Incorrect User Management

Incorrect user management happens when an application's logic for assigning users to roles or groups is flawed. This often stems from bugs in user provisioning workflows, role assignment scripts, or synchronization with external directories. The core issue is that a user's effective permissions don't match the intended security policy, creating a gap between who should have access and who actually does. The most common and dangerous result is privilege escalation, where a user is placed into a more powerful group than intended. For example, a regular user might be incorrectly granted administrator privileges, or an external contractor could gain access to internal-only resources. This flaw directly undermines the application's authorization layer, allowing unauthorized viewing, modification, or deletion of sensitive data and functions.