Matunda Nyanchama
Abstract
We describe in more detail than before the reference model for role-based access control introduced by Nyanchama and Osborn, and the role-graph model with its accompanying algorithms, which is one way of implementing role-role relationships. An alternative role insertion algorithm is added, and it is shown how the role creation policies of Fernandez et al. correspond to role addition algorithms in our model. We then use our reference model to provide a taxonomy for kinds of conflict. We then go on to consider in some detail privilege-privilege and and role-role conflicts in conjunction with the role graph model. We show how role-role conflicts lead to a partitioning of the role graph into nonconflicting collections that can together be safely authorized to a given user. Finally, in an appendix, we present the role graph algorithms with additional logic to disallow roles that contain conflicting privileges.
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Index Terms
- The role graph model and conflict of interest
Recommendations
Conflict of interest in the administrative role graph model
SDM'06: Proceedings of the Third VLDB international conference on Secure Data ManagementThe original role graph model for role-based access control assumed a centralized administrative model. Conflict of interest for the centralized model was previously discussed by Nyanchama and Osborn. More recently, a decentralized administrative model ...
Integrating role graphs: a tool for security integration
Data and applications securityRole-based access control provides a very flexible set of mechanisms for managing the access control of a complex system with many users, objects and applications. The role graph model of Nyanchama and Osborn is one example of how role administration ...
Reviews
Jonathan K. Millen
A role graph is a straightforward, economical presentation of policies for the assignment of data access privileges to users in an enterprise. A role is just a set of privileges, and a privilege represents some particular mode of access to an object. Users or user groups can be authorized to roles. There is a pleasant figure showing how these definitions fit together and give rise to issues that other authors have dealt with, such as privilege inheritance and group inclusions. The role graph portrays, in a minimal way, the inclusion relation of roles and the privileges in each role that are not in any subordinate node. The authors provide some algorithms for updating the graph consistently in response to desired policy changes. The last part of the paper defines conflicting roles to have no common privileges and observes that it is easy to identify sets of nodes whose members are all nonconflicting. Algorithms are given for this, too. Overall, the paper has the settled, orderly feel of an introductory textbook.
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