Authentication and Authorisation bypass: The Invisible Threat

Access control serves as a foundational security framework divided into authentication, which verifies identity, and authorization, which regulates interaction boundaries between active subjects and passive resources. Despite its criticality, broken access control remains a top vulnerability, frequently exploited through mechanics such as Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR), parameter tampering, and architectural decoupling that allow attackers to bypass identity checks or escalate privileges. Modern technical shifts toward cloud-native systems, microservices, and AI agents have significantly expanded this attack surface, introducing complex failure modes like "Golden SAML" token forgery and task boundary drift, where legitimate sessions are manipulated to perform unauthorized actions. To mitigate these pervasive risks, enterprises must move beyond traditional perimeter defenses and adopt a Zero Trust posture centered on Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), the principle of least privilege, and continuous behavioral monitoring to detect the subtle logic flaws and design gaps that automated scanners often miss.