Academy
What is privilege escalation?
Glossary · AI agent and machine identity security
Short answer
Privilege escalation is gaining more access than was intended, often by chaining smaller permissions.
Why it matters
In cloud accounts, a permission to change roles or attach policies can be enough to become an administrator.
What it looks like
An identity may not read a secret directly, but it can assume a role that can.
In nerl0
The Security Graph makes such chains visible as authority paths, so you can cut them at the breakpoint. See Security Graph.