transparent Identity Penetration Testing Pricing
Pricing depends on the number of tenants, integrations and roles in scope, and the depth of the configuration review. The day count flexes; the included deliverables stay the same across all engagements.
3 to 4 days
Single user role, basic CRUD application, marketing website with auth. Typically 5-day engagement.
Get a fixed quote4 to 6 days
Multi-role SaaS, business application with payment integration. Typically 8-12 day engagement.
Get a fixed quote6 to 8 days
Multi-tenant platform, complex authorisation matrix, integration-heavy applications. 15-20 day engagement.
Get a fixed quotePart of Technologies We Pen Test. These are examples of the stacks we publish pages for, not a complete list. If yours is not here we still test it. Related pages:
BY SECTOR
Identity Penetration Testing for Your Sector
Sector-specialist scoping for UK businesses with sector-specific compliance regimes and threat models.
Fintech & FCA-Regulated
FCA SYSC, Open Banking FAPI 1.0, PSD2 SCA, payment-flow scrutiny, KYC/AML testing.
Fintech sector pageSaaS Companies
SOC 2 Type I & II evidence, multi-tenant boundaries, role escalation, customer-tenant isolation.
SaaS sector pageLaw Firms
SRA Cyber Standard, privileged data, conveyancing fraud defence, partner-tier procurement.
Law firm sector pageHealthcare
NHS DTAC, DSP Toolkit v6, UK GDPR Article 32, EHR systems, telehealth platforms.
Healthcare sector pageInsurance
FCA / PRA Operational Resilience, cyber underwriting, claims data, broker portals.
Insurance sector pagePublic Sector
CCS / G-Cloud framework, NCSC-aligned, citizen-facing services, PSN-compliance scrutiny.
Public sector pageWHY EJN LABS
What You Get From Identity Penetration Testing
Six concrete differentiators competitors don’t all match.
CREST-Certified Testers, Verifiable
Every test by a CREST-certified pen tester (CRT, CCT APP, CCT INF where applicable). Verify our company status at crest-approved.org.
24-Hour Startup, Where Required
From signed scope to active testing in a single business day for incident response, audit deadlines, or regulator-driven timelines.
Live Findings, Not 4-Week PDFs
Critical issues reported during testing through your client portal. Your team remediates while testing continues.
Audit-Ready Reports
Executive summary plus full technical report with CVSS scores and explicit framework mappings (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, FCA SYSC).
Free Retests, Standard
Verify remediation of every finding before close-out. Letter of attestation for audit submission included. Most competitors charge £1,500-£3,000 per retest.
UK-Based CREST Testers
Every engagement performed by vetted, UK-based CREST-certified testers, matched to your needs, security clearance, and compliance scope.
FAQ
Frequently Asked
Which identity providers do you cover?
Entra ID, Okta, Auth0, Keycloak, Google Workspace and custom SAML or OIDC integrations. The flaws repeat across all of them.
Do you need administrative access?
A read-only view of the configuration makes it far more thorough. We can also test purely from the outside with two test accounts.
Is this the same as the Microsoft 365 review?
No. The Microsoft 365 review covers the tenant and its services. This covers the authentication and authorisation layer wherever it runs.
Will you attempt MFA bypass?
Yes, within agreed limits. Bypass paths through legacy protocols and exceptions are usually the finding that matters.
Can you test our customer-facing login too?
Yes. Consumer identity flows, social login and account linking are in scope when you include them.
Does this cover privileged access management?
Partly. We test the paths into privileged roles. A full PAM review is a separate engagement.
What is included in the price?
Scoping, testing, the executive summary, the technical report, a walkthrough call and free retests until the finding is closed. One scope, one number, no follow-up invoices.
How fast can you start?
Scope to active testing in 24 hours once the scope is agreed, subject to tester availability in your window.
Are your testers CREST certified?
Yes. EJN Labs is a CREST member company and testing is delivered by CREST-qualified testers. The membership is verifiable on the CREST marketplace.
20+ CREST-accredited testing services in one place
Web, mobile, API, cloud, AI, infrastructure, red team. Pick the test that fits your environment.
Get your identity layer tested properly
Tell us who your provider is and which applications sit behind it. You will have a fixed scope and a number within 24 hours.
