Performing Privileged Account Access Review

Performing Privileged Account Access Review

Overview

Privileged Account Access Review is a critical identity governance process that validates whether users with elevated permissions still require their access. This review covers domain admins, service accounts, database administrators, cloud IAM roles, and application-level privileged accounts. Regular access reviews are mandated by SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and SOX compliance frameworks, typically required quarterly for high-privilege accounts.

When to Use

• When conducting security assessments that involve performing privileged account access review
• When following incident response procedures for related security events
• When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities
• When validating security controls through hands-on testing

Coverage Gaps & Validation

• Accounts outside the PAM vault: the review only covers what PAM/IGA already knows. Local admin accounts on servers, sa/SYS database logins, cloud root and access keys never onboarded, and SPN service accounts are routinely missed. Discover them directly from each platform, not from the vault list.
• Rubber-stamp certification: owners certify their own privilege without scrutiny. Cross-check certify decisions against last-activity dates — anything certified but unused 90+ days is a revoke candidate regardless of the approval.
• Service / non-human accounts: these often have no human owner and slip out of manager-driven reviews; ensure each has a named owner and a defined review path.
• Shadow admin and indirect privilege: effective admin via nested AD groups, AdminCount=1/AdminSDHolder, delegation rights, cloud role-assumption chains, or API tokens with admin scope is easy to miss when reading only direct group membership.
• Break-glass accounts: confirm last use was authorized and credentials were rotated afterward.
• Validate completeness: reconcile the reviewed set against authoritative enumeration — AD privileged groups plus AdminCount=1, AWS iam:*/AdministratorAccess, Azure Global/Privileged Role Admin, GCP Owner/Editor, and DB fixed admin roles. Accounts present in those sources but absent from the review are the gap.

Prerequisites

• PAM solution deployed (CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Delinea, or equivalent)
• Identity governance platform (SailPoint, Saviynt, or equivalent)
• Complete inventory of privileged accounts across all platforms
• Defined access review policy with SLAs and escalation procedures
• Designated reviewers (account owners, managers, security team)

Core Concepts

Privileged Account Categories

Four-Pillar Review Framework

DISCOVER                    VALIDATE                    REMEDIATE                 MONITOR
    │                           │                           │                       │
    ├─ Enumerate all            ├─ Verify business          ├─ Remove excess        ├─ Continuous
    │  privileged accounts      │  justification            │  privileges           │  monitoring
    │                           │                           │                       │
    ├─ Identify orphaned        ├─ Confirm account          ├─ Disable orphaned     ├─ Anomaly
    │  accounts                 │  ownership                │  accounts             │  detection
    │                           │                           │                       │
    ├─ Map permissions to       ├─ Check compliance         ├─ Enforce password     ├─ Session
    │  business roles           │  with policies            │  rotation             │  recording
    │                           │                           │                       │
    └─ Classify by risk         └─ Review last usage        └─ Implement JIT        └─ Audit
       level                       and activity                access                  logging

Workflow

Step 1: Account Discovery and Inventory

Enumerate all privileged accounts across the environment:

Active Directory:

• Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, Schema Admins groups
• Accounts with AdminCount=1 attribute
• Service accounts with SPN (Service Principal Names)
• Accounts with delegation rights (Unconstrained/Constrained)

Cloud Platforms:

• AWS: IAM users/roles with AdministratorAccess, PowerUserAccess, or iam:* permissions
• Azure: Global Administrator, Privileged Role Administrator, Security Administrator roles
• GCP: Owner, Editor roles at organization/project level

Databases:

• SQL Server: sysadmin, db_owner, securityadmin fixed roles
• Oracle: DBA, SYSDBA, SYSOPER privileges
• PostgreSQL: superuser, createrole, createdb attributes

Step 2: Establish Review Criteria

Each privileged account must be evaluated against:

1. Business Justification: Does the user's current role require this privilege?
2. Least Privilege: Can the task be performed with lower privileges?
3. Account Activity: Has the account been active in the last 90 days?
4. Compliance Status: Does the account meet password policy, MFA requirements?
5. Separation of Duties: Does the access create SoD conflicts?
6. Ownership: Is a responsible owner assigned and active?

Step 3: Conduct the Review

For each account, the designated reviewer must:

1. Review the account details, permissions, and last activity date
2. Approve (certify) the access if still required with documented justification
3. Revoke access if no longer needed or the reviewer cannot justify the privilege
4. Flag for investigation if anomalous activity or policy violations are detected
5. Escalate if the reviewer cannot make a determination

Decision matrix:

Step 4: Remediation and Enforcement

After reviews are completed:

• Revoke access for accounts that were not certified within the SLA period
• Implement automatic revocation for accounts not reviewed within 14 days
• Rotate credentials for all certified privileged accounts
• Convert standing privileges to just-in-time (JIT) access where possible
• Update PAM vault with current account inventory

Step 5: Reporting and Documentation

Generate review reports including:

• Total accounts reviewed vs. total in scope
• Certification rate (approved vs. revoked)
• Average review completion time
• Overdue reviews and escalations
• Remediation actions taken
• Comparison with previous review cycle

Validation Checklist

• Complete inventory of all privileged accounts documented
• All accounts assigned to a responsible owner/reviewer
• Review criteria and decision matrix defined
• Reviewers completed certification within SLA (14 days)
• Revoked accounts disabled and credentials rotated
• Orphaned accounts identified and disabled
• Service accounts reviewed for least privilege
• Break-glass accounts audited for authorized use only
• Review report generated with metrics and trends
• Remediation tickets created and tracked to completion
• Evidence preserved for compliance audit

References

• NIST SP 800-53 AC-2: Account Management
• CIS Controls v8 - Control 5: Account Management
• Netwrix PAM Best Practices Guide
• StrongDM PAM Best Practices 2025