Future Directions in Role-Based Access Control Models

In many domains, organizations must model personnel and corresponding data access privileges as fine-grained hierarchical access control models. One class of such models, Role-based Access Control (RBAC) models, has been widely accepted and deployed. However, RBAC models are often used without involving cryptographic keys nor considering confidentiality/privacy at the data level. How to design, implement and dynamically modify such a hierarchy, ensure user and data privacy and distribute and manage necessary cryptographic keys are issues of the utmost importance. One elegant solution for cryptography-based hierarchical access control combines the collusion-resistant and privacy-preserving Access Control Polynomial (ACP) and Atallah's Dynamic and Efficient Extended Key Management scheme. Such a model involves cryptographic keys used to encrypt data, can address confidentiality/privacy at the data level and can efficiently support dynamic changes to the RBAC access hierarchy. In this paper, we discuss several implementation challenges and propose solutions when deploying such a system including: data encryption and decryption, key storage and key distribution. Furthermore, we provide analysis of the efficiency and scalability of the resulting system.

As a security principle, separation of duty (SoD) is widely considered in computer security. In the role-based access control(RBAC) model, separation of duty constraints enforce conflict of interest policies. There are two main types of separation of duty policies in RBAC, Static SoD (SSoD) and Dynamic SoD (DSoD). In RBAC, Statically Mutually Exclusive Role (SMER) constraints are used to enforce Static Separation of Duty policies. Dynamic Separation of duty policies, like SSoD policies, are intended to limit the permissions that are available to a user. However, DSoD policies differ from SSoD policies by the context in which these limitations are imposed. A DSoD policy limits the availability of the permissions over a users permission space by placing constraints on the roles that can be activated within or across a users sessions. Like SMER, in RBAC Dynamically Mutually Exclusive Role (DMER) constraints are used to enforce DSoD policies. We investigated using of a fuzzy approach to address the issue in order to provide a more practical solution. In this paper, we propose a model to express the separation of duty policies in RBAC using the fuzzy set theory. The concept of trustworthiness, which is fuzzy in nature, is used to express this model. In comparison with non-fuzzy methods, our method is more pragmatic and more consistent with the real world. The expressiveness of our method is higher than the non- fuzzy ones. We show expression of some constraints in our method which cannot be expressed by non-fuzzy methods. Applicability of the method is shown through an example of the real world.

Access control is an important protection mechanism for information system. Access control enforces subjects access restrictions to objects. Legitimate users should be allowed to access objects and illegitimate users should be detained from accessing objects. Access control between multi-user and multi-object is the key technique in security management of workflow management systems (WfMS), and the mechanism of the role-based authorization and access control is an effective way to solve the problem. This paper designs a set of practical constraint mechanism of role-based access control for WfMS. After introducing authorization constraint mechanism, a new model of role-based access control, RBACWF, is proposed. The role assignment algorithm, role-assign(tasknumber, pre_ass) , is also given as a key technique in this model. After this, an application example is given to explain the execution of the algorithm. Finally, a practical WfMS based on above designs is supplied. The practice in the system’s design and execution has proved that the authorization mechanism is flexible, the performance of the access security is improved greatly, and it also simplifies the task complexity of security administrator.

Current access control mechanisms of the hospital information system can hardly identify the real access intention of system users. A relaxed access control increases the risk of compromise of patient privacy. To reduce unnecessary access of patient information by hospital staff, this paper proposes a knowledge-constrained role-based access control (KC-RBAC) model in which a variety of medical domain knowledge is considered in access control. Based on the proposed Purpose Tree and knowledge-involved algorithms, the model can dynamically define the boundary of access to the patient information according to the context, which helps to protect patient privacy by controlling access. Compared with the role-based access control model, KC-RBAC can effectively protect patient information according to the results of the experiments.

