Tuesday 20 May 2025
A new approach to measuring privilege in Azure cloud environments has been developed, offering a more nuanced understanding of risk and exposure. The system uses two complementary metrics – WAR distance and blast radius – to quantify the strength of control plane permissions and the extent of data plane permissions.
The control plane is concerned with configuring access to resources, while the data plane deals with the actual data itself. The WAR distance metric assesses the strength of a principal’s (identity) permissions in the control plane by combining scope and permission type. This results in a scalar value that can be used to rank principals by privilege level.
In contrast, the blast radius metric is designed specifically for the data plane, where it measures the maximum extent of sensitive permissions held by a principal. This provides a clear indication of the risk posed by a principal’s data access, allowing security teams to prioritize remediation efforts.
The two metrics are complementary, with the WAR distance providing insight into control plane privilege and the blast radius offering a data-centric view of risk. By combining these metrics, Azure administrators can gain a more complete understanding of the privilege landscape within their environment.
One key benefit of this approach is its ability to identify high-risk principals that may not be immediately apparent through traditional monitoring methods. For example, a principal with a low WAR distance but a large blast radius may be holding sensitive data permissions across multiple organizational boundaries, posing a significant risk to data confidentiality and integrity.
The system also provides a means to prioritize review and remediation efforts, focusing on the most critical areas of privilege weakness. This can help reduce the likelihood of data breaches and other security incidents.
While this approach is specific to Azure cloud environments, its underlying principles have broader implications for cloud security more generally. As organizations continue to adopt cloud-based services, developing effective strategies for managing privilege will become increasingly important.
Ultimately, this new approach offers a valuable tool for Azure administrators seeking to better understand and mitigate privilege-related risks within their environment. By combining the WAR distance and blast radius metrics, they can gain a more nuanced understanding of privilege strength and data risk, ultimately leading to improved security and reduced exposure.
Cite this article: “Quantifying Privilege in Azure Cloud Environments: A New Approach”, The Science Archive, 2025.
Azure, Cloud Security, Privilege, Metrics, War Distance, Blast Radius, Control Plane, Data Plane, Principal, Permissions
Reference: Christophe Parisel, “Scoring Azure permissions with metric spaces” (2025).
