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ADR-0009: Multi-Administrator Support System


  • Status: accepted
  • Date: 2024-11-03
  • Tags: Security, Administration, Disaster Recovery

Context

The system needs to support multiple administrators with different levels of access and responsibilities. We need to:

  • Allow delegation of administrative tasks
  • Support different administrative roles
  • Implement fine-grained access control
  • Maintain audit trails
  • Support tenant isolation
  • Handle emergency access scenarios

Decision

We will implement a hierarchical multi-admin system with policy-based access control:

Administrative Hierarchy

  • Initial admin has super-admin privileges
  • Ability to create and manage other admin accounts
  • Policy-based access control for different admin roles

Access Control

  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Tenant-based isolation
  • Fine-grained permissions
  • Temporary token-based authentication

Consequences

Positive

  • Distributed administrative responsibilities
  • Clear separation of duties
  • Tenant data isolation
  • Granular access control
  • Improved audit capabilities
  • Support for different administrative personas
  • Reduced single-admin bottleneck
  • Enhanced security through principle of least privilege

Negative

  • Increased system complexity
  • More complex policy management
  • Additional overhead in user management
  • Need for policy coordination
  • Increased training requirements
  • More complex authorization logic

Implementation Requirements

User Management

Admin Creation

  • Username/password management
  • Role assignment
  • Policy association
  • Tenant assignment

Authentication

  • Individual login credentials
  • Personal access tokens
  • Token lifecycle management
  • Session management

Policy Management

Policy Definition

  • Read/Write permissions
  • Resource access levels
  • Tenant boundaries
  • Emergency access rights

Policy Enforcement

  • Real-time permission checking
  • Token validation
  • Resource access control
  • Tenant isolation

Administrative Roles

Super Admin

  • User management
  • Policy creation
  • System-wide access
  • Emergency procedures

Tenant Admin:

  • Tenant-specific access
  • Resource management
  • User management within tenant
  • Limited policy modification

Auditor:

  • Read-only access
  • Audit log access
  • Report generation
  • Compliance monitoring

Emergency Admin:

  • Break-glass procedures
  • Temporary elevated access
  • Emergency restoration capabilities

Access Control Implementation

RBAC Structure

Role Definitions

roles:
 super_admin:
   - all_permissions
 tenant_admin:
   - tenant_read
   - tenant_write
   - tenant_user_manage
 auditor:
   - system_read
   - audit_read

Permission Mapping:

permissions:
 tenant_read:
   - read_secrets
   - list_resources
 tenant_write:
   - create_secrets
   - update_secrets
   - delete_secrets

Tenant Isolation

Resource Segregation

  • Tenant-specific namespaces
  • Resource ownership
  • Access boundaries
  • Cross-tenant protection

Access Patterns

  • Tenant-specific tokens
  • Scoped permissions
  • Resource filtering
  • Access validation

Audit Requirements

User Activity

  • Login attempts
  • Resource access
  • Policy modifications
  • User management actions

Audit Trail:

  • Timestamp
  • User identity
  • Action details
  • Resource affected
  • Access context

Monitoring and Alerts

Security Events:

  • Policy violations
  • Unauthorized access attempts
  • Emergency access usage
  • Cross-tenant access attempts

Administrative Actions:

  • User creation/modification
  • Policy changes
  • Permission updates
  • Emergency procedures

Emergency Procedures

Access Elevation:

  • Temporary privilege elevation
  • Approval workflow
  • Time-limited access
  • Audit requirements

Break-Glass Procedures:

  • Emergency access protocol
  • Recovery procedures
  • Audit requirements
  • Post-incident review

References

Notes

  • Regular policy review required
  • Document all role definitions
  • Maintain emergency access procedures
  • Regular access audit recommended
  • Train administrators on policy management

Implementation Guidelines

  1. Create clear role definitions
  2. Implement strict tenant boundaries
  3. Establish emergency procedures
  4. Document all policies
  5. Regular access reviews
  6. Maintain audit logs
  7. Test emergency procedures regularly