[jira] [Created] (COUCHDB-1475) _users design documents access

["Stéphane Alnet (JIRA)" <ji...@apache.org>]

Stéphane Alnet created COUCHDB-1475:
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             Summary: _users design documents access
                 Key: COUCHDB-1475
                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/COUCHDB-1475
             Project: CouchDB
          Issue Type: Question
          Components: Database Core
    Affects Versions: 1.2
         Environment: Debian/testing
            Reporter: Stéphane Alnet
            Priority: Minor


Sorry I'm coming in late on this topic, I found this while testing my existing code against 1.2.0.

The comments for commit e5503ffef957dc5e8784c7223e318738ae79b6df indicate for `after_doc_read`:

          If the doc is a design doc and the userCtx doesn't identify
          an admin or db-admin:
          -> 403 // Forbidden

This breaks the (previously working) case where access to the _users database is restricted using a "members" security property, and authorized users could use a couchapp found in the _users database to manager user records.

(These power-users would have, say, "user_manager_ro" and "user_manager_rw" roles assigned to them, with the ro/rw aspect handled by a specific validate_doc_udpate() which would be part of the couchapp; the roles were entered in the _users' database members.roles security field.)

Pointing me back to a discussion explaining the background for this new behavior would be sufficient, if it is effectively a desirable side-effect and things will remain as they are. Otherwise it seems a finer-grained logic for after_doc_read() would be able to restore the desired result, along the lines of:

          If the doc is a design doc and (there are no security members.roles and no members.names) and (the userCtx doesn't identify
          an admin or db-admin)
          -> 403 // Forbidden

Thanks,
S.

PS: Overall I'm surprised the changes in that commit used new Erlang code rather than suggesting best-practices using the exisiting security features. I don't understand how hiding the design documents enhances security ("security by obscurity"), but that's beyond what I'm asking here.


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