Authorization Sidecar Access Control for Granular Resource Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing access control methods in software applications are inefficient and prone to unauthorized access due to role sharing and manual permission management, especially in large organizations with thousands of users, leading to security risks and administrative burdens.
Innovation Solution
Implement a dual authorization process using a general authorization procedure based on user profiles and access control policies, followed by a specific credential-based authorization for each resource, executed by a sidecar using Open Policy Agent (OPA) within a container orchestration system like Kubernetes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If administrators assign roles to users based on user titles (e.g., engineer, manager), then access control is simplified and easier to manage, but users may gain unauthorized access to resources they should not access due to role sharing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments access control into two distinct procedures: a general authorization procedure that determines basic access rights based on user profiles and roles, and a specific authorization procedure that validates individual resource access requests. This segmentation allows role-based access to be maintained while adding granular control over specific resources, preventing unauthorized access that would otherwise occur through broad role permissions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making authorization decisions specific to each resource rather than applying uniform role-based permissions. The specific authorization procedure evaluates each access request individually against resource-specific policies and user credentials, ensuring that access rights are tailored to the local context of each resource rather than broadly granted through roles.
2Reliability
If administrators grant customized access permissions to each user individually, then access security is improved and unauthorized access is prevented, but the administrative workload and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by performing general authorization in advance, where user profiles and roles are evaluated beforehand to determine baseline access rights. This preliminary step caches authorization decisions that can be reused for multiple resource requests, reducing the need for administrators to manually configure permissions for each individual resource while maintaining security through the subsequent specific authorization procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies universality through the general authorization procedure that establishes broad access rights based on user roles and profiles. This universal authorization layer handles common access patterns for multiple resources simultaneously, reducing administrative workload by addressing groups of resources through a single authorization framework rather than configuring each resource individually.
3Measurement precision
If administrators update permissions for each role individually to reflect changing organizational policies, then access control accuracy is improved, but it becomes difficult to keep track of all roles when there are tens of thousands of user titles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary specific authorization procedure that acts as a mediator between user roles and resource access. This intermediary layer translates broad role-based permissions into specific resource access decisions by evaluating each request against resource-specific policies and user credentials, allowing administrators to maintain accurate permissions without manually managing each of the tens of thousands of roles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the specific authorization procedure continuously validates access requests against current organizational policies and user credentials. This feedback loop ensures that access control accuracy is maintained by dynamically evaluating each request rather than relying on static role definitions that would require manual updates for policy changes.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are described for improving access control for a software application. A cloud platform may include a software application and an authorization sidecar. When a user attempts to access a resource, of the software application, that is associated with a first security level, the authorization sidecar performs authorization on the user based on a general authorization procedure and a specific authorization procedure. The user has access to the resource associated with the first security level after being authorized. When a user attempts to access a resource, of the software application, that is associated with a second security level, the authorization sidecar performs authorization on the user based on the general authorization procedure. The user has access to the resource associated with the second security level after being authorized.