Issue 2030:  Inconsistency between IDL and spec (sec-rev)
Source:  (, )
Nature:  Clarification
Severity:  Significant
Summary: Summary: Inconsistent definitions of whether own_credentials is thread
          specific, object specific (?), or application/process/capsule
          specific.
 
 

Resolution: 
Revised Text: 
Actions taken:
October 2, 1998: received issue
November 13, 1998: closed issue
Discussion: 

End of Annotations:=====
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Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 14:42:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Polar Humenn <polar@adiron.com>
To: issues@omg.org, sec-rev@omg.org, secsig@omg.org
Subject: Inconsistency between IDL and spec


Document: Security 1.2 Draft 5 January 1998
Severity: Serious
Nature:   Clarification
Summary: Inconsistent definitions of whether own_credentials is thread
         specific, object specific (?), or application/process/capsule
         specific.

The paragraph 4 of 15.5.6.1 Security Operations on Current,
Description of the specification on page 15-98:

o own credentials: the credentials associated with the active
object. A
  particular object may have its own credentials or may share
credentials
  with other objects. An object's own credentials are normally set up
as
  the result of the object (or the environment domain to which it
belongs)
  being intialized. 

---
Paragraph 6 states:

o own_credentials (capsule specific) attribute containing the
credentials
  owned by the application.

--
Paragraph 7 of section 15.5.6.3 The SecurityLevel2::Current Interface,
page 15-102 states:

own_credentials

Any application owns a set of credentials which it obtains throught
the
process of authentication of the principal that initialites the
execution
of the program.....

--
Section A.4 Applicaiton Interfaces- Security Functionality Level 2
page
15-281 Consoldated IDL says

interface Current : SecurityLevel1::Current { //Locality Constrained

// Thread specific operations

  readonly attribute CredentailsList received_credentials;
  readonly attribute CredentialsList own_credentials;
  readonly attribute Security::SecurityFeatureVauleList
                                  received_security_features;

which implies that own_credentials is thread specific.

Discussion:

I believe we strived to make own_credentials a capsule specific, due
to
the nature of unseparability of application code within the process.

I don't understand the first point that states the own credentials
belongs
to the object. Current cannot figure out which object is calling the
PrincpalAuthenticator. Own credentials is not paramterized on
object. I
think we tried this, and we bagged it. However, Current can tell the
thread of execution, but it doesn't make that much sense unless we
have a
formal CORBA threading model with interfaces beyond the thread of
servicing a client request.

Therefore, I suggest we should make own_credentials consistantly
capsule
specific throughout. 

Comments?

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Polar Humenn                  Adiron, LLC
President                     2-212 Center for Science & Technology
mailto:polar@adiron.com       CASE Center/Syracuse University 
Phone: 315-443-3171           Syracuse, NY 13244-4100
Fax:   315-443-4745           http://www.adiron.com