Privilege escalation is the act of obtaining more permissions than an account or process was meant to have. Vertical escalation moves up to a higher level, for example from standard user to administrator or root. Horizontal escalation reaches another user's data at the same level.
Why it matters
Initial footholds are often low-privileged, such as a compromised web application account. Escalation turns that into full control. Causes include unpatched operating system flaws, overly permissive file or service settings, stored credentials and broken access checks in applications, where changing an ID in a request returns someone else's record.
Example
A web app's profile endpoint accepts a user ID in the URL. A broken access check lets any logged-in user view any profile by changing the number. The fix is to verify on the server that the requested record belongs to the signed-in user, rather than trusting the ID.
Common mistakes
- Running services as administrator or root when they need fewer rights.
- Checking permissions only in the user interface, not on the server.
- Leaving administrator credentials in scripts or shared folders.
- Delaying patches for local privilege flaws because they require prior access.
Related
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