Broken access control still tops the list: OWASP top 10 2025

Broken Access Control remains the #1 security risk in OWASP Top 10 2025, affecting 3.73% of tested applications. Traditional ad-hoc role checks and simple RBAC patterns fail to scale with modern architectures like microservices and multi-tenant systems. The solution involves externalizing authorization logic into policy files, implementing fine-grained object-level access controls, and using attribute-based access control (ABAC) with contextual conditions. Policy-driven approaches enable centralized governance, version control, and audit trails while supporting complex scenarios like ownership verification, regional restrictions, and multi-factor authentication requirements.