Versatile AI Risk Assessment

Glossary Control and oversight

Least privilege

Gives people, services and agents only the permissions their task requires.

As of: September 2026 · Glossary with 46 terms

What is Least privilege?

Least privilege limits access to required resources and permitted actions. For example, an assistant that reads documents does not automatically need write access or permission to send messages.

Separate reading, writing and execution. Limit permissions in time where appropriate and test revocation. Behavioural instructions in a prompt do not replace technical authorisation checks.

Sources for context: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 · AC-6

PermissionsNHI

Threats using this term (3)

Entries in the threat catalogue whose text uses the term. Every link leads to the full threat page.

Exfiltration from ML Application Attackers or insiders copy data, model weights or configurations straight out of a production AI application without authorisation, … Insecure Tool Design Many AI applications act on their own through connected tools, for example sending emails or querying databases. Excessive Agency An AI system is granted more permissions or freedom to act than its task requires.

More terms from the subject area Control and oversight.

Degree of autonomy How much a system decides and executes without human involvement. Human in, on and out of the loop Describes where people can decide or intervene in a workflow. Guardrails Technical rules that bound the input, output and actions of a system.

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“Least privilege”. Versatile AI Risk Assessment, glossary of AI risk analysis, as of September 2026.
https://www.versatile-ai-risk-assessment.com/en/wissensbasis/glossary/least-privilege/

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