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Security Descriptor

Security Descriptor structure

The Windows NT security descriptor consist of:

  • the security descriptor header

  • an owner security identifier (SID)

  • a group security identifier (SID)

  • a system access control list (SACL)

  • a discretionary access control list (DACL)

In absolute format, a Windows NT security descriptor contains pointers to its information, not the information itself. In self-relative format, a security descriptor stores both the security descriptor and associated information in a contiguous block.

TODO Is a security descriptor in a byte stream always self-relative?

TODO: confirm and reword

The self-relative form of the security descriptor is required if one wants to
transmit the SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR structure as an opaque data structure for
transmission in communication protocols over a wire, or for storage on secondary
media; the absolute form cannot be transmitted because it contains pointers to
objects that are generally not accessible to the recipient.

Security descriptor header

The security descriptor header is 20 bytes of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

1

Revision number

1

1

Padding

2

2

Control flags

4

4

Reference to the owner SID
Contains an offset relative from the start of the security descriptor header

8

4

Reference to the group SID
Contains an offset relative from the start of the security descriptor header

12

4

Reference to the SACL
Contains an offset relative from the start of the security descriptor header

16

4

Reference to the DACL
Contains an offset relative from the start of the security descriptor header

The control flags determine how the reference values should be interpreted.

Security descriptor control flags

Value Identifier Description

0x0001

SE_OWNER_DEFAULTED

Owner defaulted
Indicates that the SID of the owner of the security descriptor was provided by a default mechanism. This flag can be used by a resource manager to identify objects whose owner was set by a default mechanism.

0x0002

SE_GROUP_DEFAULTED

Group defaulted
Indicates that the security identifier (SID) of the security descriptor group was provided by a default mechanism. This flag can be used by a resource manager to identify objects whose security descriptor group was set by a default mechanism.

0x0004

SE_DACL_PRESENT

DACL present
Indicates a security descriptor that has a DACL. If this flag is not set, or if this flag is set and the DACL is NULL, the security descriptor allows full access to everyone.

0x0008

SE_DACL_DEFAULTED

DACL defaulted
Indicates a security descriptor with a default DACL. For example, if the creator an object does not specify a DACL, the object receives the default DACL from the access token of the creator. This flag can affect how the system treats the DACL with respect to ACE inheritance. The system ignores this flag if the SE_DACL_PRESENT flag is not set.

0x0010

SE_SACL_PRESENT

SACL present
Indicates a security descriptor that has a SACL.

0x0020

SE_SACL_DEFAULTED

SACL defaulted
A default mechanism, rather than the original provider of the security descriptor, provided the SACL. This flag can affect how the system treats the SACL, with respect to ACE inheritance. The system ignores this flag if the SE_SACL_PRESENT flag is not set.

0x0100

SE_DACL_AUTO_INHERIT_REQ

DACL Auto Inherit Req

0x0200

SE_SACL_AUTO_INHERIT_REQ

SACL Auto Inherit Req

0x0400

SE_DACL_AUTO_INHERITED

DACL Auto Inherited
Indicates a security descriptor in which the DACL is set up to support automatic propagation of inheritable access control entries (ACEs) to existing child objects.

0x0800

SE_SACL_AUTO_INHERITED

SACL Auto Inherited
Indicates a security descriptor in which the SACL is set up to support automatic propagation of inheritable ACEs to existing child objects.

0x1000

SE_DACL_PROTECTED

DACL Protected
Prevents the DACL of the security descriptor from being modified by inheritable ACEs.

0x2000

SE_SACL_PROTECTED

SACL Protected
Prevents the SACL of the security descriptor from being modified by inheritable ACEs.

0x4000

SE_RM_CONTROL_VALID

Resource Manager (RM) control valid

0x8000

SE_SELF_RELATIVE

Self Relative
Indicates a self-relative security descriptor.

Security identifier

The security identifier (SID) is used throughout Windows NT-based software. A SID is normally represented like a string e.g.:

S-1-5-21-7623811015-3361044348-030300820-1013

The binary representation of the security identifier is variable of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

1

Revision number
This value corresponds with first number in the SID string

1

1

Number of sub authorities

2

6

Authority
Contains a 48-bit big-endian value
This value corresponds with the second number in the SID string

8

4 x number

An array of 32-bit little-endian values containing the sub authorities
These values corresponds with the remaining values in the SID string

The 'S' in the string representation is not stored in the binary representation.

Access control list (ACL)

Both the DACL and the SACL are stored in the same data structure, referred to as the Access Control List (ACL).

