Least privilege means giving each account, user, or service only the access it needs — no more, no less. In LDAP, this translates to strict Access Control Lists (ACLs), minimal group memberships, and carefully scoped binds. The goal is to reduce exposure without blocking legitimate operations.
Start by auditing LDAP permissions. Map every bind DN to the objects it must touch. Remove inherited rights that serve no real purpose. Apply read-only scopes to accounts that don’t need write access. If a service only needs to authenticate users, bind it to a tree that contains credentials but nothing else.
Use role-based groups sparingly. Overlapping roles often lead to privilege creep. Instead, define clear boundaries for each group in LDAP and keep them tight. Refrain from giving blanket access at the base DN; target your ACLs down to the smallest container that gets the job done.