Wesam Darwish ; Konstantin Beznosov

31 January 2010

Abstract: We analyze access control mechanisms of the COM+ architecture and define a configuration of the COM+ protection system in more precise and less ambiguous language than the COM+ documentation. Using this configuration, we suggest an algorithm that formally specifies the semantics of authorization decisions in COM+. We analyze the level of support for the American National Standard Institute's (ANSI) specification of role-based access control (RBAC) components and functional specification in COM+. Our results indicate that COM+ falls short of supporting even Core RBAC. The main limitations exist due to the tight integration of the COM+ architecture with the underlying operating system, which prevents support for session management and role activation, as specified in ANSI RBAC.

Keyword(s): access control ; RBAC ; COM+ ; middleware

Published in: Darwish, W. and Beznosov, K. Analysis of ANSI RBAC Support in COM+. Comput. Stand. Interfaces 32, 4 (Jan. 2010), 197-214. :