How to Implement Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Role-Based Access in a Web MVC Application?

How can I implement an Access Control List in my Web MVC application and how to handle user role-based access?

ACL Implementation

The decorator pattern is an effective way to implement ACLs without extending the Controller class. Here's how:

class SecureContainer
{
    protected $target;
    protected $acl;

    public function __construct($target, $acl)
    {
        $this->target = $target;
        $this->acl = $acl;
    }

    public function __call($method, $arguments)
    {
        if (method_exists($this->target, $method)
            && $this->acl->isAllowed(get_class($this->target), $method))
        {
            return call_user_func_array([$this->target, $method], $arguments);
        }
    }
}

You can use this as follows:

$currentUser = ...;
$controller = ...;
$acl = new AccessControlList($currentUser);

$controller = new SecureContainer($controller, $acl);
$controller->actionIndex(); // ACL-protected controller methods

User Role-Based Access

For role-based access, consider the following:

Checking Owner of a Resource:

• Pass the object itself to the ACL for permission checks.
• If the object lacks the necessary details, provide them explicitly.

For example:

$this->acl->isAllowed(
    $this->target->getPermissions(), // Get object permissions
    [$getter, $method] // Command
);

Enforcing Access Restrictions:

• Consider using a service layer to abstract object access and ACL checks.
• The service can interact with domain objects to gather necessary details.

Additional Notes on MVC:

• Model refers to a layer, not a specific class.
• Domain Business Logic handles calculations and conditions without concern for data storage.
• Data Access and Storage manages SQL statements or data retrieval mechanisms.
• Services provide abstraction and facilitation for reusable components.

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