The Problem With Per User Permissions
Granting permissions directly to each user does not scale. With thousands of users and hundreds of actions, the matrix becomes impossible to audit, and people quietly accumulate access they no longer need.
How RBAC Works
Role Based Access Control introduces a layer between users and permissions. Permissions attach to roles, and users are assigned roles. Changing what a role can do updates everyone holding that role at once.
- A permission is the right to perform an action on a resource, such as read invoices.
- A role is a named bundle of permissions, such as accountant.
- A user is assigned one or more roles.
Why It Helps Defense
- Access reviews check role assignments, which is far easier than per user grants.
- Onboarding and offboarding become add or remove a role rather than chasing scattered grants.
- It supports separation of duties by keeping conflicting roles apart.
Key idea
RBAC binds permissions to roles and users to roles, making access predictable, reviewable, and easy to revoke at scale.