Case Study: Broken Authentication in SaaS Platform

Background

A fast-scaling SaaS company approached HackVitraSec for a proactive security assessment. Their product serves 25,000+ business accounts and handles sensitive CRM and billing data.

Vulnerability Details

We discovered a Broken Authentication flaw. The "role" parameter in account update requests was modifiable by low-privileged users, allowing them to escalate to admin access.

Example: { "user_id": 312, "role": "admin" } — accepted without any backend verification.

Impact

• Unauthorized access to dashboards, user data, and billing
• Audit logs and sensitive reports were downloadable
• Potential GDPR/ISO compliance violations

Remediation

• Backend validation added to restrict role modification by non-admins
• Logs now trigger alerts on suspicious privilege changes
• All privileged routes now enforce token-based access control

Recommendations

• Never trust client-side role assignments
• Use RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) enforced server-side only
• Conduct regular VAPT audits and access control reviews