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https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/COUCHDB-1475?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=13630336#comment-13630336
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Jean-Pierre Fiset commented on COUCHDB-1475:
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I agree that this needs to be revisited. I wish that the _users database was
consistent with other databases. Currently, I want some roles to be able to
manage other users, which requires access to some views. Yet, I do not wish to
give those roles the ability to change the design document.
It seems that the "members" section of the security document is useless in the
case of the _users database.
> _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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