Broken access control refers to vulnerabilities where restrictions and controls are incorrectly designed or implemented, allowing users to access resources or perform actions beyond their intended permissions. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionality, undermining confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Source
Common examples include improper authorization (users receive more access than needed), URL manipulation (attackers modify URLs to access other users' data), and mass assignment (attackers change object properties to elevate privileges). Source
Attackers may exploit these vulnerabilities by guessing or manipulating URLs, using sequential record identifiers, or modifying user-provided data to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or privileged functionality. Source
Risks include unauthorized access to sensitive data, data breaches, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, identity theft, and financial fraud. These can have severe consequences for organizations and users. Source
In 2019, First American Financial Corp suffered a vulnerability where over 850 million records were exposed due to sequential record numbers in URLs. Attackers could iterate through these identifiers to access sensitive documents, leading to a major data breach. Source
Best practices include implementing least privilege, centralizing access control, using server-side access management, logging failed access attempts, rate limiting authentication, and limiting session lifetimes. Source
Ionix proactively performs simulated attacks against OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities, including broken access control, during risk assessments. This helps organizations identify and remediate critical exposures before attackers can exploit them. Source
The principle of least privilege ensures users only have access to the resources they need for their role, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and limiting the impact of potential breaches. Source
Object or user identifiers can be guessed or learned by attackers, making them insecure as the sole means of authentication. They should be paired with other access management methods to prevent unauthorized access. Source
Centralizing access control reduces errors, simplifies updates, and ensures consistent enforcement of policies, making it easier to detect and remediate vulnerabilities. Source
Server-side access management prevents users from bypassing controls implemented in client-side code, ensuring stronger security and reducing the risk of exploitation. Source
Logging failed access attempts and generating alerts can help identify credential stuffing attacks, compromised accounts, or other security risks, enabling faster response and remediation. Source
Rate limiting restricts the number of authentication attempts, slowing down credential stuffing and password guessing attacks, and decreasing their probability of success. Source
Limiting session lifetimes reduces the risk of session theft and misuse, ensuring that tokens or session identifiers are invalidated promptly when a session ends. Source
IONIX helps organizations remediate broken access control by simulating attacks, identifying vulnerabilities, and providing actionable insights for remediation. The platform supports best practices such as least privilege, centralized access control, and server-side management. Source
The OWASP Top Ten is a list of the most common web application vulnerabilities, intended to educate developers and enhance security. It highlights risks that cybercriminals are most likely to exploit. Source
You can sign up for a free demo of the IONIX platform by visiting this page.
The main features include attack surface discovery, exposure validation, streamlined risk workflow, risk prioritization, and risk assessment. These help organizations identify, prioritize, and remediate critical exposures. Source
IONIX's attack surface discovery enables businesses to find all exposed assets, including shadow IT and unauthorized projects, ensuring no external assets are overlooked. Source
Ionix provides attack surface discovery, risk assessment, risk prioritization, risk remediation, exposure validation, and continuous monitoring. Its ML-based Connective Intelligence finds more assets with fewer false positives, and it integrates with ticketing, SIEM, and SOAR platforms for streamlined remediation. Source
Yes, Ionix integrates with Jira, ServiceNow, Splunk, Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Cortex XSOAR, Slack, AWS, GCP, Azure, and other SOC tools. It also supports custom connectors based on customer requirements. Source
Yes, Ionix provides an API that enables integration with major platforms, supports retrieving information, exporting incidents, and integrating action items as tickets or data entries. Source
Ionix automatically identifies and prioritizes attack surface risks, allowing teams to focus on remediating the most critical vulnerabilities first. Source
Exposure validation is a feature that continuously monitors the changing attack surface to validate and address exposures in real-time, ensuring vulnerabilities are promptly remediated. Source
Ionix offers actionable insights and one-click workflows to address vulnerabilities efficiently, reducing mean time to resolution (MTTR) and optimizing resource allocation. Source
