Table of Contents
TL;DR: Privilege escalation attacks exploit system vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access and elevate permissions, compromising data security and system integrity. Understanding these attacks, their consequences, and prevention strategies is crucial for cybersecurity.
Main Points:
- The Basics: Privilege escalation grants unauthorized elevated access.
- Types of Attacks: Horizontal and vertical privilege escalation.
- Attack Process: Infiltration, exploitation, exfiltration.
- Techniques: Social engineering, software vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, malware.
- Consequences: Unauthorized data access, system disruptions, loss of trust.
- Prevention Strategies: Limit privileges, keep software updated, monitor activity, control applications, educate employees.
Privilege escalation is a formidable threat, exploiting system vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access and elevate permissions.
Privilege escalation attacks exploit system vulnerabilities, compromising both the integrity of systems and the security of data. By understanding their mechanisms, potential consequences, and effective prevention strategies, you can fortify your defenses against these cyber threats.
The Basics of Privilege Escalation Attacks
Privilege escalation involves obtaining elevated access to resources that are typically restricted from an application or user. Think of it as finding a key that can unlock more doors than previously thought before, even some of the most secure ones.
In a privilege escalation attack, a bad actor exploits weaknesses in a computer system to gain elevated access. Once they gain access to these off-limit areas, they have the potential to manipulate almost anything on your system. These types of attacks can compromise an organization’s entire network.
Types of Privilege Escalation Attacks
The goal of a privilege escalation attack is to leverage elevated access for malicious purposes. However, the type of access they gain can differ.
Privilege escalation can take two forms based on how the user gains elevated privileges.
Horizontal Privilege Escalation Attack
The first type of privilege escalation attack is more subtle. A horizontal privilege escalation occurs when a user gains the access rights of another user with the same access level. They may also gain access to the rights of a lower-level account with similar privileges.
This lateral movement can be less conspicuous than a vertical jump to admin rights. This can allow them to stay hidden. The subtle move still allows them to potentially access data from other, similar-level accounts to expand their reach.
Vertical Privilege Escalation Attack
This type of attack is often what people think of when they hear about privilege escalation. This technique involves an attacker using a flaw in the system to gain elevated access. These bad actors are typically seeking administrative privileges to carry out malicious activities.
This type of privilege escalation is like going from being a local admin to a domain admin. Unlike a horizontal move, a vertical escalation grants an attacker significantly more power right away. With admin rights, they can manipulate the system almost completely. This allows for activities such as installing malware, deleting data, or disrupting operations.
How Privilege Escalation Attacks Work
A privilege escalation attack is a three-step process:
- Infiltration: A bad actor will exploit a vulnerability or weakness to escalate their privileges. There are many methods an attacker can use to gain a foothold in your system that will be discussed next.
- Exploitation: Once an attacker finds the weakness, they will exploit it to gain elevated access. They may choose to perform surveillance before attempting to move horizontally or go straight to vertical privilege escalation.
- Exfiltration: As a now-privileged user, an attacker can conduct malicious activities. The data breach is in full effect and the consequences can be severe. In fact, IBM found that it took 258 days on average to identify a breach, a seven-year low.
Privilege Escalation Techniques
The first step in a privilege escalation attack is the most critical – and the best place to begin preventing intruders from gaining elevated access.
Here are some of the most common techniques attackers use to infiltrate privileged accounts:
Social Engineering
Human error is often the first place bad actors turn when they want to carry out this type of attack. After all, the latest report from Verizon found that 74% of all breaches include the human element including privilege misuse or social engineering.
One privilege escalation attack example would be if an attacker used a phishing email to gain credentials or unauthorized access. This is just one common type of social engineering attack that is often used. From there, the threat actor can use these credentials to impersonate the privileged user and make changes to the system.
Though this is a very simple example, it highlights the importance of training employees on cybersecurity best practices, so they do not fall for these scams.
Software Vulnerabilities
Mistakes in code and unpatched bugs are just the thing attackers need to gain access to your system. Vulnerabilities in your operating system or applications mean your organization is at risk.
