Osasid

Osasid is a term used in computing to denote an Operating System Assigned Session Identifier. An osasid is a unique, system-wide token assigned to a login session by the operating system’s session manager, intended to bind resources, credentials, and activity across multiple processes and services for that session. It serves as a persistent reference that enables the OS to track and manage per-session state.

In theory and in some experimental or research-oriented operating systems, osasid is designed to be opaque to applications. A token travels with interprocess communication or is stored in a process descriptor, thread-local storage, or an API call. Its form is typically a number or string, often 128-bit or UUID-like, and it is expected to be independent of user credentials to reduce leakage through interfaces.

Management and lifecycle: An osasid is created at login, associated with the user’s session environment, and invalidated when the session ends. It may be rotated under security policies to limit exposure, and it supports auditing and enforcement of per-session access controls, resource accounting, and policy decisions across processes that participate in the same session.

Relation to standards: Osasid is not a universal standard across major operating systems. Conceptually, it parallels other session identifiers and tokens, such as POSIX session IDs, Windows logon session handles, or service tokens in distributed environments. Actual implementations, naming, and handling vary by platform and project.

See also: session ID, access token, UUID, authentication token, privacy and security in session management.