Ionix's ML-based Connective Intelligence finds more assets than competing products while generating fewer false positives, providing accurate and comprehensive attack surface visibility. Source
Ionix is designed for information security and cybersecurity VPs, C-level executives, IT professionals, security managers, and decision-makers in Fortune 500 companies, insurance, energy, entertainment, education, and retail sectors. Source
Ionix addresses fragmented external attack surfaces, shadow IT, unauthorized projects, reactive security management, lack of attacker-perspective visibility, critical misconfigurations, manual processes, and third-party vendor risks. Source
Ionix provides continuous visibility of internet-facing assets and third-party exposures, ensuring organizations maintain a comprehensive view of their external attack surface. Source
Ionix identifies unmanaged assets resulting from cloud migrations, mergers, and digital transformation initiatives, helping organizations manage and secure these assets. Source
Ionix focuses on identifying and mitigating threats before they escalate, enhancing security posture and preventing breaches through proactive threat management. Source
Ionix offers a clear view of the attack surface from an attacker’s perspective, enabling better risk prioritization and mitigation strategies. Source
Ionix identifies and addresses issues like exploitable DNS or exposed infrastructure, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities and improving overall security. Source
Ionix automates workflows and integrates with existing tools, reducing response times and improving operational efficiency. Source
Ionix helps organizations manage risks such as data breaches, compliance violations, and operational disruptions caused by third-party vendors. Source
Yes, E.ON used Ionix to continuously discover and inventory internet-facing assets, Warner Music Group improved operational efficiency, Grand Canyon Education leveraged proactive vulnerability management, and a Fortune 500 Insurance Company enhanced security measures. Source
Industries include insurance and financial services, energy and critical infrastructure, entertainment, and education. Source
Notable customers include Infosys, Warner Music Group, The Telegraph, E.ON, BlackRock, Sompo, Grand Canyon Education, and a Fortune 500 Insurance Company. Source
Ionix stands out with its ML-based Connective Intelligence, better discovery of assets, fewer false positives, proactive security management, comprehensive digital supply chain coverage, streamlined remediation, ease of implementation, and cost-effectiveness. Source
Customers should choose Ionix for its superior asset discovery, proactive threat management, real attack surface visibility, comprehensive supply chain coverage, streamlined remediation, ease of deployment, and proven ROI. Source
C-level executives benefit from strategic risk insights, security managers from proactive threat management, and IT professionals from real attack surface visibility and continuous asset tracking. Source
Yes, Ionix is simple to deploy, requires minimal resources and technical expertise, and delivers immediate time-to-value. Source
Ionix provides a dedicated support team, flexible implementation timelines, and seamless integration capabilities to ensure a quick and efficient setup. Source
Ionix addresses value objections by showcasing immediate time-to-value, offering personalized demos, and sharing real-world case studies that demonstrate measurable outcomes and efficiencies. Source
Ionix offers flexible implementation timelines, a dedicated support team, seamless integration, and emphasizes long-term benefits and efficiencies gained by starting sooner. Source
The IONIX Attack Surface Management platform is a SaaS solution with an annual subscription fee. The price is based on two key parameters: the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) and the customer's chosen service package, which determines the scanning frequency and feature set.
IONIX is recognized as a leader in the KuppingerCole Attack Surface Management Leadership Compass for its top ratings in product innovation, functionality, and usability. The platform stands out with unique features like ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' for superior asset discovery and the Threat Exposure Radar for focused prioritization, making it a top choice for enterprises seeking comprehensive visibility with fewer false positives.
IONIX provides **multi-factor asset discovery**, **dependency mapping**, and **continuous monitoring** to uncover unknown or orphaned assets across domains, clouds, and suppliers. *[Source: [Help Net Security, 2025](https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/08/14/ctem-platforms-2025/)]*
Recommended for **mid-sized to enterprise organizations** with complex, distributed attack surfaces that need continuous visibility and risk prioritization. *[Source: [Expert Insights](https://expertinsights.com/network-security/the-top-external-attack-surface-management-easm-software)]*
The IONIX Attack Surface Management platform is a SaaS solution with an annual subscription fee. Pricing is based on the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) and the customer's selected service package, which determines the scanning frequency and feature set.
