Just-in-time access is a cybersecurity practice that grants users elevated privileges only when needed, and only for as long as needed, enforcing the principle of least privilege and reducing the risks associated with standing privileges.
Just-in-time access introduces a dynamic and proactive way of maintaining Zero Standing Privileges, meaning an account only holds the permissions required to do its current task, and its default state has zero privileges. Whether the account belongs to a human or a machine identity, its activity is easy to monitor and can be terminated in case any suspicious activity is flagged or if the amount of time allocated for the account has expired.
Permanent access creates permanent risk. Standing privileges not only increase the risk associated with access; they also complicate privileged access management (PAM). Some of the risks that just-in-time access helps minimize are:
Wider attack surface: Standing privileges act as entry points for threats. By allowing accounts to maintain their privileges, the number of entry points available for threat actors increases, making PAM harder. By giving access to accounts just in time for them to perform their assigned tasks, the number of accounts with access to privileged resources reduces greatly.
Privilege abuse: Once an attacker gains access, they look to escalate privileges and move laterally. If elevated privileges already exist, attackers can simply use what is available, making it harder and slower to detect suspicious activity. Just-in-time access aims to bring all accounts to Zero Standing Privileges, making any attempts at privilege elevation or abuse immediately identifiable.
Audit trails: Effective audit trails help admins distinguish between routine activity and potential threats. Standing privileges, however, remove all context and clarity to user actions, making it harder to identify suspicious activity. Pinpointing who did what across systems is impossible because of the widespread access to privileged resources. Just-in-time access helps maintain clear logs of when and why privileges were granted, making audit trails more accurate.
At any point in time, when less people have access to privileged information, the easier it is to secure it. By enforcing just-in-time access, the number of active accounts in a secure server or location is reduced, thereby reducing the surface area available for attacks.
This means that accounts no longer accumulate permissions over extended periods of time, keeping the principle of least privilege. Implementing just-in-time access also reduces the workload on admins to manage the different roles and permissions, since requests, approvals, and removals are much more streamlined and even automated.
In a JIT access workflow, since the accounts require permission to access critical endpoints, each action performed within the endpoint is promptly logged. This greatly simplifies the auditing process by creating clear audit trails. JIT access also ensures compliance with modern regulations and standards.
While both just-in-ime access and iust-in-time privilege elevation aim to reduce the standing privileges present in a workflow, they solve two different problems.
This method controls who gets access and when. It focuses on granting users temporary access to privileged resources for a limited time. For example, if an organization outsources a maintenance activity to a third-party vendor, they are given access to an account only for the time required to complete their task. The access is revoked once the task is done.
Some users, on the other hand, may already have accounts that have certain privileges, but they require additional access to perform their task. Privilege elevation focuses on how much access a user is granted. In case a user requires admin privileges to perform an installation activity, their access level can be temporarily elevated instead of being given permanent admin rights.
One method to implement just-in-time access is to create a new account that's purposed for a single use and is furnished with the permissions required to perform a specific task. Once the task is completed, these ephemeral accounts are deleted in their entirety, preventing privilege creep and the overcrowding of accounts.
While the above just-in-time access method is useful for giving vendors and third parties access, when it comes internal users managing access to privileged endpoints on a regular basis, a structured approach like role-based access control or PAM ensures proper, ongoing access management. A shared account, called a broker account, whose credentials are locked in a central vault, is used for this purpose. Using a PAM tool, the user checks out the credentials for the time through which they require access to the endpoint. Once the user is done and checks the credentials back in, the password is automatically rotated before granting access to the next user.
But what about DevOps teams and admins who need to run updating and maintenance tasks? They might need elevated access to privileged resources, which if granted permanently, can open surfaces for security breaches. To solve this, just-in-time access is coupled with temporary elevation to these endpoints. Using a PAM solution, users are routed through a request-release workflow before granting access to mission-critical endpoints. Admins then approve or reject the request at their discretion. In tandem, this approval process can also be used to verify user legitimacy through baseline trust scores and grant or reject access based on it.
Let's say a DevOps team runs bi-monthly maintenance activities on a server containing sensitive information. This server must be locked with a secure password to ensure security. However, by giving the DevOps accounts the credentials to this server permanently, the risk of password leakages or accounts being compromised and misused increases.
While one option is to rotate the password routinely, and only provide the DevOps accounts the password to the server at the time of maintenance, this still means that the password has to be mentioned explicitly via mail or messaging or hard coded into a program that gives them access.
A secure alternative to this is to use a PAM solution that supports just-in-time access through which users can request access to the server. The request can include their account information, their reason for accessing the endpoint, and how long they need access. The admin can then review the request and approve or reject it accordingly.
When the just-in-time access workflow is automated, the user is granted temporary access to endpoints to perform the task for a specified duration, after which the permission is revoked. So if a server is scheduled for updates, and the credentials of the DevOps user meet the requirements, the system automatically approves the request, allowing the DevOps team to perform its tasks.
Now that we've broken down the basics of just-in-time access to be implemented in a workflow, here are some practices that an organization can follow to more efficiently implement JIT.
Despite its benefits, just-in-time access is often underused, mostly because it is hard to implement without the right tool. PAM360 doesn’t just let you request and grant permissions to users; it takes a layered approach to privilege elevation and access management.
Role-based access controls: By mapping access to roles rather than individual users, PAM360 makes access management easier to scale and control. Accounts are grouped by role, with each role assigned the least privileges needed to perform its function.
App and command control: A key feature of just-in-time access is controlling both when accounts gain access and also what they gain access to. Granular control over the applications and commands that a user can execute helps reduce the risk of unauthorized actions and limits the exposure to privileged resources.
Policy-based access controls: Access doesn’t have to be assigned solely based on roles. PAM360’s trust score lets organizations define access policies, based on how trustworthy a user or device is deemed to be, by assessing various risk factors.
Just-in-time privileged elevation through PAM: Standing privileges create risk, and that is why leading security practices, like those recommended by Gartner®, push for task-specific, time-bound access. PAM360 lets admins elevate user privileges for the duration through which they are performing tasks on critical endpoints. Once the tasks are done, these user accounts are returned to their default state.
Just-in-time-enabled or disabled administrative accounts: PAM360 ensures that access to shared administrative accounts is granted only when necessary and revoked once tasks are completed. This removes manual effort, as admins can configure accounts to remain inaccessible by default, with access being provisioned only for privileged sessions. After the task is completed, PAM360 automatically revokes access, maintaining Zero Standing Privileges without slowing down the workflow.
Yes. Once the approved time has elapsed, privileged access is automatically revoked, ensuring accounts retain Zero Standing Privileges.
Admins retain full control. They approve and reject access requests, define access policies, and also ensure oversight of actions taken during privileged sessions.
Yes. Just-in-time access works seamlessly on cloud-native environments as well, ensuring secure and time-bound access to privileged resources.