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Created by Claudiu Tabac - © 2026
This material is open for educational and research use. Commercial use without explicit permission from the author is not allowed.
Category 4 Privilege Escalation Techniques
Understanding the critical attack vectors that transform low-level access into administrative control across modern identity systems, cloud platforms, and SaaS environments.
The Critical Turning Point
Privilege escalation represents the pivotal moment in modern identity breaches when attackers transition from initial foothold to high-impact administrative control. This phase is particularly dangerous because escalation often occurs silently, bypassing traditional security controls and authentication mechanisms.
Attackers systematically exploit weaknesses across directory structures, cloud configurations, OAuth implementations, and hybrid identity architectures. These vulnerabilities exist in the complex trust relationships and permission inheritance chains that define enterprise identity systems.
8
Attack Stages
From initial access to full compromise
6
Core Patterns
Documented escalation techniques
Common Exploitation Vectors
Directory Role Assignments
Misconfigured role hierarchies and nested group structures that create unintended administrative pathways.
Enterprise Applications
Overly permissive service principals and misconfigured OAuth scope inheritance chains.
Conditional Access Gaps
Policy misconfigurations that allow privilege elevation without proper authentication checks.
Hybrid Identity Paths
Vulnerable synchronization between on-premises AD and cloud identity systems.
Why Escalation Succeeds
No Authentication Prompts
Privilege inheritance bypasses MFA and authentication challenges, allowing silent elevation through existing sessions and trust relationships.
Zero User Interaction
Automated escalation through service principals, OAuth tokens, and API permissions requires no human approval or visible action.
Minimal Logging Coverage
Many escalation events occur in identity infrastructure blind spots where traditional monitoring and alerting fail to detect anomalies.
Complex Trust Chains
Nested groups, delegated permissions, and cross-directory trusts create invisible privilege paths that security teams rarely map or monitor.
Documented Breach Patterns
Six core privilege escalation techniques identified and documented in the Identity Breach Patterns Library:
1
BP-021: App Roles → Admin Privilege Escalation
Exploiting application role assignments to gain administrative control over enterprise resources and directory permissions.
2
BP-022: Misconfigured Service Principals
Abusing overly permissive service principal permissions to escalate privileges across cloud environments.
3
BP-023: Shadow Admin Escalation
Leveraging hidden group memberships and nested structures to gain undocumented administrative capabilities.
4
BP-024: Vulnerable Conditional Access
Exploiting gaps and misconfigurations in Conditional Access policies to bypass security controls during privilege elevation.
5
BP-025: OAuth Token Privilege Escalation
Manipulating OAuth scope inheritance and token permissions to expand access beyond original authorization boundaries.
6
BP-026: On-Prem AD Sync Path Escalation
Compromising hybrid identity synchronization paths between on-premises Active Directory and cloud identity systems.
Threat Actor Landscape
Primary Threat Groups
  • Nation-state APT groups targeting government and critical infrastructure
  • Ransomware operators seeking domain-wide administrative control
  • Cloud-native intrusion teams specializing in SaaS exploitation
  • Identity hijacking syndicates focused on financial and data theft
  • Hybrid identity exploitation groups bridging on-prem and cloud
  • Malicious insiders with access to privileged or nested groups
Attack Capabilities
  • Elevate roles in Entra ID, Active Directory, and SaaS platforms
  • Impersonate administrators with full directory control
  • Manipulate or disable Conditional Access policies
  • Access sensitive Graph API endpoints and admin portals
  • Compromise federation trust relationships
  • Establish long-lived identity persistence mechanisms
  • Create hidden application backdoors for future access
Attack Progression Timeline
1
Initial Access
Attacker gains low-privilege foothold through phishing, credential theft, or application vulnerability
2
Discovery Phase
Enumeration of directory structure, group memberships, application permissions, and trust relationships
3
Privilege Escalation
Critical phase where low-level access transforms into administrative control
4
Stage 8: Persistence
Establishment of hidden administrative accounts and service principal backdoors
5
Stage 9: Impact
Data exfiltration, operational disruption, or long-term intelligence collection
Privilege escalation is the highest-value detection point for defenders—catching attackers before persistence and exfiltration phases dramatically reduces breach impact.
Critical Defense Insights

Key Takeaways for Security Teams
  • Inherited privileges are more common than directly assigned administrative roles and often go unmonitored
  • Enterprise applications represent a major hidden attack surface with poorly understood permission models
  • OAuth and service principals completely bypass traditional MFA controls and require separate detection strategies
  • Conditional Access misconfigurations frequently create unexpected escalation pathways during policy evaluation
  • Hybrid AD-to-cloud paths remain unknown to most identity teams despite representing critical attack vectors
  • "Shadow Admins" exist in virtually all large enterprises through nested groups and delegated permissions
  • Behavioral detection is essential—privilege escalation must be identified through identity analytics, not endpoint monitoring
About
Created by Claudiu Tabac — © 2026
This framework is open for educational and research use. Commercial use without explicit permission from the author is not allowed.
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