Testing For Broken Access Control

Testing For Broken Access Control

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for testing for broken access control. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "testing for broken access control"

• "Systematically testing web applications for broken access control vulnerabilitie"

• During authorized penetration tests as the primary assessment for OWASP A01:2021 - Broken Access Control

• When evaluating role-based access control (RBAC) implementations across all application endpoints

• For testing multi-tenant applications where users in one organization should not access another's data

• When assessing API endpoints for missing or inconsistent authorization checks

• During security audits where privilege escalation and unauthorized access are primary concerns

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• Authorization: Written penetration testing agreement for the target
• Burp Suite Professional: With Authorize extension for automated access control testing
• Multiple test accounts: Accounts at each role level (admin, manager, user, guest)
• Application role matrix: Documentation of what each role should and should not access
• curl/httpie: For manual endpoint testing with different authentication contexts
• ffuf: For discovering hidden endpoints that may lack access controls

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: str) -> dict:
    return {k: re.findall(v, text) for k, v in IOC_PATTERNS.items()}

1. Reconnaissance — Gather information about the target related to . Identify attack surface.
2. Vulnerability Identification — Enumerate potential weaknesses using automated and manual techniques.
3. Exploit Development/Selection — Use broken access control to identify and test vulnerabilities.
4. Execution — Execute the test in a controlled manner with proper authorization.
5. Post-Exploitation — Document the impact and extent of successful exploitation.
6. Reporting — Write detailed findings with reproduction steps, impact assessment, and remediation guidance.

Tools

• broken access control — Primary tool for this skill
• Vulnerability Scanner — Automated weakness identification
• Exploitation Framework — Controlled exploitation testing
• Reporting Tool — Findings documentation and tracking

Process

1. Design — Define interface, identify patterns, plan implementation
2. Implement — Write code following existing conventions, add tests
3. Verify — Run tests, check integration, validate behavior

Verification

• All procedures executed completely and documented
• Findings validated against multiple data sources
• False positives identified and filtered
• Results documented with evidence and timestamps
• Recommendations provided with risk-based prioritization

Anti-Rationalization Table