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- “Fallback Access”: Bypasses When Systems Fail
“Fallback Access”: Bypasses When Systems Fail
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Backup Authentication Paths Reintroduce Risk
When SSO or MFA fails, fallback methods like SMS codes, backup emails, or security questions are triggered — often less secure and unmonitored.
Outage Mode Enables Unsafe Default Behaviors
During outages, some systems automatically grant access to maintain uptime — including bypassing MFA or granting guest permissions for internal users.
DNS Failover to Legacy Servers Reopens Old Attack Paths
Failing over to older DNS configurations or backup CDNs during incidents can expose deprecated domains, expired certs, or vulnerable infrastructure.
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Email Recovery Links Are Often Outside Logging Scope
Password reset links sent to external addresses or personal accounts bypass corporate audit trails — and may remain valid longer than expected.
Emergency Access Accounts Go Unmonitored
Break-glass or emergency admin accounts created for disaster recovery are often shared, poorly logged, and active 24/7 — a high-value target if compromised.
Users Are Trained to Trust “Degraded State” Messages
Attackers now mimic outage banners or degraded-mode notifications to explain away missing MFA prompts or broken UI elements in phishing pages.
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