The access control list header is 8 bytes of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

1

Revision

1

1

Padding

2

2

Size
The value includes the size of the access control list header.

4

2

Count

6

2

Padding

The access control list header is followed by access control entries (ACE).

Access control entry (ACE)

The access control entry header (ACE_HEADER) is 4 bytes of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

1

Type
See section: Access control entry (ACE) types

1

1

Flags
See section: Access control entry (ACE) flags

2

2

Size
The value includes the size of the access control entry header.

The access control entry (ACE) header is followed by access entry data. The size and format of the ACE data is dependent on the flags.

Access control entry (ACE) types

Value Identifier Description

0x00

ACCESS_ALLOWED_ACE_TYPE

Access allowed
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x01

ACCESS_DENIED_ACE_TYPE

Access denied
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x02

SYSTEM_AUDIT_ACE_TYPE

System-audit
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x03

SYSTEM_ALARM_ACE_TYPE
(ACCESS_MAX_MS_V2_ACE_TYPE)

Reserved (System-alarm)
(Basic ACE data structure)
Maximum number of ACE types supported in an ACL revision number 2

0x04

ACCESS_ALLOWED_COMPOUND_ACE_TYPE

Reserved
(Unknown data structure)
Maximum number of ACE types supported in an ACL revision number 3

0x05

ACCESS_ALLOWED_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

Access allowed
(Object ACE data structure)

0x06

ACCESS_DENIED_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

Access denied
(Object ACE data structure)

0x07

SYSTEM_AUDIT_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

System-audit
(Object ACE data structure)

0x08

SYSTEM_ALARM_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE
(ACCESS_MAX_MS_V4_ACE_TYPE)

Reserved (System-alarm)
(Object data structure)
Maximum number of ACE types supported in an ACL revision number 4

0x09

ACCESS_ALLOWED_CALLBACK_ACE_TYPE

Access allowed
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x0a

ACCESS_DENIED_CALLBACK_ACE_TYPE

Access denied
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x0b

ACCESS_ALLOWED_CALLBACK_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

Access allowed
(Object ACE data structure)

0x0c

ACCESS_DENIED_CALLBACK_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

Access denied
(Object ACE data structure)

0x0d

SYSTEM_AUDIT_CALLBACK_ACE_TYPE

System-audit
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x0e

SYSTEM_ALARM_CALLBACK_ACE_TYPE

Reserved (System-alarm)
(Basic ACE data structure)

0x0f

SYSTEM_AUDIT_CALLBACK_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

System-audit
(Object ACE data structure)

0x10

SYSTEM_ALARM_CALLBACK_OBJECT_ACE_TYPE

Reserved (System-alarm)
(Object ACE data structure)
Maximum number of ACE types supported in an ACL revision number 5

0x11

SYSTEM_MANDATORY_LABEL_ACE_TYPE

Mandatory label
(Basic ACE data structure)

Notes

ACCESS_MAX_MS_V3_ACE_TYPE

Basic ACE data structure

The basic ACE data structure is variable of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

4

Access rights flags (ACCESS_MASK)
See section: Access rights flags (ACCESS_MASK)

4

…​

SID

Object ACE data structure

The object ACE data structure is variable of size and consists of:

Offset Size Value Description

0

4

Access rights flags (ACCESS_MASK)
See section: Access rights flags (ACCESS_MASK)

4

4

Object flags

Present if ACE_OBJECT_TYPE_PRESENT object flag is set

8

16

Object type class identifier
Contains a GUID

Present if ACE_INHERITED_OBJECT_TYPE_PRESENT object flag is set

…​

16

Inherited object type class identifier
Contains a GUID

Common

40

…​

SID
Object flags
Value Identifier Description

0x00000001

ACE_OBJECT_TYPE_PRESENT

Has object type class identifier

0x00000002

ACE_INHERITED_OBJECT_TYPE_PRESENT

Has inherited object type class identifier

Access control entry (ACE) flags

Access flags

Value Identifier Description

0x01

OBJECT_INHERIT_ACE

Noncontainer child objects inherit the ACE as an effective ACE.

0x02

CONTAINER_INHERIT_ACE

Child objects that are containers, such as directories, inherit the ACE as an effective ACE. The inherited ACE is inheritable unless the NO_PROPAGATE_INHERIT_ACE bit flag is also set.

0x04

NO_PROPAGATE_INHERIT_ACE

If the ACE is inherited by a child object, the system clears the OBJECT_INHERIT_ACE and CONTAINER_INHERIT_ACE flags in the inherited ACE. This prevents the ACE from being inherited by subsequent generations of objects.

