ReBAC
Relationship-Based Access Control
ReBAC is a type of access control model that determines permissions based on the relationships between entities, such as users, resources, or other objects within a system. This approach extends traditional access control mechanisms (like Role-Based Access Control, or RBAC) by incorporating relationships into the decision-making process. In ReBAC, access control policies are defined by the nature of the relationships between the user and the resource.
Key Features of ReBAC:
Relationship Focus: Instead of simply assigning permissions based on roles (as in RBAC), ReBAC assigns permissions based on relationships between users and resources. For example, a user might have access to a document because they are the "owner" or "collaborator" on that document.
Dynamic Policies: The access control policies can dynamically change based on the evolving relationships between entities. This allows for more granular and context-aware access control.
Flexible and Fine-Grained: ReBAC can model complex access control scenarios that are difficult to express in RBAC or Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC). It can capture various contextual dependencies, such as trust relationships or hierarchical relationships (e.g., a manager can access documents owned by their subordinates).
Graph-Based Representation: In many ReBAC implementations, relationships are often modeled as a graph, where nodes represent entities (users, resources) and edges represent the relationships between them. Graph traversal algorithms are used to check permissions based on these relationships.
Example Scenario:
In a collaborative project management system, a ReBAC policy could look like:
A user can "edit" a document if they are marked as a "collaborator" on that document.
A user can "view" a document if they are in the "team" that the document belongs to.
Differences from RBAC and ABAC:
RBAC (Role-Based Access Control): Access is determined based on the user’s role within the organization. For example, an "admin" role might have broad permissions, while a "viewer" role has read-only access. In contrast, ReBAC focuses on the relationships, not just the role.
ABAC (Attribute-Based Access Control): Access is determined based on attributes (such as age, department, location). ReBAC differs in that it is relationship-specific, emphasizing connections between entities rather than standalone attributes.
ReBAC is especially useful in modern systems where relationships (such as team members, or owner-collaborator) are critical in deciding access control.
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