elevated privilege

A level of access rights granted to an account, process, or role that exceeds those of a standard user — specifically, rights to perform security-sensitive or administratively consequential actions such as modifying system configuration, managing other accounts, or accessing otherwise restricted resources. As NIST SP 800-171r3 states, such accounts are "granted elevated privileges to access resources (including security functions or security-relevant information) that are otherwise restricted for non-privileged accounts." In practice, the field uses "elevated privilege" as a relative, comparative descriptor: it characterizes any permission level that stands above an established baseline (typically a standard or least-privilege account), encompassing capabilities such as changing security and configuration settings, adding or deleting other user accounts, and installing or disabling software and hardware. The concept anchors core access-control disciplines — least privilege, privileged access management, and separation of duties — and is the governing criterion for deciding which accounts require heightened controls such as MFA, session logging, and periodic review; NIST SP 1800-18

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