Azure Cognitive Search API Key

Detects Azure Cognitive Search (AI Search) API key patterns. This pattern is based on a Microsoft Purview built-in sensitive information type. Users already running Purview may prefer to enable the built-in SIT directly, or use this version as a starting point for customisation.

Type: regex
Engine: universal
Confidence: high
Confidence justification: High confidence: structurally constrained 32-character hexadecimal pattern with Azure Search context keywords reduces false positive rates significantly. Added context gating and exclusion rules improve precision and reduce incidental matches.
Detection quality: Partial
Jurisdictions: global
Regulations: Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)
Frameworks: CIS Controls, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, PCI-DSS, SOC 2
Data categories: credentials, security
Scope: specific
Risk rating: 10
Platform compatibility: Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Degraded, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

(?i)(?:api[._-]?key|search[._-]?key|admin[._-]?key|query[._-]?key)\s*[:=]\s*"?[0-9A-Fa-f]{32}"?

Corroborative evidence keywords

Cognitive Search, AI Search, Azure Search, search service, api-key, admin key, query key, search index, api key, api_key, apikey, access key, access token, auth token, authorization, bearer, conn str, connection string, connectionstring, cookie (+45 more)

Proximity: 300 characters

Should match

api-key=AAAA0000BBBB1111CCCC2222DDDD3333 — Azure Search API key (32 hex chars)
search_key: "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef" — Search key in lowercase hex
admin_key="00000000000000000000000000000000" — Admin key with placeholder value

Should not match

api-key=short — Too short to be a valid search key
searchServiceName=my-search-service — Service name, not a key
template example placeholder record identifier — Template/sample context should be excluded even when anchor words are present

Known false positives

Azure Search documentation and SDK samples with example API keys. Mitigation: Check for common placeholder patterns and documentation context.
Other 32-character hex strings such as MD5 hashes. Mitigation: Require proximity to Azure Search specific keywords to differentiate.

References

Azure Cognitive Search API key entity definition - Microsoft Learn