Computer Security:

Principles and Practice

Fourth Edition, Global Edition

By: William Stallings and Lawrie Brown

Chapter 4
Access Control
Access Control Definitions
1/2
NISTIR 7298 defines access control as:

“the process of granting or denying specific

requests to: (1) obtain and use information and
related information processing services; and (2) enter
specific physical facilities”
Access Control Definitions
2/2
RFC 4949 defines access control as:

“a process by which use of system resources is

regulated according to a security policy and is
permitted only by authorized entities (users,
programs, processes, or other systems) according to
that policy”
 Table 4.1

Access Control
Security
Requirements
( SP 800-171)

(Table is on page 107 in the textbook)

 Access Control Principles
• In a broad sense, all of computer security is
concerned with access control

• RFC 4949 defines computer security as:

“measures that implement and assure security

services in a computer system, particularly those that
assure access control service”
 Source: Based on [SAND94].

Source: Based on [SAND94].

 Access Control Policies
• Discretionary access control • Role-based access control
(DAC) (RBAC)
o Controls access based on the identity o Controls access based on the roles
of the requestor and on access rules that users have within the system and
(authorizations) stating what on rules stating what accesses are
requestors are (or are not) allowed to allowed to users in given roles
do
• Attribute-based access
• Mandatory access control control (ABAC)
(MAC) o Controls access based on attributes of
o Controls access based on comparing the user, the resource to be accessed,
security labels with security and current environmental conditions
clearances
 Subjects, Objects, and
Access Rights
Access
Subject Object
right

An entity capable of A resource to which access is Describes the way in which a

accessing objects controlled subject may access an object

Three classes Could include:

• Owner • Read
• Write
• Group Entity used to contain and/or • Execute
• World receive information • Delete
• Create
• Search
 Discretionary Access Control
(DAC)
• Scheme in which an entity may be granted access rights that
permit the entity, by its own violation, to enable another entity
to access some resource
• Often provided using an access matrix
o One dimension consists of identified subjects that may attempt data
access to the resources
o The other dimension lists the objects that may be accessed
• Each entry in the matrix indicates the access rights of a
particular subject for a particular object
Figure 4.2 Example of Access Control Structures
 Table 4.2
Authorization
Table
for Files in
Figure 4.2

(Table is on page 113 in the textbook)

Table 4.3

Access
Control
System
Commands

(Table is on page
116 in the
textbook)
 Protection Domains
• Set of objects together with access rights to those objects
• More flexibility when associating capabilities with protection
domains
• In terms of the access matrix, a row defines a protection domain
• User can spawn processes with a subset of the access rights of the
user
• Association between a process and a domain can be static or dynamic
• In user mode certain areas of memory are protected from use and
certain instructions may not be executed
• In kernel mode privileged instructions may be executed and
protected areas of memory may be accessed
 UNIX File Access Control
UNIX files are administered using inodes (index
nodes)

• Control structures with key information needed for a particular file

• Several file names may be associated with a single inode
• An active inode is associated with exactly one file
• File attributes, permissions and control information are sorted in the inode
• On the disk there is an inode table, or inode list, that contains the inodes of all the files in the file system
• When a file is opened its inode is brought into main memory and stored in a memory resident inode table

Directories are structured in a hierarchical tree

• May contain files and/or other directories

• Contains file names plus pointers to associated inodes
 UNIX
File Access Control

 Unique user identification

number (user ID)
 Member of a primary group
identified by a group ID
 Belongs to a specific group
 12 protection bits
 Specify read, write, and
Figure 4.5 UNIX File Access Control
execute permission for the
owner of the file, members of
the group and all other users
 The owner ID, group ID, and
protection bits are part of the
 Traditional UNIX
File Access Control
 “Set user ID”(SetUID)
 “Set group ID”(SetGID)
 System temporarily uses rights of the file owner/group in addition to
the real user’s rights when making access control decisions
 Enables privileged programs to access files/resources not generally
accessible
 Sticky bit
 When applied to a directory it specifies that only the owner of any file
in the directory can rename, move, or delete that file
 Superuser
 Is exempt from usual access control restrictions
 Has system-wide access
 Access Control Lists (ACLs)
in UNIX
Modern UNIX systems support ACLs

• FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Linux, Solaris

FreeBSD

• Setfacl command assigns a list of UNIX user IDs and groups

• Any number of users and groups can be associated with a file
• Read, write, execute protection bits
• A file does not need to have an ACL
• Includes an additional protection bit that indicates whether the file has an extended ACL

When a process requests access to a file system object two steps are
performed:

• Step 1 selects the most appropriate ACL

• Step 2 checks if the matching entry contains sufficient permissions
 Table 4.4
Scope RBAC Models
 Constraints - RBAC
• Provide a means of adapting RBAC to the specifics of
administrative and security policies of an organization
• A defined relationship among roles or a condition related to
roles
• Types:

Mutually exclusive
Cardinality Prerequisite roles
roles

•A user can only be •Dictates that a user

assigned to one role in •Setting a can only be assigned
the set (either during a
session or statically)
maximum to a particular role if
•Any permission (access number with it is already assigned
right) can be granted to to some other
only one role in the set
respect to roles specified role
 Attribute-Based Access
Control (ABAC)

