Monkey365: "VerbosePreference property not found on this object"

[roohfelix]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently using Monkey365 (v0.95.1) to run a Microsoft 365 security assessment. I'm executing a collection that includes AdminPortal, ExchangeOnline, MicrosoftTeams, and SharePointOnline (Purview was excluded due to connection issues).

However, when I run the following:

$options = @{
Instance = 'Microsoft365';
Collect = @('AdminPortal','ExchangeOnline','MicrosoftTeams','SharePointOnline');
PromptBehavior = 'SelectAccount';
IncludeEntraID = $true;
ExportTo = @('CSV', 'HTML');
WriteLog = $true;
}
Invoke-Monkey365 @options

I get this error:

Write-Error : [Invoke-M365Scanner] - Unable to create var object: The property 'VerbosePreference' was not found on this object. Verify that the property exists.
At C:\Monkey365\core\tasks\Initialize-MonkeyScan.ps1:99 char:13

• throw ("{0}: {1}" -f "Unable to create var object",$_.Exception.Message)

Has anyone run into this issue?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share insights or confirm the best approach.

[silverhack]

Hey @roohfelix I can confirm that it's a bug and only appears when the -Verbose option is not set. I'll add this as a new issue.

In the meantime you can use the following:

$options = @{
    Instance = 'Microsoft365';
    Collect = @('AdminPortal','ExchangeOnline','MicrosoftTeams','SharePointOnline');
    PromptBehavior = 'SelectAccount';
    IncludeEntraID = $true;
    ExportTo = @('CSV', 'HTML');
    WriteLog = $true;
    Verbose = $true;
    Debug = $true;
}
Invoke-Monkey365 @options

Could you please let me know if the above works for you?

Thanks for catching this! It's really appreciated.

Cheers,

[silverhack]

Hey @roohfelix could you please check the dev branch and do let me know?

Thanks!

[roohfelix]

@silverhack Thanks for your response.

I managed to resolve this with a workaround by editing the Initialize-MonkeyScan.ps1 script.

I replaced the following block:

$vars = [ordered]@{
    O365Object = $O365Object;
    WriteLog = $O365Object.WriteLog;
    Verbosity = $O365Object.VerboseOptions;
    InformationAction = $O365Object.InformationAction;
    VerbosePreference = $O365Object.VerboseOptions.VerbosePreference;
    DebugPreference = $O365Object.VerboseOptions.DebugPreference;
    returnData = $null;
    LogQueue = $null;
}

With this version:

$verbosePref = $null
$debugPref = $null

if ($O365Object.VerboseOptions -and ($O365Object.VerboseOptions | Get-Member -Name 'VerbosePreference' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    $verbosePref = $O365Object.VerboseOptions.VerbosePreference
}

if ($O365Object.VerboseOptions -and ($O365Object.VerboseOptions | Get-Member -Name 'DebugPreference' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)) {
    $debugPref = $O365Object.VerboseOptions.DebugPreference
}

$vars = [ordered]@{
    O365Object = $O365Object;
    WriteLog = $O365Object.WriteLog;
    Verbosity = $O365Object.VerboseOptions;
    InformationAction = $O365Object.InformationAction;
    VerbosePreference = $verbosePref;
    DebugPreference = $debugPref;
    returnData = $null;
    LogQueue = $null;
}

This avoids errors when the VerbosePreference or DebugPreference properties are missing.

Thanks again!

[silverhack]

Hey @roohfelix that's great and very elegant! I'll add this to the main code base and will be updated soon.

Thanks!