Privilege Escalation Attacks & How to Defend Against Them  

Posted:

04/30/2025

|By:

Caitlin Barnes

Privilege escalation attacks & how to defend against them 

Imagine a digital intruder quietly slipping past your security guards—and then putting on a staff uniform to access your most sensitive documents. That’s privilege escalation, one of the sneakiest, most dangerous tactics in a cybercriminal’s playbook. 

Nearly 74% of data breaches involve a form of unauthorized access through privilege escalation. For IT teams, this isn’t a hypothetical risk. It’s a clear and present danger that can transform the smallest vulnerability into a catastrophic security breach in mere minutes. 

The consequences of such a breach are devastating. Data theft and financial losses average $4.88 million per breach, not to mention severe reputational damage that can take years to repair. As organizations today rely on complex digital infrastructure to run their operations, the attack surface for privilege escalation increases exponentially. This is precisely why understanding and actively defending against these threats is so critical for any IT team.

Key takeaways

• Privilege escalation attacks exploit your system’s vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized high-level access, turning minor security gaps into major breach opportunities. These attacks are one of the fastest-growing threat vectors. 
• Both horizontal and vertical privilege escalation pose significant security risks. Horizontal attacks move laterally between similar permission levels; vertical attacks climb the ladder to administrative powers, requiring IT teams to have two distinctive strategies for defense.
• Implementing least privilege principles dramatically reduces your attack surface by making sure users only have the minimum access required for their specific job functions.
• Comprehensive employee training significantly reduces attack risks, as human error is a major factor in privilege escalation. Well-trained and informed personnel act as human firewalls against social engineering tactics.

What is a privilege escalation attack?

A privilege escalation attack is a cyberattack designed to gain unauthorized access and administrative rights to a system by exploiting misconfigurations or vulnerabilities. Privilege escalation attackers typically start with limited access and then systematically work to upgrade to an all-access administrative pass.

These attacks typically begin with a small vulnerability. Maybe it’s an unpatched software flaw, a misconfigured system setting, or a weak password. Modern cybercriminals will methodically probe for that single weak point that lets them climb the access ladder.  

Once they find a crack, they can potentially gain control of entire systems, steal sensitive data, or set up long-term surveillance.

How do privilege escalation attacks work? Through different team members’ accounts and their unique privileges. Standard users, for example, should have limited access to system databases, sensitive files, or critical resources. However, with lax or outdated privileges, some low-level users may have expansive access and may not be aware of it. Attackers can then take advantage of low-level accounts and abuse excess privileges or increase privileges, resulting in an entry to a broader system.

What makes these attacks so dangerous, however, is their stealth. Unlike brute force attempts that trigger alarms, privilege escalation often happens gradually and quietly. Attackers may sometimes maintain access for months or even years before launching an attack.

Horizontal vs. vertical privilege escalation

Cyber attackers use two core strategies: Horizontal and vertical escalation to gain unauthorized access. Think of it as different variations of trespassing that can lead to different long-term results. 

Horizontal privilege escalation: This strategy is like moving sideways through a building, compromising one account and then jumping over to an account with similar access levels. It is less about gaining power and more about exploring different access points.  

For example, an attacker might compromise a regular or low-level employee account and use it to access other regular employee accounts. While this might initially sound less severe, it can have devastating consequences—particularly if an attacker has access to multiple departments, such as jumping from HR to operations to accounting, and collecting data from each. 

Vertical privilege escalation: This is the far more dramatic climb, like starting as an intern and somehow ending up in the CEO’s office with full system controls. With this tactic, attackers specifically target ways to increase their access levels—typically aiming to gain administrative or root-level permissions. 

The consequences of vertical privilege escalation are more immediate and severe. Once attackers achieve administrator status, they can easily modify system configurations, disable security controls, create backdoors, or deploy ransomware across an entire network.

Privilege escalation attack vectors

Cybercriminals use a wide range of privilege escalation techniques and tactics to break in and get ahold of your company’s secure information. 

