What is privilege escalation?

The correct answer is C. An attack that exploits a vulnerability to gain elevated privileges. Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a vulnerability, misconfiguration, or design flaw to gain access rights beyond what was originally granted - making C correct. Option A describes a targeted/spear attack (like spear phishing), which is about who is attacked, not…

Access Control

Question

Options

AAn attack that targets a specific user or organization
BAn attack that aims to steal sensitive information
CAn attack that exploits a vulnerability to gain elevated privileges
DAn attack that floods a network or server with traffic to make it unavailable

How the community answered

(48 responses)

A
2% (1)
B
4% (2)
C
88% (42)
D
6% (3)

Explanation

Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a vulnerability, misconfiguration, or design flaw to gain access rights beyond what was originally granted - making C correct. Option A describes a targeted/spear attack (like spear phishing), which is about who is attacked, not privilege levels. Option B describes data exfiltration or credential theft - a possible goal after escalation, but not escalation itself. Option D describes a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, which is about availability, not access rights.

Memory tip: Think of "escalate" like climbing a ladder - you start with low-level user access and climb up to admin/root. Any exploit that lets you climb that ladder without permission is privilege escalation.

Topics

#Privilege Escalation#Vulnerability Exploitation#Access Control#Attack Types

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