Backend & systems·Security and identity
you give the service a database user that can only read the two tables it needs, rather than the one that can drop everything.
Principle of least privilege
Also calledleast privilege
Granting only the permissions needed for the task, for as long as they are needed. It does not prevent compromise; it bounds what a compromise reaches. The common violations are boring and universal: an admin credential in CI, a service account with wildcard permissions, a token that never expires.
Commonly confused with
- Authorization vs Principle of least privilege →
- Column-level security vs Principle of least privilege →
- Defence in depth vs Principle of least privilege →
- Least privilege for tools vs Principle of least privilege →
- Permission boundary vs Principle of least privilege →
- Principle of least privilege vs Privilege creep →
- Principle of least privilege vs Secret rotation →