How to detect and address configuration drift

Mismatched socks? Sometimes okay, especially if they have a cute pattern. Mismatched configurations? Never cute or okay…

Configuration drift occurs when the settings of applications, networks, and other IT components drift from their baseline state. It’s a common problem for IT pros and one that can lead to a lot of headaches.

Causes. There are several reasons why a system’s settings may deviate from an intended state. Roman Sannikov, global threat research coordinator at iCOUNTER, told IT Brew that drift can occur when manual fixes and patches aren’t deployed in a uniform fashion, comparing it to a building with a leak in need of plumbing.

“Generally speaking, a building is not going to change all of their pipes just because there’s a leak in one pipe,” Sannikov said. “A plumber might come in and might patch that particular pipe, but there’s no guarantee that if they replace it, it’s going to be the same exact material, the same exact age, [and] the same exact size as the other pipes around it.”

Drift can also result when a person who maintains an IT system leaves an organization with poor documentation hygiene, taking institutional knowledge of certain processes with them, Sannikov added.

Risky business. Configuration drift can pose a serious risk to IT infrastructure, according to BlueFlag Security CEO Raj Mallempati, who said malicious actors can easily exploit weak configurations. According to a 2026 research report from Reach Security, 97% of organizations have had either a confirmed breach or a near miss due to a misconfigured cybersecurity tool in the past year.

“Most people think of each change as being harmless, but the reality is that when you stitch it all together…it widens the access [and] gives access when it should not be given,” Mallempati said, adding that drift weakens guardrails and controls within an organization, opening it up to breach exposure.

“These are all big, big, big costs to the business,” Mallempati said.

Compliance violations are another potential breach issue. “The last thing you want to do is have the auditors find these gaps first and then it becomes a fire drill,” Mallempati said.

Detection and remediation. There are different approaches companies can take to identify and address configuration drift. One is making sure any changes to network and software configurations are deployed at the same time, Sannikov said: “If you have a pipe that breaks, instead of just changing a section of the pipe, replace all of the pipes, because chances are, maybe some of the other ones might be on the verge of breaking, as well.”

While this is an “ideal” approach, Sannikov said, this method can be difficult and time-consuming for organizations. Another way to identify and remediate drift, he added, is by leveraging automated monitoring tools that “make sure that whatever is currently being run coincides with the version that is set as the default version for the company.”

Gregory Pepper, Check Point Software Technologies Security architect, said there have been “significant efforts” by organizations to use infrastructure as code to manage devices in a consistent manner.

Tips to keep in mind. Mallempati reminds organizations that configuration drift is inevitable and shouldn’t be thought of as a one-time fix.

“It’s kind of like a yo-yo in the sense that configuration drift happens, you fix it [and] you have to continuously keep monitoring because configuration drift will inevitably again happen,” Mallempati said.

He added organizations should focus on having guardrails as opposed to “gates” that add friction to the development environment, which can further drive drift. “Have the right guardrails which effectively will monitor the configuration drift and then fix it.”