While many vulnerabilities are known, there is also the potential for a zero-day vulnerability to be exploited. These vulnerabilities are not known until they are exposed by a threat actor. They are especially dangerous because developers must scramble to implement a solution.
Misconfigurations
Similarly, system misconfigurations can provide an easy pathway for attackers to elevate their privileges. Permissions settings are important to ensure everyone has access to what they need access to but nothing else. If users are given additional or misconfigured access, it can leave your organization vulnerable.
Malware
Finally, malware is always a potential threat. Though mostly associated with ransomware, malicious software can also be used to exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations to escalate privileges. Once installed, it may be able to perform unauthorized actions within a system.
The Consequences of Privilege Escalation Attacks
It is difficult to quantify the exact cost of these types of attacks. The loss of system integrity and trust is invaluable.
However, the latest figures from IBM found that the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was USD 4.45 million, a 15% increase over 3 years. A data breach caused by escalated privileges can be costly. Not only in terms of lost data, recovery, and potential fines or legal fees associated with data breaches, but also business interruption and continuity in the long-term.
Here are a few of the potential consequences of privilege escalation:
- Unauthorized access to sensitive data: Once an attacker has access to your system, everything from financial and personal information to company secrets are at risk. This data can be stolen, corrupted, erased entirely, or even encrypted and held hostage using ransomware for financial gain. Attackers may even hold the data hostage in return for financial gain.
- System disruptions: Attackers can disrupt or disable essential services, causing significant downtime and financial losses. With free reign over the system, these disruptions can be severe and widespread. In the same 2023 cost of a data breach report, IBM shared that over 75% of companies that were able to fully recover took longer than 100 days.
- Loss of trust and reputation: A successful privilege escalation attack can severely damage an organization's reputation. Customers and partners may lose trust if their data is compromised.
Preventing Privilege Escalation Attacks
The potential of these consequences makes it imperative for organizations to mitigate the risk of privilege escalation attacks. With the right security measures in place, organizations can prevent attackers from gaining unauthorized access to begin with.
Limit Privileges
One of the best ways to prevent these attacks from happening is by limiting control. The principle of least privilege (POLP) is a cybersecurity concept that recommends implementing limitations on the access rights of all users, stating that they should only have access to what is strictly required for their jobs.
Following this principle ensures day-to-day operations aren’t slowed down while still protecting your system from threats. Similarly, you can use ThreatLocker Elevation Control to ensure IT can control what applications can run as a local admin without giving users local admin rights.
Together, these practices and solutions help reduce risks while still promoting efficiency. This is often a difficult balance for organizations to strike but is made easier with the right cybersecurity solutions.
Keep Software Up to Date
As stated before, attackers can easily exploit flaws in operating systems and applications to gain access. Keep all software, including operating systems and applications, up to date with the latest security patches.
Conducting regular vulnerability scans is also beneficial to identify weaknesses before hackers can exploit them. These scans check for misconfigurations or unpatched programs that you may not realize are there. Fix these known vulnerabilities as they arise to stay one step ahead of attackers.
Monitor System Activity
Of course, it is also important to have systems in place to detect privilege escalation in case a bad actor does gain access to your network. Regularly monitor system activity and conduct audits to detect and respond to suspicious behavior. This could include suspicious logins or network communications, or unauthorized software being downloaded on sensitive systems.
Control Applications
Attackers can use applications to further exploit software or elevate their privileges. Ringfencing™ helps to reduce the likelihood of an exploit being successful by limiting what applications can do, whether it’s interacting with another application, your files, data, or the internet. This acts as a barrier to prevent applications from stepping outside its line if it were to be compromised.
Educate Employees
Finally, never underestimate the importance of security awareness. Informed employees who can see the signs of social engineering attacks and avoid them are one of the best assets in the fight against hackers.
Prevention is crucial in cybersecurity, especially when it comes to cyberattacks. ThreatLocker employs a Zero Trust approach to block untrusted software and help prevent privilege escalation attacks. Enhance your cybersecurity with a free trial from ThreatLocker to see the difference.