Can define Main obstacle Web services

authorizati to its adoption have been
in real systems pioneering There is
ons that Strength is has been technologies considera
express its concern about through the ble
conditions the
introduction
flexibility performance interest in
on impact of
of the
properties
and eXtensible applying
evaluating
of both the expressive predicates on Access the model
power both resource Control to cloud
resource Markup
and user
and the properties for Language
services
subject each access (XAMCL)
 ABAC Model: Attributes

Environm
Subject Object
ent
attributes attributes
attributes

•A subject is an active entity that •An object (or resource) is a passive

•Describe the operational, technical, and
causes information to flow among information system-related entity
containing or receiving information even situational environment or context
objects or changes the system state in which the information access occurs
•Objects have attributes that can be •These attributes have so far been largely
•Attributes define the identity and leverages to make access control
characteristics of the subject ignored in most access control policies
decisions
 ABAC
Relies upon the
Distinguishable evaluation of attributes of
because it controls the subject, attributes of
access to objects by the object, and a formal
evaluating rules relationship or access
against the attributes control rule defining the
of entities, operations, allowable operations for
subject-object attribute
and the environment
combinations in a given
relevant to a request environment

Systems are Allows an

unlimited number
capable of
of attributes to be
enforcing DAC,
combined to
RBAC, and MAC satisfy any access
concepts control rule
 ABAC Policies
A policy is a set of rules and relationships that govern allowable behavior
within an organization, based on the privileges of subjects and how
resources or objects are to be protected under which environment
conditions
Typically
written
from the
perspecti
ve of the
object
that
needs
protectin
g and the Other terms commonly used instead of privileges are:
privileges rights, authorizations, and entitlements
available
to
subjects
 Identity, Credential, and
Access Management (ICAM)
• A comprehensive approach to managing and implementing
digital identities, credentials, and access control
• Developed by the U.S. government
• Designed to:
o Create trusted digital identity representations of individuals and nonperson entities
(NPEs)
o Bind those identities to credentials that may serve as a proxy for the individual of NPE in
access transactions
• A credential is an object or data structure that authoritatively binds an identity to a
token possessed and controlled by a subscriber
o Use the credentials to provide authorized access to an agency’s resources
Identity Management
 Credential Management
Encompasses five logical components:

The management of the life

cycle of the credential
An authorized individual sponsors an individual or entity for a credential to establish the need for the credential

The sponsored individual enrolls for the credential

•Process typically consists of identity proofing and the capture of biographic and biometric data
•This step may also involve incorporating authoritative attribute data, maintained by the identity management component

A credential is produced
•Depending on the credential type, production may involve encryption, the use of a digital signature, the production of a smart card or other functions

The credential is issued to the individual or NPE

Examples of credentials are smart

cards, private/public cryptographic
keys, and digital certificates A credential must be maintained over its life cycle
•Might include revocation, reissuance/replacement, reenrollment, expiration, personal identification number (PIN) reset, suspension, or reinstatement
 Access Management
Deals with the
management and control
Covers both
of the ways entities are logical and
granted access to
resources physical access

Purpose is to ensure that the

May be internal proper identity verification is
made when an individual
to a system or an attempts to access a security
external element sensitive building, computer
systems, or data

Three support elements are

Three support elements are needed for an
enterprise-wide access control facility:

Resource management

• Concerned with defining rules for a resource that requires access control
• Rules would include credential requirements and what user attributes, resource attributes, and
environmental conditions are required for access of a given resource for a given function

Privilege management

• Concerned with establishing and maintaining the entitlement or privilege attributes that comprise an individual’s access profile
• These attributes represent features of an individual that can be used as the basis for determining access decisions to both physical and logical
resources
• Privileges are considered attributes that can be linked to a digital identity

Policy management

• Governs what is allowable and unallowable in an access transaction

 Identity Federation
• Term used to describe the technology, standards, policies, and
processes that allow an organization to trust digital identities,
identity attributes, and credentials created and issued by
another organization
• Addresses two questions:
o How do you trust identities of individuals from external organizations
who need access to your systems
o How do you vouch for identities of individuals in your organization
when they need to collaborate with external organizations
 Open Identity Trust
OpenID
Framework OIDF
•An open standard that •OpenID Foundation is an
international nonprofit
allows users to be
organization of individuals and
authenticated by certain companies committed to enabling,
cooperating sites using a promoting, and protecting OpenID
third party service technologies

ICF OITF
•Information Card Foundation •Open Identity Trust Framework
is a standardized, open
is a nonprofit community of
specification of a trust framework
companies and individuals for identity and attribute
working together to evolve the exchange, developed jointly by
Information Card ecosystem OIDF and ICF
 Table 4.5
Functions and Roles for Banking Example
 Table 4.5
Functions and Roles for Banking Example
 Summary
• Access control principles • Attribute-based access
o Access control context control
o Access control policies o Attributes
o ABAC logical architecture
• Subjects, objects, and access o ABAC policies
rights • Identity, credential,
• Discretionary access control and access
o Access control model
o Protection domains
management
o Identity management
• UNIX file access control o Credential management
o Traditional UNIX file access control o Access management
o Identity federation
o Access control lists in UNIX

• Role-based access control • Trust frameworks

o Traditional identity exchange
o RBAC reference models approach
o Open identity trust framework

• Bank RBAC system