What is Privilege Escalation?

Privilege escalation refers to a scenario where a user, application, or system gains higher levels of privileges than they are authorized to use, either through exploitation or misconfiguration. Gaining elevated privileges can enable a potential attacker to access sensitive data, execute unauthorized actions, or compromise an organization’s entire IT infrastructure.

Types of Privilege Escalation

Vertical Privilege Escalation

This occurs when an entity with lower privileges gains access to higher privileges. An example of vertical privilege escalation would be a regular user gaining administrative (root) access.

Horizontal Privilege Escalation

This is when an entity with similar privilege levels accesses the privileges or resources of another entity at the same level. An example would be a user accessing another user’s private data without authorization.

How Privilege Escalation Happens

There are several ways in which a malicious actor can engage in Privilege Escalation. These include:

Exploitation of Vulnerabilities

Issues like software bugs, misconfigurations, or unpatched systems. Attackers may use tactics such as race conditions, exploitation of insecure APIs, bypassing sandbox mechanisms, or a buffer overflow vulnerability to execute arbitrary code with administrative rights.

Misconfigured Permissions

Incorrectly set access control policies, such as overly permissive file or folder permissions. An example would be a non-admin user accessing admin-level critical system files through vertical privilege escalation due to incorrect permission settings.

Credential Theft

Gaining access to higher-privileged accounts by stealing passwords or session tokens. For example, using keyloggers to capture an administrator’s credentials.

Social Engineering

Exploiting trust, fear, or urgency to trick someone into providing credentials or performing actions that grant higher privileges. This would include targeted attacks on users with administrator-level privileged access. For example, attackers executing a fake tech-support scam. Targeting specific individuals with social engineering attacks is known as “spear phishing.” “Whaling” is a variation that targets high-profile individuals like executives. Social engineering attacks are frequently made via email, but attacks can also be executed via SMS or messaging app, known as “smishing”, or by voice call known as “vishing.”

Abuse of Legitimate Functionality

Using existing features like weak escalation mechanisms (e.g., “Run as administrator”) to bypass restrictions. An example would be a malicious actor exploiting poorly implemented role-switching mechanisms.

Impacts of Privilege Escalation

Data Breach

Malicious actors can gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.

System Compromise

Attackers can get full control over an organization’s system or network, enabling malware deployment or sabotage.

Service Disruption

Disabling services or corrupting critical files.

Lateral Movement

Using escalated privileges to move across systems within an organization’s IT infrastructure.

How to Prevent Privilege Escalation

Apply The Principle of Least Privilege

Ensures users and applications only have the minimum privileges necessary. This helps organizations limit the potential damage that Privilege Escalation can cause. The Principle of Least Privilege ensures users and applications operate with the minimum necessary access to perform their functions, reducing the risk of misuse.

Patch Vulnerabilities

Organizations must regularly update systems and applications to address known vulnerabilities.

Secure Credential Management

Enforce strong passwords, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and secure session handling.

Monitor and Audit

Continuously monitor access logs and activities for unusual patterns.

Harden Systems

Implement secure configurations and remove unnecessary services or accounts.

Regular Security Training

Educate users about phishing and social engineering risks.

Where to Learn More

Effective privileged access management and proactive security measures are critical to mitigating the risks of Privilege Escalation.

A modern Identity and Governance Administration (IGA) solution like Omada Identity Cloud helps organizations monitor user accounts for suspicious activities or changes in behavior. Omada Identity Cloud uses advanced analytics to identify possible risks, including potential Privilege Escalation. Get a demo.