A major development in the field of access control is the dominant role-based access control (RBAC) scheme. The fascination of RBAC lies in its enhanced security along with the concept of roles. In addition, attribute-based access control (ABAC) is added to the access control models, which is famous for its dynamic behavior. Separation of duty (SOD) is used for enforcing least privilege concept in RBAC and ABAC. Moreover, SOD is a powerful tool that is used to protect an organization from internal security attacks and threats. Different problems have been found in the implementation of SOD at the role level. This paper discusses that the implementation of SOD on the level of roles is not a good option. Therefore, this paper proposes a hybrid access control model to implement SOD on the basis of permissions. The first part of the proposed model is based on the addition of attributes with dynamic characteristics in the RBAC model, whereas the second part of the model implements the permission-based SOD in dynamic RBAC model. Moreover, in comparison with previous models, performance and feature analysis are performed to show the strength of dynamic RBAC model. This model improves the performance of the RBAC model in terms of time, dynamicity, and automatic permissions and roles assignment. At the same time, this model also reduces the administrator’s load and provides a flexible, dynamic, and secure access control model.

CRBAC: Imposing multi-grained constraints on the RBAC model in the multi-application environment

Role-based access control (RBAC) is a widely-used protocol to design and build an access control for providing the system security regarding authorization. Even though in the context of internet resources access, the authentication and access control are providing critical functionalities. In practice, the RBAC model has three perspectives such as Access Control, End User, and Administrator. An access control model must be built while giving highest priority to Access Control dimension. It means that the system must be secure regarding authorization. Thus, the system may be less useful for end-users and administrators. In this paper, we categorize that the basic motivation behind RBAC model is the easiest administration compared to tight authorization that becomes the reason for the evolution of RBAC model. Tight authorization creates many problems to make a system secure regarding authorization. Therefore, the true dimensions of RBAC model are identified in this study to change the mindset of researchers that RBAC is evolved for easier administration instead of tight access control. We propose a solution to incorporate the concept of roles for relaxed administration along with the permission-based access control. Moreover, we conclude that the dynamic separation of duty (DSD) should be implemented by permissions instead of roles in RBAC model.

With the growing use of wireless networks and mobile devices, we are moving towards an era where location information will be necessary for access control. The use of location information can be used for enhancing the security of an application, and it can also be exploited to launch attacks. For critical applications, a formal model for location-based access control is needed that increases the security of the application and ensures that the location information cannot be exploited to cause harm. In this paper, we show how the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model can be extended to incorporate the notion of location. We show how the different components in the RBAC model are related with location and how this location information can be used to determine whether a subject has access to a given object. This model is suitable for applications consisting of static and dynamic objects, where location of the subject and object must be considered before granting access.

Smart homes are interconnected homes in which a wide variety of digital devices with limited resources communicate with multiple users and among themselves using multiple protocols. The deployment of resource-limited devices and the use of a wide range of technologies expand the attack surface and position the smart home as a target for many potential security threats. Access control is among the top security challenges in smart home IoT. Several access control models have been developed or adapted for IoT in general, with a few specifically designed for the smart home IoT domain. Most of these models are built on the role-based access control (RBAC) model or the attribute-based access control (ABAC) model. However, recently some researchers demonstrated that the need arises for a hybrid model combining ABAC and RBAC, thereby incorporating the benefits of both models to better meet IoT access control challenges in general and smart homes requirements in particular. In this paper, we used two approaches to develop two different hybrid models for smart home IoT. We followed a role-centric approach and an attribute-centric approach to develop HyBAC <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{RC}$</tex-math></inline-formula> and HyBAC <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{AC}$</tex-math></inline-formula> , respectively. We formally define these models and illustrate their features through a use case scenario demonstration. We further provide a proof-of-concept implementation for each model in Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT platform. Finally, we conduct a theoretical comparison between the two models proposed in this paper in addition to the EGRBAC model (RBAC model for smart home IoT) and HABAC model (ABAC model for smart home IoT), which were previously developed to meet smart homes' challenges.

Enforcing role based access control model with multimedia signatures

Over the years, role based access control (RBAC) has remained a dominant form of access control both in the industry and academia. More recently, the need for risk awareness in access control has received considerable attention in the research community in light of issues such as insider threats. Although RBAC facilitates risk mitigation via features such as constraints (e.g. static and dynamic separation of duty), a quantified approach of risk awareness/mitigation has emerged as a promising research theme due to its inherent flexibility. In this approach, risk/cost metrics are computed for various entities involved in access control such as users and objects and a risk threshold limits the permissions that can be exercised. The quantified approach accommodates dynamism in access decisions based on contexts/situations such as an employee accessing a sensitive file using a work computer versus accessing using her own device. In this paper, we analyze the difference between the traditional constraint-based risk mitigation and the recent quantified risk-aware approaches in RBAC and propose a framework for introducing risk-awareness in RBAC models that incorporates quantified-risk. We also provide a formal specification of an adaptive risk-aware RBAC model by enhancing the NIST core RBAC model.

