Privilege Escalation Scanner
Identifies vertical and horizontal privilege escalation paths.
What is Privilege Escalation?
Privilege Escalation vulnerabilities allow users to gain unauthorized access levels. Vertical escalation means gaining higher privileges (user to admin). Horizontal escalation means accessing other users' data at the same level. Both occur through broken access controls, insecure direct object references, or logic flaws.
Why is This Important?
Privilege escalation transforms minor access into major breaches. A low-privilege foothold can become full system compromise. In multi-tenant systems, horizontal escalation exposes other customers' data. These vulnerabilities are common because access control is complex and often inconsistently implemented.
How It Works
1. Auth Flow Analysis
Maps authentication mechanisms including login, registration, password reset, and session management flows.
2. Security Testing
Tests for authentication bypasses, weak credentials, session flaws, and token vulnerabilities.
3. Access Verification
Validates findings by demonstrating unauthorized access or privilege escalation paths.
Key Capabilities
Comprehensive authentication security testing to protect user accounts and prevent unauthorized access.
- Complete authentication flow analysis
- Token and session security validation
- Password policy and brute-force testing
- Multi-factor authentication bypass detection
- OAuth, SAML, and JWT security assessment
Frequently Asked Questions
What causes vertical privilege escalation?
Causes include: exposed admin functions without authorization checks, predictable admin URLs, role checks only on UI (not API), modifiable role parameters, JWT manipulation for roles, path traversal to admin functions, default admin credentials, and insecure role upgrade flows.
How does horizontal escalation typically occur?
Common patterns: IDOR (changing user_id in requests), tenant isolation failures, shared resource access without ownership checks, cache pollution serving wrong user's data, JWT without proper user binding, and search/export functions lacking filters.
What testing approaches find escalation issues?
Approaches: test every function with different privilege levels, replay requests between user accounts, modify all user/role identifiers in requests, check API endpoints directly (bypass UI), test parameter pollution, and verify authorization on POST/PUT/DELETE not just GET.
How do I prevent privilege escalation?
Implement: deny by default authorization, check permissions on every request, use framework-provided access control, validate user owns requested resources, implement proper tenant isolation, use parameterized queries for authorization, log and alert on failed access attempts, and penetration test regularly.
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