IronSights

Detection & response

Privilege escalation

A technique used by attackers to gain higher levels of system access than initially obtained, moving from a standard user account to administrator or SYSTEM-level privileges.

Also known asprivescprivilege elevation

In plain English

Privilege escalation is how attackers go from limited access to full control. Starting with a compromised regular user account, they exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations to elevate to administrator — unlocking the ability to disable security tools, access all data, and establish persistence across the environment.

Keep learning

More terms in the IronSights Glossary.