--- title: Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin... description: A walkthrough of a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab demonstrates how an admin panel hidden behind an unpredictable URL can still be accessed because the... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin Functionality with Unpredictable URL | daily.dev og:description: A walkthrough of a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab demonstrates how an admin panel hidden behind an unpredictable URL can still be accessed because the... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/n4d6ISDX8.png og:image:alt: Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin Functionality with Unpredictable URL og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin Functionality with Unpredictable URL **[InfoSec Write-ups](https://daily.dev/sources/infosecwriteups)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A walkthrough of a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab demonstrates how an admin panel hidden behind an unpredictable URL can still be accessed because the endpoint enforces no authentication or authorization. The URL was found by inspecting client-side JavaScript, after which the admin panel allowed full access, including deleting a user account. The lab illustrates that obscure URLs are not a substitute for proper server-side access control, and lists remediation steps like requiring authentication, implementing role-based authorization, and returning proper 401/403 responses. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Is hiding an admin panel behind a hard-to-guess URL enough to secure it? No, an unpredictable URL is not a substitute for authentication and authorization. In a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab, an admin endpoint like /admin-04j4yp was discoverable through client-side JavaScript, and once found, it had no authentication check, allowing full administrative access including deleting user accounts. _Developers hardening admin panels can find practical access-control writeups like this through daily.dev._ ### What is an example of broken access control from OWASP category A01? Unprotected admin functionality reachable via an unpredictable URL is a documented broken access control example under OWASP A01 and CWE-284. The application obscured its admin route in client-side JavaScript rather than enforcing server-side checks, so anyone who discovered the endpoint could create, delete, or modify users without credentials. _Security-minded developers track real-world access control patterns like this via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [How I was able to discover Broken Access Control](https://daily.dev/posts/how-i-was-able-to-discover-broken-access-control-ykjcsmjof) · InfoSec Write-ups · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#appsec](https://daily.dev/tags/appsec) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin Functionality with Unpredictable URL","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8"},"datePublished":"2026-09-02T05:54:30.398Z","dateModified":"2026-09-02T05:55:02.777Z","description":"A walkthrough of a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab demonstrates how an admin panel hidden behind an unpredictable URL can still be accessed because the...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e02dd00c2a12d9883877ddc6cd24e04f?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/e02dd00c2a12d9883877ddc6cd24e04f?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"InfoSec Write-ups","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"InfoSec Write-ups","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/f0dc21b5bbfd46fda36f7b4b53dd1705","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/infosecwriteups"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"appsec","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"InfoSec Write-ups","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/infosecwriteups"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Access Control Vulnerabilities: Unprotected Admin Functionality with Unpredictable URL"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/access-control-vulnerabilities-unprotected-admin-functionality-with-unpredictable-url-n4d6isdx8#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Is hiding an admin panel behind a hard-to-guess URL enough to secure it?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No, an unpredictable URL is not a substitute for authentication and authorization. In a PortSwigger Web Security Academy lab, an admin endpoint like /admin-04j4yp was discoverable through client-side JavaScript, and once found, it had no authentication check, allowing full administrative access including deleting user accounts. Developers hardening admin panels can find practical access-control writeups like this through daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is an example of broken access control from OWASP category A01?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Unprotected admin functionality reachable via an unpredictable URL is a documented broken access control example under OWASP A01 and CWE-284. The application obscured its admin route in client-side JavaScript rather than enforcing server-side checks, so anyone who discovered the endpoint could create, delete, or modify users without credentials. Security-minded developers track real-world access control patterns like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```