Sun WBEM Security Features

The CIM Object Manager validates a user's login information for the machine on which the CIM Object Manager is running. A validated user is granted some form of controlled access to the entire Common Information Model (CIM) Schema. The CIM Object Manager does not provide security for system resources such as individual classes and instances. However, the CIM Object Manager does allow control of global permissions on namespace and access control on a per-user basis.

The following security features protect access to CIM objects on a WBEM-enabled system:

• Authentication - The process of verifying the identity of a user, device, or other entity in a computer system, often as a prerequisite to allowing access to the resources in a system.

• Authorization - The granting to a user, program, or process the right of access.

• Replay protection - The CIM Object Manager protects against a client picking up and sending another client's message to the server by validating a session key.

  A client cannot copy another client's last message sent to a CIM Object Manager. The CIM Object Manager uses a MAC for each message, based on a negotiated session key, to guarantee that all communication in the client-server session is with the same client that initiated the session and participated in the client-server authentication.

  A MAC is a token parameter added to a remote call which contains security information used to authenticate that single message. It is used to confirm that the message came from the client that was originally authenticated for the session, and that the message is not being replayed from some other client. This type of mechanism is used in WBEM for RMI messages. The session key negotiated in the user authentication exchange is used to encrypt the security information in the message's MAC token.

Note that no digital signing of messages is performed.

Authentication

When a user logs in and enters a user name and password, the client uses the password to generate an encrypted digest which the server verifies. When the user is authenticated, the CIM Object Manager sets up a client session. All subsequent operations occur within that secure client session and contain a MAC token which uses the session key negotiated during authentication.

Authorization

Once the CIM Object Manager has authenticated the user's identity, that identity can be used to verify whether the user should be allowed to execute the application or any of its tasks. The CIM Object Manager supports capability-based authorization, which allows a privileged user to assign read and write access to specific users. These authorizations are added to existing Solaris user accounts.