Secure RBAC Setup via Temporary Default Profile
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Solution Overview
Problem
Role-based access control (RBAC) systems face vulnerabilities due to default user profiles and passwords, which can be exploited to gain system-wide access, leading to security breaches and data compromise.
Innovation Solution
A preconfigured default user profile is deployed during booting, creating multiple user profiles with administrator or root authorities and custom passwords, and automatically deleted after a threshold period, limiting its exploitability and enforcing strong password requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a default root user profile with a default password is shipped from vendor to customer to streamline system instantiation, then system setup is simplified and faster, but system security is compromised because the default password can be exploited by malicious users
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically creating multiple user profiles with unique passwords during initial system setup, and automatically deleting the default root user profile after a threshold period. This preliminary configuration eliminates the need for customers to manually create user profiles while removing the security vulnerability of persistent default credentials before the system is fully operational.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and removes the harmful default root user profile from the system after it has served its temporary purpose of enabling initial setup. By automatically deleting the default profile after a threshold period or after creating sufficient user profiles, the system retains the convenience of preconfiguration while eliminating the long-term security risk.
2Reliability
If the default password is made to expire after a threshold period to limit attack surface, then security is improved, but the system remains vulnerable during the expiration period and requires ongoing management
Solution Approach 1:
The invention converts the potentially harmful default root user profile into a beneficial temporary setup tool. By allowing the default profile to exist only for a limited threshold period and then automatically deleting it, the system transforms what would be a persistent security vulnerability into a temporary convenience that enables initial system configuration without long-term risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically manages the lifecycle of user profiles by automatically creating multiple profiles during setup and automatically deleting the default profile after a threshold period. This dynamic approach adapts the system's security posture over time, transitioning from a state with a default profile suitable for setup to a state without default profiles suitable for production use.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple sub-profiles are created to segregate the default root user profile, then the attack surface is reduced, but the complexity of user profile management increases and exploitation risk remains
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically creating the necessary user profiles with unique passwords during initial setup and automatically deleting the default root user profile after the threshold period. This eliminates the need for customers to manually manage user profile complexity while ensuring security best practices are followed, as the system handles profile lifecycle management autonomously.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are techniques for a secure roles-based access control (RBAC) setup during boot of a connected computational system. The techniques include a method comprising deploying a preconfigured default user profile during booting of a computational system. The techniques further include creating, using the preconfigured default user profile, a plurality of user profiles having administrator and/or root authorities, where each of the plurality of user profiles is associated with a respective custom password. The techniques further include completing booting of the computational system using the plurality of user profiles having the administrator and/or root authorities.