What is the primary risk associated with improperly set file system permissions?

• A. Malicious binaries can be executed at higher permissions levels.
• B. Network throughput becomes unstable.
• C. Data backups fail automatically.
• D. System clock drifts.

Answer: (A)

Improperly set file system permissions threaten privilege escalation. When binaries or scripts are accessible or writable by users who shouldn’t have them, or when setuid/setgid programs are misconfigured, an attacker or a non-privileged user can trigger code that runs with the privileges of the file owner or a higher-privileged process. That means they can execute malicious software with elevated rights, granting access to sensitive data, the ability to modify system configuration, install backdoors, or disable security controls. This is the fundamental risk because it directly enables running code with more power than intended, leading to full compromise of the system.

The other options don’t capture this primary risk. Network throughput stability concerns network performance and bandwidth, not local access controls. Data backups failing can result from various issues, but it’s not the core consequence of weak permissions. System clock drift is a timekeeping problem and has no direct link to file permissions.