Lesson plan

Privilege bracketing

In computer security, privilege bracketing is a temporary increase in software privilege within a process to perform a specific function, assuming those necessary privileges at the last possible moment and dismissing them as soon as no longer strictly necessary, therefore ostensibly avoiding fallout from erroneous code that unintentionally exploits more privilege than is merited. It is an example of the use of principle of least privilege in defensive programming. The principle of least privilege, on which the technique is based, is defined by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology as designing a security architecture "so that each entity is granted the minimum system resources and authorizations that the entity needs to perform its function".

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Article summary

In computer security, privilege bracketing is a temporary increase in software privilege within a process to perform a specific function, assuming those necessary privileges at the last possible moment and dismissing them as soon as no longer strictly necessary, therefore ostensibly avoiding fallout from erroneous code that unintentionally exploits more privilege than is merited. It is an example of the use of principle of least privilege in defensive programming. The principle of least privilege, on which the technique is based, is defined by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology as designing a security architecture "so that each entity is granted the minimum system resources and authorizations that the entity needs to perform its function".

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Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.