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'''Attribute-based access control''' ('''ABAC'''), also known as '''policy-based access control''' for [[Identity management|IAM]], defines an access control paradigm whereby a subject's authorization to perform a set of operations is determined by evaluating attributes associated with the subject, object, requested operations, and, in some cases, environment attributes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Computer Security Division|first=Information Technology Laboratory|date=2016-05-24|title=Attribute Based Access Control {{!}} CSRC {{!}} CSRC|url=https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/Attribute-Based-Access-Control|access-date=2021-11-25|website=CSRC {{!}} NIST|language=EN-US}}</ref>
 
ABAC is a method of implementing access control policies that is highly adaptable and can be customized using a wide range of attributes, making it suitable for use in distributed or rapidly changing environments. The only limitations on the policies that can be implemented with ABAC are the capabilities of the computational language and the availability of relevant attributes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Vincent C. |last2=Kuhn |first2=D. Richard |last3=Ferraiolo |first3=David F. |last4=Voas |first4=Jeffrey |date=February 2015 |title=Attribute-Based Access Control |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7042715 |journal=Computer |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=85–88 |doi=10.1109/MC.2015.33 |bibcode=2015Compr..48b..85H |s2cid=54967881 |issn=1558-0814}}</ref> ABAC policy rules are generated as Boolean functions of the subject's attributes, the object's attributes, and the environment attributes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guide to Secure Web Services: Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-95.pdf}}</ref>
 
Unlike [[role-based access control]] (RBAC), which defines roles that carry a specific set of privileges associated with them and to which subjects are assigned, ABAC can express complex rule sets that can evaluate many different attributes. Through defining consistent subject and object attributes into security policies, ABAC eliminates the need for explicit authorizations to individuals’ subjects needed in a non-ABAC access method, reducing the complexity of managing access lists and groups.
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Although the concept itself existed for many years, ABAC is considered a "next generation" authorization model because it provides dynamic, context-aware and risk-intelligent access control to resources allowing access control policies that include specific attributes from many different information systems to be defined to resolve an authorization and achieve an efficient regulatory compliance, allowing enterprises flexibility in their implementations based on their existing infrastructures.
 
Attribute-based access control is sometimes referred to as '''policy-based access control''' ('''PBAC''') or '''claims-based access control''' ('''CBAC'''), which is a Microsoft-specific term. The key standards that implement ABAC are [[XACML]] and [[ALFA (XACML)]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Silva|first1=Edelberto Franco|last2=Muchaluat-Saade|first2=Débora Christina|last3=Fernandes|first3=Natalia Castro|date=2018-01-01|title=ACROSS: A generic framework for attribute-based access control with distributed policies for virtual organizations|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167739X17316060|journal=Future Generation Computer Systems|language=en|volume=78|pages=1–17|doi=10.1016/j.future.2017.07.049|issn=0167-739X|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
 
== Dimensions of attribute-based access control ==
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Historically, access control models have included [[mandatory access control]] (MAC), [[discretionary access control]] (DAC), and more recently [[role-based access control]] (RBAC). These access control models are user-centric and do not take into account additional parameters such as resource information, the relationship between the user (the requesting entity) and the resource, and dynamic information, e.g. time of the day or user IP.
 
ABAC tries to address this by defining access control based on attributes which describe the requesting entity (the user), the targeted object or resource, the desired action (view, edit, delete), and environmental or contextual information. This is why access control is said to be attribute-based.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)? |url=https://www.okta.com/blog/2020/09/attribute-based-access-control-abac/ |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=www.okta.com |language=en}}</ref>
 
== Implementations==
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=== API and microservices security ===
ABAC can be used to apply attribute-based, fine-grained authorization to the API methods or functions. For instance, a banking API may expose an {{Code|approveTransaction(transId)}} method. ABAC can be used to secure the call. With ABAC, a policy author can write the following:
* '''Policy''': managers can approve transactions up to their approval limit
* '''Attributes used''': role, action IDidentifier, object type, amount, approval limit.
 
The flow would be as follows:
# The user, Alice, calls the API method {{Code|approveTransaction(123)}}
# The API receives the call and authenticates the user.
# An interceptor in the API calls out to the authorization engine (typically called a Policy Decision Point or PDP) and asks: ''Can Alice approve transaction 123?''
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=== Application security ===
One of the key benefits to ABAC is that the authorization policies and attributes can be defined in a technology neutral way. This means policies defined for APIs or databases can be reused in the application space. Common applications that can benefit from ABAC are:
# Content Managementmanagement Systemssystems (CMS)
# Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems
# ERPs
# Home-grown Applicationsapplications
# Web Applicationsapplications
 
The same process and flow as the one described in the API section applies here too.
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== External links ==
* [https://axiomatics.com/resources/reference-library/attribute-based-access-control-abac What is Attribute-Based Access Control?]
* [http://csrc.nist.gov/projects/abac/ ATTRIBUTE BASED ACCESS CONTROL (ABAC) - OVERVIEW]
* [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-31540-4_4 Unified Attribute Based Access Control Model (ABAC) covering DAC, MAC and RBAC]
* [httphttps://profsandhu.com/dissert/Dissertation_Xin_Jin.pdf Attribute Based Access Control Models (ABAC) and Implementation in Cloud Infrastructure as a Service]
* [https://f5.com/about-us/blog/articles/abac-not-rbac-welcome-to-the-iot-world-of-contextual-security ABAC not RBAC: Welcome to the (IoT) World of Contextual Security, 2015, Lori MacVittie]
* [https://plus.kuppingercole.com/article/mc71144/dynamic-authorization-management Market Compass: Dynamic Authorization Management, 2020, Graham Williamson]
 
[[Category:Access control]]