Permission Coverage Calculator
Check whether assigned roles cover every permission a job actually needs, and how much extra access comes along for the ride.
Inputs
Permission Coverage
92.8%
Missing Permissions
18
Effective Permissions Held
280
Over-Grant Rate
17.1%
Redundant Grant Rate
12.9%
Assessment
Coverage gap — expect access-denied tickets
Step by step
Values used
Permissions the role needs = 250 permissions; Permissions covered by current grants = 232 permissions; Granted but not required = 48 permissions; Permissions granted more than once = 30 permissions
Permission Coverage
coverage = covered ÷ required, over-grant rate = extra ÷ (covered + extra), redundancy = duplicate grants ÷ covered.
Permission Coverage
= 92.8
Missing Permissions
= 18
Effective Permissions Held
= 280
Over-Grant Rate
= 17.1
Redundant Grant Rate
= 12.9
Assessment
= Coverage gap — expect access-denied tickets
How it works
Coverage answers whether the role works at all; the over-grant rate answers whether it works too well. Redundancy is the third dimension — permissions arriving from several roles at once are the reason revoking one role often changes nothing. A gap produces access-denied tickets on day one of a new joiner, while over-granting produces the audit finding six months later, and only measuring both at once lets you fix one without creating the other.
Formula
Permission Coverage
coverage = covered ÷ required, over-grant rate = extra ÷ (covered + extra), redundancy = duplicate grants ÷ covered.
- covered
- Required permissions satisfied by at least one role or policy
- extra
- Permissions held that no task in the role needs
- duplicate grants
- Permissions arriving through more than one role or policy
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Permission Coverage calculated?
coverage = covered ÷ required, over-grant rate = extra ÷ (covered + extra), redundancy = duplicate grants ÷ covered. Coverage answers whether the role works at all; the over-grant rate answers whether it works too well. Redundancy is the third dimension — permissions arriving from several roles at once are the reason revoking one role often changes nothing.
Why does Permission Coverage matter?
A gap produces access-denied tickets on day one of a new joiner, while over-granting produces the audit finding six months later, and only measuring both at once lets you fix one without creating the other.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Permissions the role needs, Permissions covered by current grants, Granted but not required, Permissions granted more than once. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.
Why does revoking a role not always remove access?
Because of redundant grants. When a permission arrives through three roles, two group memberships and one inline policy, removing any single source leaves the effective permission intact. Effective-permission tooling, not role membership, is the only reliable way to confirm a revoke landed.
What coverage should I aim for?
Essentially 100% of the permissions the job requires, because the alternative is a person who cannot work. The number worth driving down is the over-grant rate: getting it under about 10% is a realistic target for a mature role model.
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