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Authorization creep refers to the accumulation of excessive access rights that an individual accumulates over time, often beyond what is necessary for their current role. This situation is most likely to occur when employees gain new and old access rights simultaneously.

In a workplace, as employees change roles, take on new responsibilities, or move between departments, they may be granted new access privileges while retaining their previous ones. If there is no systematic approach to regularly review and adjust these rights, individuals can end up with access rights that are no longer relevant to their current position but remain on their accounts. This excessive access can pose security risks, as individuals could accidentally or intentionally misuse data or systems they no longer need access to.

This phenomenon emphasizes the importance of role-based access control and the necessity of conducting regular audits and reviews of access rights to ensure that employees only hold permissions essential for their current tasks.