Privilege elevation and delegation management (PEDM) is about granting temporary administrative rights to users so they can carry out particular tasks, and then withdrawing those rights once the job is done. This approach helps maintain productivity while preventing unnecessary exposure of powerful privileges.
Privilege elevation works by temporarily increasing a user’s access rights, allowing them to complete specific high-privilege tasks before returning to their standard access level. This approach avoids always-on admin rights and reduces the risk of misuse or attack.
When a user has a task that requires access to resources that are higher than their assigned level of access, they need their privileges elevated. By letting users temporarily gain higher levels of access than their roles define, they can perform privileged activities without needing a permanent privileged account.
The privilege elevation workflow has different steps, each necessary to ensure both security and accountability are maintained without compromising on efficiency. Here's how a PAM solution enables the privilege elevation workflow.
When users require access to privileged resources for a certain task, they can send a request to an administrator. This request generally involves what they need access to, why, and for how long.
Once the user request is received, admins can review the application and check whether the account requesting access and the reason provided for the elevation request are valid or not. They are then able to approve or reject the request, with PAM solutions also allowing them to provide reasons for rejection or comments during approval.
Once access has been granted, the user can access applications and servers as an administrator. It is important that these privileged sessions are monitored and that administrators terminate the session in case they detect any suspicious activity.
PAM solutions automatically revoke a user's access to privileged resources once their task is complete or once the time period they were granted access for expires. After this, the password to that resource is rotated, and the user account is returned to its initial access level.
Privilege elevation workflows can be customized to suit each organization's environment. Custom access policies can be created and used to automate privilege elevation, reducing the need for admin oversight. PAM360 does more than just secure privilege elevation. It provides structure to a process that, if mismanaged, creates significant cracks in security. PAM360 also allows for just-in-time privilege elevation, granular access controls, and real-time session monitoring and auditing.
ManageEngine PAM360 is a comprehensive privileged access management platform designed to secure, manage, and monitor privileged accounts across the enterprise. Instead of leaving admin rights open-ended, PAM360 enables users to request higher access only when it’s needed, routes it through policy-based approvals, and automatically takes it away once the job is done.
This structured workflow not only keeps elevated access transparent and auditable but also ensures IT teams can maintain strong security without disrupting everyday work.
A user requests elevated access for a task, and elevation is granted based on policy recommendation and approval.
Every access granted via PAM360 is temporary. This means the access scope is defined by time, task, or until manually revoked.