How to Reduce Risk From Developer Permissions Sprawl

Get steps to prevent risky permissions sprawl in your SDLC. 

Developer permissions sprawl is a significant issue that arises when developers are granted excessive access rights across various systems without proper oversight. This challenge is common in large enterprises, where organizations often provide admin access to every repository by default during onboarding. If a developer’s credentials are compromised, an attacker could gain access to the entire system. 

Why is permissions sprawl a significant threat? 

A wide range of people have permissions to access the source code management systems, CI/CD systems, and artifact registries that make up your software development processes.  

Each system follows a different permission model, but they all operate together. Given the complex infrastructure that underpins the SDLC, this makes it difficult to manage all the permissions a user may have. Complicating matters further, many organizations have a poor security habit of sharing credentials and secrets across systems. As a result, much of your development team may have extensive access to large parts of your SDLC. 

This multifaceted and untamed web of permissions creates an attractive target for attackers. All they need to do is gain access to the right developer or account — whether active or dormant — and obtain broad and powerful access to your build environment. Once inside, they can wreak havoc and steal intellectual property and inflict serious downstream damage to your customers.  

Recent attack related to developer permissions sprawl 

The LastPass attack served as a clear reminder that it only takes one compromised account for a malicious actor to gain access to the entire SDLC.  

LastPass, one of the world's largest password managers with 25 million users, disclosed that an unauthorized party had gained access to portions of its developer environment. An attacker gained access to developer account credentials and used them to infiltrate their software supply chain and exfiltrate portions of their proprietary source code. 

Our recommended approach to prevent developer permissions sprawl  

Implement role-based access control (RBAC): Utilize RBAC to provision permissions based on job roles rather than individual users. This approach makes onboarding, offboarding, and permission management more scalable and consistent. 

Establish and enforce least privilege: Apply the principle of least privilege by granting developers only the minimum permissions necessary to perform their specific job functions. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and potential security breaches. 

Conduct regular permission audits: Conduct periodic reviews of user permissions to identify and revoke unnecessary access. This helps maintain the principle of least privilege and ensures that permissions align with current job responsibilities. 

Automate permission management: Implement automated tools and processes for permission assignment and review. This can help maintain scalability and reduce the risk of human error in managing access rights. 

Educate developers: Train developers on the importance of access control and the principle of least privilege. This can help create a security-conscious culture and reduce the tendency to request or retain excessive permissions. 

Understanding common SDLC risks 

As development environments grow increasingly more complex, they introduce more risk, such as vulnerable code or misconfigurations of build tools. Managing permissions effectively becomes critical in safeguarding your organization against potential threats.  

Get our new guide on the top unknown SDLC risks we uncover to get a sense of the risks that might be lurking in your development environment, and how to address them.