Privilege escalation is a type of attack in which an attacker gains elevated access to a system, moving from a lower level of access (such as a standard user) to a higher level (such as an administrator).
• Used by attackers to gain administrative control over a system after compromising a regular user account.• Employed in advanced cyberattacks to maintain persistent access and take control of critical resources.
The two types are vertical privilege escalation, where an attacker gains higher-level access (such as administrative rights), and horizontal privilege escalation, where the attacker accesses resources of another user at the same privilege level.
Organizations can prevent privilege escalation by enforcing the principle of least privilege, patching vulnerabilities, and regularly auditing access controls.
Consequences can include unauthorized access to sensitive data, administrative control over systems, and the ability to install malware or create backdoors for future attacks.
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