RBAC Role Definition via Source Code Access Pattern Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for defining least privilege access controls in cloud infrastructure are inefficient and inaccurate, often leading to unnecessary broad privileges that increase security risks, and current methods like test-based assignments or manual visualization can overlook required privileges.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that automatically define Role Based Access Control (RBAC) roles by enumerating access patterns in source code, using static and runtime analysis to identify necessary privileges, ensuring accurate and comprehensive least-privilege role definitions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If developers manually assign broad privilege access controls to avoid program failures, then program reliability is improved, but security risks increase due to unnecessarily broad privileges
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically analyzing source code to enumerate access patterns and generating RBAC role definitions without requiring manual developer intervention. This automation eliminates the need for developers to make subjective decisions about privilege breadth, thereby simultaneously improving reliability through accurate privilege assignment and reducing security risks by avoiding overly broad access controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual process of privilege assignment with an automated computational system that analyzes source code, enumerates API calls, and generates RBAC definitions. This substitution transforms the subjective, error-prone manual process into an objective, systematic automated process that accurately determines minimum required privileges, thus improving reliability while reducing security risks.
2Productivity
If test-based automated assignments are used to define least privilege access controls, then efficiency is improved, but accuracy deteriorates due to false negatives that overlook necessary privileges
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by statically analyzing source code before runtime to enumerate all possible API calls and access patterns. This upfront analysis identifies all necessary privileges including those for occasional untested operations, eliminating false negatives. The preliminary enumeration ensures completeness while maintaining efficiency through automated processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer between source code and RBAC assignment that performs detailed static analysis of API calls. This intermediary systematically extracts access patterns including subject, verb, object location, and object type, ensuring no necessary privilege is overlooked. This intermediary process maintains both efficiency through automation and accuracy through comprehensive analysis.
3Measurement precision
If manual visualization methods are used to determine required permissions, then accuracy can be improved, but efficiency deteriorates due to manual effort required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual visualization process with an automated static analysis system that parses source code, identifies API calls, and enumerates access patterns programmatically. This substitution maintains accuracy by systematically capturing all access requirements while dramatically improving efficiency by eliminating manual effort. The automated system processes source code directly to generate RBAC definitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically analyzing its own source code base to generate RBAC role definitions without requiring manual visualization or developer intervention. This automation achieves both high accuracy through comprehensive static analysis and high efficiency through eliminated manual processes, resolving the contradiction between accuracy and productivity.
4Productivity
If static analysis alone is used to enumerate access patterns, then efficiency is improved, but accuracy deteriorates due to inability to handle null object locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges static analysis with runtime analysis to handle null object locations. Static analysis efficiently enumerates most access patterns by analyzing source code structure, while runtime analysis supplements this by observing actual executions to identify null object locations that static analysis alone would miss. This combination maintains efficiency through predominant static analysis while improving completeness through targeted runtime supplementation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial static analysis for deterministic cases and adds runtime analysis specifically for handling null object locations. This partial application of runtime analysis only where needed (for null locations) maintains overall efficiency while ensuring completeness. The excessive action of runtime analysis is applied selectively rather than universally, optimizing the balance between productivity and precision.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are techniques for automated least privilege role definition. The techniques include enumerating access patterns including a subject, a verb, an object location, and an object type of respective Application Programming Interface (API) calls in source code associated with a binary program. For a first function call in the source code, the technique is configured to generate a first object type based on an API definition associated with the function call, a first verb based on an API-to-verb matching database, a first subject based on a program-to-subject mapping database and the binary program, and a first object location based on the API definition associated with the function call. The technique further includes generating a Role Based Access Control (RBAC) role definition based on the enumerated access patterns.