Privilege Escalation - CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 - 1.2

Summary

Privilege escalation refers to vulnerabilities that allow individuals to gain unauthorized access to higher-level system privileges, often by exploiting bugs or flaws. This can give users access beyond their job-related resources, potentially compromising the entire system. While some escalations may only grant limited access, others can lead to full administrative control. Such vulnerabilities must be addressed quickly with patches or updates. Additional protections like anti-virus software, data execution prevention, and address space layout randomization can help mitigate risks.

Takeaways

• 😀 Privilege escalation is a vulnerability that allows unauthorized users to gain higher system access than they are granted.
• 😀 This exploitation is often based on bugs, design flaws, or existing vulnerabilities in applications or operating systems.
• 😀 A user performing privilege escalation can gain access to resources beyond their assigned role, such as moving from shipping and receiving to accounting.
• 😀 Privilege escalation can sometimes lead to full system control, which is a significant concern for system administrators.
• 😀 Privilege escalations should be patched quickly because they can allow attackers to gain administrative access.
• 😀 Horizontal privilege escalation may grant access to other areas of the system without full administrative control.
• 😀 Regular patching of systems and applications is critical to resolving privilege escalation vulnerabilities.
• 😀 Anti-virus and anti-malware software can prevent some privilege escalation attacks, even before patches are applied.
• 😀 Data Execution Prevention (DEP) helps mitigate privilege escalation by preventing code from executing in non-executable memory areas.
• 😀 Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) helps protect against privilege escalation by making it difficult for attackers to predict where code will execute in memory.
• 😀 Keeping both software and anti-malware tools up to date is essential for protecting against privilege escalation attacks.

Q & A

What is privilege escalation?

Privilege escalation is a vulnerability where a person gains higher access to a system than their authentication allows, often exploiting bugs or design flaws in the system.

Why is privilege escalation a serious concern?

Privilege escalation is serious because it can grant an attacker complete access to a system, potentially making them the system administrator. This level of access poses a significant security risk.

How can privilege escalation be triggered?

Privilege escalation can be triggered by exploiting existing vulnerabilities, bugs, or design flaws in an operating system or application.

What types of access might a user have before privilege escalation?

Before privilege escalation, a user typically has access based on their job, such as roles in shipping, receiving, or accounting, with limited access to resources relevant to their job.

What is the impact of privilege escalation?

The impact of privilege escalation is often the complete compromise of the system, as the attacker can gain administrator-level control, allowing them to manipulate or damage system resources.

How are privilege escalation vulnerabilities typically addressed?

Privilege escalation vulnerabilities are typically patched quickly and are often categorized as critical or high priority patches in operating systems or applications.

Can privilege escalation vulnerabilities be horizontal?

Yes, some privilege escalation attacks are horizontal, where a user escalates privileges within a certain part of the system, like moving from shipping and receiving to accounting, without gaining full access to the entire system.

What software can help mitigate privilege escalation risks?

Anti-virus and anti-malware software can help mitigate risks by detecting known vulnerabilities, even before a system is patched.

What is Data Execution Prevention (DEP), and how does it help against privilege escalation?

Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a security feature that designates certain areas of memory as non-executable. This prevents attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities in these areas to run malicious code.

How does Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) help prevent privilege escalation?

Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) makes it difficult for attackers to predict where applications will be loaded in memory by randomly changing the memory layout. This makes it harder for them to target specific memory addresses for exploitation.