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Transitive Trust: Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities in Hybrid Cloud Identity Systems

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  • Pooja Rawat
  • Soumen Chakraborty

Abstract

Organizations commonly operate hybrid identity systems in which on-premises directories, synchronization components, federated cloud identity providers and cloud resource permissions are linked by trust relationships. Because trust is transitive, control of one weakly protected component can yield authority over others. This paper classifies privilege escalation opportunities in hybrid identity systems into six classes: connector over-privilege, federation trust compromise, cloud policy escalation, on-premises credential abuse, delegation and consent, and boundary erosion. It introduces escalation distance, a graph-based measure of the number of steps between an ordinary principal and the identity control plane, and proposes the Unified Tier-0 framework of four actions: Define, Separate, Constrain and Watch. An evaluation design and metrics are presented. The work is conceptual and defensive, offering a structure for finding and shortening the paths that matter most.

Suggested Citation

  • Pooja Rawat & Soumen Chakraborty, 2026. "Transitive Trust: Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities in Hybrid Cloud Identity Systems," International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, International Journal of Scientific Research in Computer Science, Engineering and Information Technology, vol. 12(5), pages 500-505, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:jbh:ijsrcs:v12:y2026:i5:id:2195
    DOI: 10.32628/CSEIT2612571
    Note: Article URL: https://ijsrcseit.com/home/article/view/CSEIT2612571
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