Broken Access Controls
Broken Access Controls refer to a security weakness where the mechanisms that regulate access to resources, systems, or data within an application or system are not implemented or enforced correctly. This allows unauthorized users to access sensitive information or act beyond their permitted privileges. Common examples include:
Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR): An attacker manipulates parameters in a URL or API call to access resources they shouldn't have permission to.
Missing Function Level Access Control: An application fails to check if a user can perform a specific action before executing it.
Privilege Escalation: A user exploits a vulnerability to gain higher privileges than they should have.
Importance of Assessing Your Entire External Digital Presence
Modern organizations have a sprawling digital presence, encompassing numerous websites, applications, cloud services, and third-party integrations. If vulnerable to broken access controls, any of these elements can be a gateway for attackers to compromise sensitive data or disrupt operations. Therefore, a holistic assessment of the entire external digital presence is crucial for identifying and mitigating such risks.
How ThreatNG Helps Address Broken Access Controls
ThreatNG, with its extensive external attack surface management capabilities, helps organizations effectively detect and mitigate broken access control vulnerabilities across their digital footprint.
Comprehensive Discovery and Inventory: ThreatNG's powerful discovery engine, which encompasses domain intelligence, cloud and SaaS exposure discovery, technology stack analysis, and more, create a detailed inventory of all external digital assets. This ensures that no potential access control weaknesses go unnoticed.
Vulnerability Identification: ThreatNG actively scans discovered assets for known vulnerabilities, insecure configurations, and exposed sensitive information that might indicate broken access controls. This continuous monitoring helps identify potential weak points requiring immediate attention.
Prioritization and Risk Assessment: Identified vulnerabilities are prioritized based on their severity and potential impact, enabling security teams to focus on the most critical access control issues.
Collaboration with Complementary Security Solutions:
While ThreatNG offers a strong foundation for identifying broken access controls, it works effectively with other security tools to provide a complete defense strategy. Here are some examples:
Web Application Firewalls (WAFs): ThreatNG can pinpoint exposed web applications and their WAFs. If vulnerabilities are found, it can prompt the WAF to implement rules to block attempts to exploit access control weaknesses.
Identity and Access Management (IAM) Solutions: By integrating with IAM systems, ThreatNG can offer valuable data on external access points and potential vulnerabilities that could impact access control enforcement.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems: ThreatNG can forward security alerts and event data related to broken access controls to SIEM systems for correlation, analysis, and further investigation.
Example Workflow
Let's say ThreatNG uncovers an exposed API endpoint vulnerable to an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) attack. Here's how it would collaborate with other solutions:
Discovery & Alert: ThreatNG identifies the exposed API and the IDOR vulnerability. An alert is generated, highlighting the risk.
WAF Integration: The alert is relayed to the WAF, providing information about the vulnerable API and the type of attack.
WAF Rule Implementation: The WAF automatically configures rules to block requests that attempt to exploit the IDOR vulnerability on the specified API.
SIEM Notification: The vulnerability data is also sent to the SIEM system for logging, analysis, and potential correlation with other security events.
Broken access controls pose a serious risk to data security and privacy. ThreatNG, with its holistic approach to external attack surface management and integration capabilities with complementary security solutions, provides organizations with the tools to proactively identify and mitigate such vulnerabilities across their entire digital landscape.
