Title: Vertical Privilege Escalation

Vertical privilege escalation happens when regular users access admin-only areas due to weak access control and vice versa.

Example:

A user typesexample.com/admin. If there’s no restriction, they can access the admin panel without permission.

Key Points:

• Direct URL Access: Typing sensitive URLs like/admin can bypass security.
• robots.txt Exposure: Can accidentally reveal admin URLs.
• Brute Force: Attackers guess URLs to find admin pages.

Dangers:

• Unauthorized changes, data access, or system takeover.

Prevention:

• Use strict role-based access controls.
• Always secure sensitive areas, don’t rely on hidden URLs.

Title: The Flaw of Security by Obscurity

Hiding sensitive functionality behind a hard-to-guess URL isn’t true protection. This is known as "security by obscurity."

Example:

An admin URL likeinsecure-website.com/administrator-panel-yb556 might seem secure because it's not guessable. But if the URL is in the JavaScript, any user can inspect the code and find it.

Key Points:

• Hidden URLs aren’t real security.
• Visible in Code: Scripts or code can leak sensitive URLs to regular users.

Solution:

Always enforce strict access control; never rely on hiding URLs.

Acknowledgment: This document references information fromPortSwigger Web Security and ChatGPT.