Role-based Access Control (RBAC) models have been implemented not only in self-contained resource management products such as DBMSs and Operating Systems but also in a class of products called Enterprise Security Management Systems (ESMS). ESMS products are used for centralized management of authorizations for resources resident in several heterogeneous systems (called target systems) distributed throughout the enterprise. The RBAC model used in an ESMS is called the Enterprise RBAC model (ERBAC). An ERBAC model can be used to specify not only sophisticated access requirements centrally for resources resident in several target systems, but also administrative data required to map those defined access requirements to the access control structures native to the target platforms. However, the ERBAC model (i.e., the RBAC implementation) supported in many commercial ESMS products has not taken full advantage of policy specification capabilities of RBAC. In this paper we describe an implementation of ESMS called the 'Role Control Center' (RCC) that supports an ERBAC model that includes features such as general role hierarchy, static separation of duty constraints, and an advanced permission review facility (as defined in NIST's proposed RBAC standard). We outline the various modules in the RCC architecture and describe how they collectively provide support for authorization administration tasks at the enterprise and target-system levels.

The rapid growth of Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart home environments has amplified the need for robust, scalable, and context-aware access control mechanisms. Traditional Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) models offer distinct advantages such as hierarchical simplicity and contextual granularity, respectively, yet exhibit critical limitations when deployed in isolation. To address these constraints, this study proposes and implements a discrete, hybrid RBAC–ABAC access control framework, engineered as a smart contract on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), to ensure a secure, decentralized model for managing access to IoT resources. The framework leverages blockchain’s inherent strengths cryptographic integrity, immutable message digests, and tamper-resistant audit trails to reinforce data confidentiality and policy enforcement. Validated on a real-world testbed comprising ESP32-based IoT devices, a Raspberry Pi gateway, and a blockchain backend, the proposed system demonstrates enhanced resilience and trust. Quantitative evaluations benchmark the hybrid model against standalone RBAC and ABAC mechanisms across key metrics, including gas consumption, access latency, access decision accuracy, and scalability. The results indicate the hybrid model achieves superior accuracy (97.2%) and scalability (supporting 50 concurrent users and 30 devices), with moderate gas usage (15,000 gwei) and acceptable latency (1.8 seconds). Furthermore, the use of laser-secure transaction protocols and cryptographic primitives within the smart contract enhances the protection of access rights and resource interactions. This hybrid smart contract architecture not only bridges the gap between theoretical access control models and practical blockchain deployments but also sets a foundation for adaptive, secure, and decentralized policy enforcement in next-generation smart homes, particularly in resource-constrained environments.

The area of smart homes is one of the most popular for deploying smart connected devices. One of the most vulnerable aspects of smart homes is access control. Recent advances in IoT have led to several access control models being developed or adapted to IoT from other domains, with few specifically designed to meet the challenges of smart homes. Most of these models use role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC) models. As of now, it is not clear what the advantages and disadvantages of ABAC over RBAC are in general, and in the context of smart-home IoT in particular. In this paper, we introduce HABACα, an attribute-based access control model for smart-home IoT. We formally define HABACα and demonstrate its features through two use-case scenarios and a proof-of-concept implementation. Furthermore, we present an analysis of HABACα as compared to the previously published EGRBAC (extended generalized role-based access control) model for smart-home IoT by first describing approaches for constructing HABACα specification from EGRBAC and vice versa in order to compare the theoretical expressiveness power of these models, and second, analyzing HABACα and EGRBAC models against standard criteria for access control models. Our findings suggest that a hybrid model that combines both HABACα and EGRBAC capabilities may be the most suitable for smart-home IoT, and probably more generally.

Role-based Access Control (RBAC) is a means to ensure the security of information system resources. This paper describes the RBAC model and gives its formal definition. Then RBAC model is applied to ATP management information system, and physical data model of access control is designed. Finally it realized restrict access to the critical resources of system. The system was used successfully, which indicated that RBAC model can effectively control access of information systems.