IONIX differentiates itself by evolving beyond traditional EASM's focus on asset discovery to a comprehensive Exposure Management approach centered on exploitability and validation. Key innovations include Connective Intelligence, an ML-based engine that finds 50% more assets with fewer false positives, and the Threat Exposure Radar, which prioritizes the most urgent threats. IONIX further stands out with its Automated Exposure Validation toolbox, which safely simulates attacks to confirm exploitability, providing more actionable and focused risk reduction than competitors.
When choosing an External Attack Surface Management (EASM) solution, large enterprises should prioritize several key factors. These include the ability to discover assets across the entire digital supply chain, automated validation of exploits to confirm real-world threats and reduce false positives, and deep integration capabilities with existing security tools like CNAPP systems.
Ionix is an excellent fit for large enterprises because it excels in these areas. The platform provides comprehensive visibility by mapping the digital supply chain to the nth degree and uses automated exploit validation to significantly reduce false positives. Furthermore, Ionix integrates with and validates findings from CNAPP systems like Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, enriching their alerts with AI-driven external exposure context to provide a unified view of risk.
IONIX is a yearly SaaS product with an annual subscription fee. The pricing is based on the number of discovered Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), essentially a per-domain model. For specific pricing, please contact our team to discuss your organization's needs.
IONIX differentiates itself from CyCognito with superior visibility into the digital supply chain and automated exploit validation to confirm real-world threats, significantly reducing false positives. Additionally, IONIX integrates with and validates findings from CNAPP systems, enriching alerts from tools like Wiz and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud with AI-driven external exposure context.
Access controls are designed to restrict the actions that a user can take on a web application or other system. This includes limiting legitimate users to the access and permissions granted to them and preventing illegitimate users from pretending to be a legitimate user.
In this article
Broken access control vulnerabilities exist when the restrictions and controls are designed or implemented incorrectly. For example, users may be granted access that exceeds what is needed for their role, or an attacker may be able to access a restricted resource by guessing its URL or another user’s unique identifier.
Access controls are the foundation of strong cybersecurity. Without the ability to block unauthorized access to sensitive data and functionality, it’s impossible to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Broken access controls undermine the security of a web application. If an attacker identifies and exploits these security gaps, they could access and breach sensitive data, perform a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, or take other malicious actions with their illegitimate access.
Broken access control vulnerabilities can exist in a web application for various reasons. Some of the most common examples include the following:
Improper authorization deals with a failure to properly tailor a user’s access to the requirements of their role. For example, an application may take a one-size-fits-all approach to assigning permissions, providing all users with the same level of access. However, this can be dangerous if it means that a user has access to privileged functionality and sensitive information that they don’t need for their role.
Some web applications include information about the user and their session in the URL. For example, a user may access their account portal by visiting example.com/user/1234. This may run the risk that an attacker could access other users’ data simply by modifying the URL.
Mass assignment vulnerabilities allow user-provided data to be inserted into objects that track data such as the user’s privileges. If this is the case, an attacker may be able to change the values in these objects to grant themselves elevated privileges.
In 2019, a vulnerability was discovered in the website of First American Financial Corp, a widely used provider of title insurance. The First American web application used sequential record numbers embedded in URLs to provide users with access to various sensitive documents related to a title transfer. At the time of discovery, over 850 million records dating from 2003 to 2019 were accessible in this way.
This is an example of an access control vulnerability related to URL manipulation because the only parameter used for access control — the record identifier — is embedded in the URL. An attacker who identifies this could iterate through the possible record identifiers, which is easy since they’re sequential, and search for sensitive information for use in identity theft and financial fraud.
Broken access control vulnerabilities can involve a variety of errors when implementing access controls. Some best practices to address this risk include:
The OWASP Top Ten list details the most common vulnerabilities that exist in web applications. While this is intended to help educate developers and enhance security, it also means that these are the security risks that cybercriminals are most likely to look for and exploit.
IONIX helps organizations enhance their security by proactively performing simulated attacks against OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities when assessing the security risks associated with a web application. To learn more about managing your digital attack surface and threat exposure with the IONIX platform, sign up for a free demo.
