Privileged entitlements management (PEM)

Privileged Entitlements Management (PEM) extends beyond traditional PAM by focusing on continuously discovering and governing which high-risk permissions (entitlements) exist and who holds them. 

While PAM typically addresses the mechanics (vaulting, session control) for known privileged accounts, PEM identifies all entitlements across systems—like admin roles in cloud services, domain admin in Active Directory, root on Linux servers, or high-privilege database roles. It automatically classifies privileges as “high-risk” or “sensitive,” and ensures they’re assigned only to authorized individuals who genuinely need them, in line with “least privilege.” 

PEM tools may periodically scan infrastructure, highlight overprivileged accounts, require re-approval for certain entitlements, and track changes. The goal is to keep privileged entitlements scarce, properly assigned, and auditable, preventing “privilege creep” (when users accumulate excess rights over time).

How does it affect identity security?

Even if you have a good PAM solution, if there are hidden or unknown accounts with privileged entitlements, they can be exploited. 

PEM addresses the root cause: excess privileges. Attackers often move laterally to find an account that has domain admin or can read production databases. If privileged entitlements are not tracked, they can lurk in rarely used service accounts or overshadowed by departmental expansions. PEM systematically scans for these entitlements, revokes or flags questionable ones, and ensures an approval workflow. 

Thus, PEM is vital for identity security because it reduces the overall number of privileged pathways that attackers might use. It also ensures that changes to privileges require documented justifications, preventing accidental or malicious granting of high rights. By continuously discovering entitlements in dynamic environments, PEM keeps security posture up to date, lowering the odds that dormant admin rights or ghost accounts remain overlooked.

Case studies

Attackers compromised an account of a Waydev developer who had privileges allowing access to customer Git repository data. Proper PEM would have flagged the developer’s entitlements as excessive (why did a dev need unrestrained read/write across all client data?), prompting either removal or restricting scope. By not having a systematic privilege entitlement review, Waydev inadvertently granted broad rights that turned a single compromised credential into a major data breach. 

Another example is the Okta sub-processor breach (2022), where a support engineer at a third party had partial admin privileges. While not purely an entitlements issue, it showed how leftover or broad “support” entitlements can cause a wide impact. A robust PEM solution might have forced periodic re-approval or narrower scope for that engineer’s privileges.

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