Testing for Broken Access Control

When to Use

• 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

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

Step 1: Map All Endpoints and Create Access Control Matrix

Document every endpoint and the expected access level for each role.

# Extract all endpoints from Burp Site Map
# Target > Site Map > Right-click > Copy URLs in this host

# Build a matrix of endpoints vs roles:
# | Endpoint              | Admin | Manager | User | Guest |
# |-----------------------|-------|---------|------|-------|
# | GET /admin/dashboard  | Allow | Deny    | Deny | Deny  |
# | GET /api/users        | Allow | Allow   | Deny | Deny  |
# | PUT /api/users/{id}   | Allow | Deny    | Own  | Deny  |
# | DELETE /api/posts/{id} | Allow | Allow   | Own  | Deny  |

# Discover hidden endpoints
ffuf -u "https://target.example.com/FUZZ" \
  -w /usr/share/seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-medium-directories.txt \
  -mc 200,301,302,403 -fc 404 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $USER_TOKEN" \
  -o endpoints.json -of json

# API endpoint discovery
ffuf -u "https://target.example.com/api/v1/FUZZ" \
  -w /usr/share/seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/api/api-endpoints.txt \
  -mc 200,201,204,301,302,401,403,405 -fc 404 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $USER_TOKEN"

Step 2: Configure Automated Access Control Testing

Set up Burp Authorize extension for parallel role-based testing.

# Install Authorize extension:
# Burp > Extender > BApp Store > Search "Authorize" > Install

# Configuration for three-tier testing:
# 1. Browse the application as Admin (capture all requests)
# 2. In Authorize tab:
#    a. Add Regular User's session token in "Replace cookies/headers"
#    b. Optionally add a second row for Unauthenticated (no auth header)

# Example header replacement setup:
# Row 1 (Low-privilege user):
#   Cookie: session=low_priv_user_session
#   Authorization: Bearer low_priv_token
#
# Row 2 (Unauthenticated):
#   [Empty - removes all auth headers]

# Enable interception in Authorize:
# - Check "Intercept requests from Proxy"
# - Check "Intercept requests from Repeater"

# Authorize shows results as:
# Green  = Properly restricted (different response for different user)
# Red    = POTENTIALLY VULNERABLE (same response regardless of role)
# Orange = Uncertain (needs manual verification)

Step 3: Test Vertical Privilege Escalation

Attempt to access higher-privilege functionality with lower-privilege accounts.

# Collect tokens for each role
ADMIN_TOKEN="Bearer admin_jwt_here"
MANAGER_TOKEN="Bearer manager_jwt_here"
USER_TOKEN="Bearer user_jwt_here"

# Test admin endpoints with user token
ADMIN_ENDPOINTS=(
  "GET /admin/dashboard"
  "GET /admin/users"
  "POST /admin/users/create"
  "PUT /admin/settings"
  "DELETE /admin/users/5"
  "GET /admin/logs"
  "GET /admin/reports/export"
  "POST /admin/backup"
)

for entry in "${ADMIN_ENDPOINTS[@]}"; do
  method=$(echo "$entry" | cut -d' ' -f1)
  endpoint=$(echo "$entry" | cut -d' ' -f2)
  echo -n "$method $endpoint (as user): "
  status=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
    -X "$method" \
    -H "Authorization: $USER_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://target.example.com$endpoint")
  if [ "$status" == "200" ] || [ "$status" == "201" ]; then
    echo "VULNERABLE ($status)"
  else
    echo "OK ($status)"
  fi
done

# Test with method override headers
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: $USER_TOKEN" \
  -H "X-HTTP-Method-Override: DELETE" \

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