• Credential exploration: Stolen or weak passwords are a classic, tried-and-true entry point. Attackers commonly use techniques like password cracking, social engineering, or credential stuffing to gain initial access.
• Vulnerabilities and exploits: Unpatched software means leaving your front door wide open. Attackers are adept at discovering and exploiting known vulnerabilities in operating systems, applications, and network services.
• Misconfigurations: Sometimes, the entry point is right in your own system. Overly permissive access controls, unnecessary open ports, or misconfigured security settings provide cybercriminals with the perfect opportunity for escalation.
• Social engineering: Phishing emails, impersonation, and manipulative tactics can trick employees into providing access or inadvertently installing malware.

Regardless of the specific methods attackers use—whether targeting misconfigurations, abusing credentials, or manipulating access controls—their goal remains the same: to elevate privileges and compromise sensitive resources. That’s why proactive access management and vigilant oversight are essential. The next step is understanding how to prevent these attacks before they can do damage.

Best practices for privilege escalation attack prevention  

Prevention is always better than a cure, especially in cybersecurity. Here are the most effective strategies to enforce least privilege access and lock down your systems: 

Principle of least privilege (PoLP): Give users only the minimum access they absolutely need to do their jobs. No more, no less. It’s akin to giving someone a key to just one office—not the entire building. 

Comprehensive employee training: Your team is your strongest defense or your weakest link. Regular, engaging security awareness training—whether in person or virtually—helps your employees recognize potential threats. Focus particularly on social engineering recognition and the importance of reporting any unusual system behavior or access requests. In addition to training internal employees, make training part of your offerings for general end users at the companies you work with—it’s a critical step to help mitigate cyberattacks. 

Privileged session monitoring: Your privileged access policy checklist should include keeping a watchful eye on administrative accounts. Log and audit all privileged sessions and spot any unusual activities or access patterns that could be linked to suspicious activity. Tools that provide real-time alerts for abnormal privileged account usage can also dramatically reduce the time between compromise and detection.

Identity lifecycle management: Treat your user accounts like dynamic entities. Implement and follow strict processes to create, manage, and most importantly, remove access when your employees change roles or leave the organization entirely. Orphaned accounts with excessive privileges are gold mines for any attackers looking to escalate their access.

PAM software and preventing privilege escalation attacks

Privileged Access Management (PAM) software is a crucial solution to help minimize and mitigate privilege escalation attacks. With PAM, IT teams can gain centralized control and more effectively monitor security threats and proactively protect privileged accounts. 

ScreenConnect Privileged Access: Secure elevated access without the complexity 

When attackers get past your defenses, the first thing they go for is elevated access. It’s how a small compromise turns into a full-blown breach—and why managing privileged access is no longer optional.

ScreenConnect Privileged Access is built to help organizations close that gap. Whether deployed as a standalone tool or integrated with ScreenConnect, it gives IT teams the tools to reduce risk, enforce least privilege, and keep sensitive credentials out of reach—without creating friction for users. 

It’s more than just restricting access—it’s about creating secure, flexible workflows that empower your team while locking out unauthorized escalation. 

Privilege access management software provides the comprehensive protection your IT team needs. It’s a smarter approach to access management—balancing strong security with flexibility and ease of use.

• Least-privilege precision: Implement the principle of least privilege to ensure users have only the exact access they need for their specific roles—nothing more, nothing less. 
•  Credential-free login: Eliminate one of the most common attack vectors—compromised credentials—with a credential-free login system. This tactic closes a major door that attackers use to gain and escalate privileges.
• End user elevation requests: Enable a secure, controlled process for temporary privilege elevation. When team members need increased access to perform specific tasks, use a request system for safety. 
• Dashboard and audit logs: Maintain complete visibility into privileged activity with comprehensive monitoring and detailed audit trails, including an intuitive dashboard that makes it easy to spot unusual activity or patterns. 

If this sounds too good to be true, see for yourself! Start your free 14-day trial of Privileged Access to take a more proactive stance against privilege escalation attacks.