Break-glass access
An emergency access procedure for bypassing the normal access controls in an acute crisis — "break the glass in case of fire". A powerful emergency account/flow that gives immediate access when the usual systems aren't enough, but with heavy guardrails around it.
Problem: strict controls (JIT, MFA, approval flows) are good — until something goes so wrong that they themselves block the rescue (the identity system is down, no approver can be reached, a production outage requires immediate root). Break-glass is the deliberately prepared emergency exit: a special highly privileged account/procedure that can be used directly. But since it bypasses the protections it's surrounded by strong controls: the password is kept securely (split, in a vault/safe), use alarms immediately and is heavily logged, and every use requires a subsequent review/justification. Win: you don't get locked out in a crisis, while abuse is deterred and always detected. An important counterweight to otherwise rigid zero-trust/PAM controls. Related to PAM and JIT access.