Broken Access Control

Summary

Broken Access Control is a security vulnerability where an application fails to properly enforce restrictions on user permissions, allowing unauthorized users to access or manipulate resources beyond their intended privileges. This flaw can lead to unauthorized data exposure, modification, or deletion, posing significant risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems.

Key Characteristics

• Occurs when access control policies are not properly implemented or enforced.
• Allows attackers to bypass authorization checks and gain elevated privileges.
• Can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionality.
• Often results from insecure direct object references, missing function-level access control, or improper session management.
• Exploited via manipulation of URLs, tokens, or API requests.

Defensive Controls

• Implement strict server-side access control checks for every request.
• Use role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC) models.
• Validate and sanitize all user inputs and parameters to prevent unauthorized resource access.
• Perform regular security testing, including penetration testing and code reviews focused on access control.
• Employ logging and monitoring to detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts.

Related Security Solutions

Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems, Web Application Firewalls (WAF), Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC) practices, and automated security testing tools are commonly used to prevent and detect broken access control vulnerabilities.