# attack-path

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/attack-path/
Last updated: 2026-09-21
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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A chain of individually legitimate permissions and relationships that together let a low-privileged identity reach a high-privileged one. Each link is a valid configuration; the risk is in the composition, which is why permission-by-permission auditing does not find it.

Attack path analysis treats the environment as a graph of principals, permissions, and relationships, then asks for the shortest route from any starting point to a target such as domain admin or a production role. Defenders historically reviewed group membership one object at a time while attackers read the whole graph, and closing a single well-chosen edge often removes thousands of paths at once. The approach originated in Active Directory tooling and now applies to cloud entitlements too.

See also: [privilege escalation](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/privilege-escalation/), [lateral movement](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/lateral-movement/), [Andy Robbins](https://startwithidentity.com/experts/andy-robbins/), [CIEM](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/ciem/), [best ITDR tools](https://startwithidentity.com/rankings/best-itdr-tools/)