0x08

INHERIT_ONLY_ACE

Indicates an inherit-only ACE, which does not control access to the object to which it is attached. If this flag is not set, the ACE is an effective ACE which controls access to the object to which it is attached.

Audit flags

Value Identifier Description

0x40

SUCCESSFUL_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG

Used with system-audit ACEs in a SACL to generate audit messages for successful access attempts.

0x80

FAILED_ACCESS_ACE_FLAG

Used with system-audit ACEs in a system access control list (SACL) to generate audit messages for failed access attempts.

Access rights flags (ACCESS_MASK)

Bit offset Identifier Description

0 - 15

Specific rights

16 - 23

Standard rights
See section: Standard access rights flags

24

ACCESS_SYSTEM_SECURITY (0x01000000)

Access system security

25

MAXIMUM_ALLOWED (0x02000000)

Maximum allowed

26 - 27

Unknown (Reserved)

28

GENERIC_ALL (0x10000000)

Generic all

29

GENERIC_EXECUTE (0x20000000)

Generic execute

30

GENERIC_WRITE (0x40000000)

Generic write

31

GENERIC_READ (0x80000000)

Generic read

Standard access rights flags

Value Identifier Description

0x00010000

fsdrightDelete
(DELETE)

Delete access

0x00020000

fsdrightReadControl
(READ_CONTROL)

Read access to the owner, group, and discretionary ACL (DACL)

0x00040000

fsdrightWriteSD
(WRITE_DAC)

Write access to the discretionary ACL (DACL)

0x00080000

fsdrightWriteOwner
(WRITE_OWNER)

Write access to owner SID

0x00100000

fsdrightSynchronize
(SYNCHRONIZE)

Synchronize access

Non-folder item access rights flags

Value Identifier Description

0x00000001

fsdrightReadBody
(FILE_READ_DATA)

0x00000002

fsdrightWriteBody
(FILE_WRITE_DATA)

0x00000004

fsdrightAppendMsg

Ignored

0x00000008

fsdrightReadProperty
(FILE_READ_EA)

0x00000010

fsdrightWriteProperty
(FILE_WRITE_EA)

0x00000020

fsdrightExecute
(FILE_EXECUTE)

Ignored

0x00000080

fsdrightReadAttributes
(FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES)

0x00000100

fsdrightWriteAttributes
(FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES)

0x00000200

fsdrightWriteOwnProperty

Trustee can modify his or her own items
Exchange specific

0x00000400

fsdrightDeleteOwnItem

Trustee can delete his or her own items
Exchange specific

0x00000800

fsdrightViewItem

Trustee can view items
Exchange specific

All non-folder access rights: 0x001f0fbf

Folder item access rights flags

Value Identifier Description

0x00000001

fsdrightListContents
(FILE_LIST_DIRECTORY)

Trustee can list file contents.

0x00000002

fsdrightCreateItem
(FILE_ADD_FILE)

Trustee can add a file to a folder.

0x00000004

fsdrightCreateContainer
(FILE_ADD_SUBDIRECTORY)

Trustee can add a subfolder

0x00000008

fsdrightReadProperty
(FILE_READ_EA)

0x00000010

fsdrightWriteProperty
(FILE_WRITE_EA)

0x00000080

fsdrightReadAttributes
(FILE_READ_ATTRIBUTES)

Reserved for future use

0x00000100

fsdrightWriteAttributes
(FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES)

Reserved for future use

0x00000200

fsdrightWriteOwnProperty

The trustee can modify his or her own items
Exchange specific

0x00000400

fsdrightDeleteOwnItem

The trustee can delete his or her own items

0x00000800

fsdrightViewItem

The trustee can view items
Exchange specific

0x00004000

fsdrightOwner

The trustee is the owner of the folder
Exchange specific
This right corresponds to the frightsOwner access right in previous versions of Exchange.

0x00008000

fsdrightContact

Identifies the user as the contact for the folder
Exchange specific
This right corresponds to the frightsContact access right in previous versions of Exchange.

All folder access rights: 0x00000fbf

Mandatory label access rights flags

Value Identifier Description

0x00000001

SYSTEM_MANDATORY_LABEL_NO_WRITE_UP

A principal with a lower mandatory level than the object cannot write to the object.

0x00000002

SYSTEM_MANDATORY_LABEL_NO_READ_UP

A principal with a lower mandatory level than the object cannot read the object.

0x00000004

SYSTEM_MANDATORY_LABEL_NO_EXECUTE_UP

A principal with a lower mandatory level than the object cannot execute the object.