Organizations of all sizes have authorization and access control on their minds. With growing digitization, remote work, Zero Trust adoption, and cyberattacks, assigning the right permissions to the right users at the right time is critical.
That’s where fine-grained authorization (FGA) comes in. In this article, we will learn the basics of fine-grained authorization, how it differs from a coarse-grained approach, its pros and cons, and popular FGA use cases.
Authorization terms to know
Before we get into FGA, it’s important to know the following terms used in the context of identity and access management:
Authentication is the process of validating the identity of a user, machine, or other entity (i.e. are you who you say you are?).
Authorization is the process of granting or denying access to resources based on the permissions assigned to a user, machine, or entity.
There are three main types of authorization:
Role-based access control (RBAC) governs access and actions based on the role assigned to the user.
Relationship-based access control (ReBAC) governs access and actions based on the relationships between entities (users, resources, organizations, etc.).
Attribute-based access control (ABAC) governs access and actions based on various attributes associated with the user (role, location, time, department, etc.).
You can learn more about authorization concepts in the video below.
What is fine-grained authorization (FGA)?
Fine-grained authorization (FGA) is an approach of granting or restricting access to sensitive data and systems based on multiple conditions. For example, FGA can give users access to a resource only if they have a certain role, are a part of the IT department, and are logging in within office hours.
FGA, also called fine-grained access control (FGAC), is a recommended authorization approach for organizations with complex hierarchies that deal with a variety of stakeholders and have many different types of data / resources that can be accessed.
Coarse-grained vs fine-grained authorization
Apart from fine-grained authorization, the other popular access control model is coarse-grained authorization. While both approaches work to govern user access, they differ in their implementation.
Coarse-grained authorization grants or restricts access to resources based on a single attribute. This approach often defines access control at a broader level and is relatively simpler to set up and maintain. Fine-grained authorization, on the other hand, relies on multiple attributes to govern user access. This leads to more granular authorization but also more time and effort spent.
RBAC is a common example of coarse-grained authorization, since only user roles define the access permissions they have. Coarse-grained access control is an effective approach for simple systems, but note that scaling this approach can lead to role explosion (when developers and admins have a vast number of roles to manage).
ReBAC and ABAC are common examples of fine-grained authorization, since a variety of attributes and the relationships between them can be used to govern access. FGA is a good approach for complex organizations or systems and is more scalable without role explosion.
Pros and cons of FGA
Fine-grained authorization is a powerful tool for certain scenarios, but it also has some potential tradeoffs that organizations should consider.
FGA pros
Granular control: By considering multiple attributes before making access decisions, organizations can define flexible and granular permissions.
Better security: By implementing tight access control rather than just basing it on roles, organizations can reduce the likelihood of data breaches and the “blast radius” of any unauthorized access that does occur.
Dynamic: Since FGA includes multiple attributes, a user’s access can change dynamically if their role or relationship to a resource changes.
FGA cons
Complexity: Implementing FGA properly is likely to require considerable time and effort. Admins will have to create and manage a large number of rules and attributes.
Auditing challenges: Monitoring logs for a variety of stakeholders and attributes can be a time-consuming and error-prone process.
Increased compute resources: The more roles, relationships, and attributes that form an FGA model, the more processing time and power they require to run in a reliable and performant manner.
Common FGA use cases
Now that we have covered the basics of FGA, the next logical question is: when should organizations use this approach? While each app is different, here are some traits to consider before deciding if FGA is the right approach:
When your IAM systems are dealing with a variety of stakeholders (employees, customers, partners, contractors), FGA is an effective authorization approach. Using just roles in this case would lead to role explosion, but FGA can offer the right level of granularity to provide different types of users the access they require.
When you need to add self-serve user sharing on your app’s resources, FGA is the obvious choice. With FGA implemented, users can share resources with other users and assign different levels of permissions themselves (based on the options the app developers make available).
When the structure of your user base contains lots of hierarchies and groups, FGA is the most scalable option available. By putting users in groups and departments (e.g. for a B2B SaaS app), permissions can be defined en masse to resources rather than on a per-user basis.
Granular access control with Descope
Fine-grained authorization is a powerful way for developers and IT admins to add flexible, granular access control to their apps. However, creating FGA functionality in-house can get complicated quickly, distracting developers from core product initiatives and leaving the door open for security gaps and vulnerabilities.
Descope can help. Our no / low code CIAM platform helps organizations easily add fine-grained authorization (RBAC, ReBAC, ABAC) to their apps using SDKs and APIs. Check out the docs for our authorization service and watch this demo video to learn more.
To get started with Descope, sign up for a Free Forever account and join the AuthTown community for any questions or feedback. Have an authentication project and need help? Book time with our auth experts.
