Course
Access control vulnerabilities and privilege escalation
PortSwigger · PortSwigger Web Security Academy Free Intermediate
The best free way to actually feel the attack: PortSwigger's free labs let you break into other users' data in a safe practice app. Working through horizontal escalation (reaching a peer's records) and vertical escalation (reaching admin functions) teaches you precisely what to test in your own product. It turns the abstract advice into muscle memory.
- Practice the exact attacks in free hands-on labs
- Horizontal escalation is reading another user's records
- Vertical escalation is a normal user reaching admin actions