privilegieescalering

Privilegieescalering, often translated as privilege escalation, is the act by which a user or process gains higher levels of access than originally granted. In computing, systems assign a hierarchy of privileges to protect sensitive data and critical functions. Privilegieescalering can undermine confidentiality, integrity, and availability by enabling unauthorized actions such as reading restricted data, modifying system settings, or installing persistence.

There are two main forms: vertical escalation, where an attacker moves from a lower-privilege account to a higher one (for example, from a standard user to an administrator), and horizontal escalation, where access is gained at the same privilege level under a different account. Both forms enable broader access than intended and can facilitate further compromise of a system.

Common vectors include misconfigured access controls, software vulnerabilities that allow privilege elevation, weak or reused credentials, and insecurely granted privileged tokens or permissions. On Unix-like systems, misconfigured setuid programs or file permissions can enable escalation; on Windows, token manipulation and abuse of privileged services are typical patterns; in cloud environments, overly broad IAM policies can enable cross-resource privilege escalation.

Impact ranges from data breaches and unauthorized configuration changes to persistent footholds and lateral movement within networks. Good security practice focuses on reducing opportunities for escalation and detecting attempts early.

Mitigation strategies include enforcing least privilege and need-to-know access, robust patch management, privileged access management, strong authentication with multi-factor verification, continuous monitoring and logging, regular access reviews, and secure configuration baselines. Layered defenses and regular security auditing help limit the risk and impact of privilege escalations.