Ensuring devices meet organizational security and compliance policies
The most common reason for this behavior is that Conditional Access evaluates all resources involved in the sign-in, not just the single app that was explicitly excluded. Even if the target application is excluded, the sign-in can still be blocked when:
- Service dependencies are in scope of the policy
- Many apps call other Microsoft resources during sign-in (for example, Azure Portal → Azure Resource Manager; Teams → SharePoint, Exchange, etc.).
- If the CA policy applies to any of these dependent resources, the policy is still enforced and can block access.
- To verify this, open Microsoft Entra ID → Sign-in logs, select the failed sign-in, and on the Conditional Access tab review:
- Application and Resource values (service dependency)
- Audience list (all resources requested as part of that sign-in)
- If any of those resources are still in scope of the “require compliant device” policy, the sign-in will be blocked even though the main app is excluded.
- Audience reporting shows another resource triggering the policy
- In the sign-in log entry, under Resource → Audience, check all audiences listed.
- If one of those audiences is covered by the CA policy (and not excluded), that policy will apply and can block the request.
- The wrong object is excluded (app vs. service principal)
- Some scenarios (for example, Defender/Global Secure Access mobile client) require excluding specific service principals or app IDs, not just a generic app selection.
- For Defender/Global Secure Access, Microsoft recommends explicitly excluding:
- MicrosoftDefenderATP XPlat app (a0e84e36-b067-4d5c-ab4a-3db38e598ae2)
- Microsoft Defender for Mobile TVM app (e724aa31-0f56-4018-b8be-f8cb82ca1196) when Threat & Vulnerability Management is used.
- Ensure the correct app IDs/service principals are created and then excluded in the CA policy.
- Global or overly broad CA policies still apply
- If there are other CA policies targeting All users / All resources with controls like Require device to be marked as compliant, they can still block access even if one policy excludes the app.
- Review all active CA policies to confirm no other policy is:
- Targeting the user and
- Targeting any of the resources/audiences involved in the sign-in.
- How to troubleshoot and fix
- Go to Entra ID → Sign-in logs, open the failed sign-in.
- On the Conditional Access tab, identify:
- Which policy caused the block.
- Which resource/audience is in scope of that policy.
- Either:
- Add the missing dependent resources to the Excluded cloud apps list of the policy, or
- Create a separate, more targeted policy for that app, or
- Adjust scope so that only the intended app/resources are protected by the compliant-device requirement.
- If using Defender/Global Secure Access or Defender for Endpoint mobile, ensure the recommended Defender app/service principals are excluded so posture reporting and Global Secure Access client are not blocked.
This approach ensures the exclusion is effective across all resources actually used during the sign-in, not just the primary application.
References:
- Troubleshoot sign-in problems with Conditional Access
- Resources for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for mobile devices
- Enable compliant network check with Conditional Access
- Require a compliant device, Microsoft Entra hybrid joined device, or multifactor authentication for all users
- Require approved client apps or app protection policy
- Block unknown or unsupported device platform