Description

Incorrect permission assignment for critical resource in Azure SQL Database allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:18:49.017Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:18:49.017Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An incorrect permission assignment vulnerability exists within Azure SQL Database, which can be exploited by an authorized attacker to achieve local privilege escalation. This security flaw stems from improperly configured access controls governing critical database resources. If successfully exploited, the vulnerability enables an authenticated user with baseline privileges to elevate their access rights within the targeted database instance, potentially gaining unauthorized administrative capabilities. The affected system is Azure SQL Database. The primary risk implication involves a compromise of the principle of least privilege, allowing threat actors to manipulate sensitive database objects, execute unauthorized administrative commands, and potentially access confidential data contained within the database ecosystem. Exploitation of this vulnerability requires the attacker to possess prior authorized access to the database environment, meaning the attack vector is localized rather than network-driven from an unauthenticated posture. No specific exploitation payload requirements are detailed beyond the necessity of leveraging the flawed permission assignment on the critical resource to subvert standard authorization boundaries.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the access control mechanisms implemented for critical resources within Azure SQL Database. Specifically, the root cause is an incorrect permission assignment during the provisioning, management, or internal configuration of system objects or database-level metadata. Under normal operational security parameters, access to these critical resources should be strictly partitioned and restricted to highly privileged roles such as db_owner or system administrators. However, due to the flawed permission assignment, low-privileged or standard authorized users are implicitly or explicitly granted permissions that exceed their intended operational scope.\nThe attack flow begins when an attacker authenticates to the Azure SQL Database instance with standard user credentials. Although the user possesses valid authentication credentials, their authorization level should theoretically prevent them from interacting with or modifying the targeted critical resource. Because of the misconfiguration, the attacker can interact with the vulnerable component by issuing specific database queries, stored procedure calls, or command executions that leverage the overly permissive access rights.\nDuring exploitation, the attacker targets the improperly secured resource to manipulate permissions, alter database state, or execute context-dependent operations that normally require administrative privileges. This manipulation allows the attacker to bridge the gap between low-level local authorization and elevated administrative capabilities. The privilege requirements for this exploit mandate that the attacker must already possess network connectivity to the database and a valid authentication token or login. The network exposure is constrained by the standard accessibility of the Azure SQL Database endpoint, but the escalation vector itself functions as a local vulnerability within the database security context.\nPost-exploitation impact includes full or partial compromise of database integrity and confidentiality. An attacker who successfully elevates privileges can create unauthorized database accounts, grant persistent administrative roles to external identities, modify or exfiltrate sensitive tables, and potentially pivot to other accessible database resources within the same logical server depending on database configuration parameters. The vulnerability directly undermines the role-based access control (RBAC) architecture enforced by the database management system."
}