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Security Authorization & Access Control Architecture for AICO

Overview

AICO’s security architecture enforces robust, modern access control across all modules, APIs, message bus topics, and plugin boundaries. The design is informed by OWASP best practices, NIST standards, and the unique requirements of a modular, message-driven, AI-first system.

Core Principles

  • Principle of Least Privilege: Every user, module, and plugin is granted only the minimum permissions required for its function.
  • Deny by Default: All access is denied unless explicitly permitted by policy.
  • Centralized Policy Management: Policies are defined and managed centrally, with distributed enforcement.
  • Defense in Depth: Authorization is enforced at multiple layers (API gateway, message bus, module, plugin sandbox).
  • Testability & Auditability: Policies are testable, versioned, and all access decisions are logged for audit.

Access Control Models

  • Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC): Fine-grained decisions based on user, resource, environment, and context attributes (e.g., role, device, time, location, data sensitivity).
  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Used for coarse-grained, system-wide roles (e.g., user, admin, developer, plugin).
  • Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC): Used for resource ownership and social graph scenarios (e.g., only the creator can edit/delete their resource).

Architecture & Enforcement

Policy Components (NIST SP 800-162)

  • Policy Administration Point (PAP): Central UI/API for managing access policies.
  • Policy Decision Point (PDP): Evaluates policies against access requests (embedded in API gateway and core modules).
  • Policy Enforcement Point (PEP): Enforces PDP decisions at all entry points (API, message bus, plugin interface).
  • Policy Information Point (PIP): Supplies relevant attributes (user, resource, context) for policy evaluation.

Multi-Layer Enforcement

  • API Gateway: Coarse-grained access checks for all external requests (JWT, mTLS, device pairing).
  • Message Bus: Topic-level access control; modules and plugins are only allowed to publish/subscribe to authorized topics. All messages are validated and logged.
  • Module/Service Level: Fine-grained ABAC/ReBAC enforcement for sensitive operations and data.
  • Plugin Sandbox: Strict isolation and permission boundaries for plugins, enforced by the plugin manager.
  • Static Resources: Unified policy for static assets (avatars, config files, etc.), with data classification and access checks.

Patterns & Best Practices

  • Centralized Policy, Distributed Enforcement: Policies are centrally managed but enforced at every entry and communication point.
  • Externalized Policy Language: Authorization rules are not hardcoded; they use a policy language (e.g., Rego, OPA, or similar).
  • Continuous Review: Regular privilege reviews and automated tests to prevent privilege creep.
  • Server-Side Enforcement: All critical checks are server-side; client-side checks are for UX only.
  • Comprehensive Logging: All access decisions (allow/deny) are logged with context for auditing.

Policy Evolution & Testing

  • Versioned Policies: All changes are tracked, reviewed, and testable.
  • Automated Testing: Unit and integration tests for all access control logic.
  • Audit Trails: Complete logs for policy changes and access decisions.

Example Use Cases

  • A plugin can only access message bus topics and APIs for which it is explicitly permitted, based on its manifest and user-granted permissions.
  • A user’s ability to view, edit, or delete data is determined by a combination of their role, attributes (device, time, context), and resource ownership.
  • The API gateway denies all requests by default unless a valid, signed token and matching policy are present.

References