A role-based approach to access control for XML databases

Abstract

In order to provide a general access control methodology for parts of XML documents, we propose combining role-based access control as found in the Role Graph Model, with a methodology originally designed for object-oriented databases. We give a description of the methodology, showing how different access modes, XPath expressions and roles can be combined, and how propagation of permissions is handled. Given this general approach, a system developer can design a complex authorization model for collections of XML documents.