processallowing

Processallowing is a conceptual framework in computer systems design that governs how processes are permitted to use resources. Rather than assuming full privileges, a process declares a set of allowances—permissions to access files, networks, inter-process communication, devices, or compute resources—that may be exercised during its lifetime. Allowances can be static or dynamic and may be granted, refined, or revoked at runtime.

Purpose: The approach supports least-privilege operation, strengthens security by constraining actions, and allows policy-driven control across environments such as single machines, containers, and cloud services.

Mechanisms: A policy language describes allowances. A policy decision point evaluates resource requests against active allowances. Enforcement intercepts requests and allows or denies them, with possible auditing, revocation, or fallback behavior. Observability includes logs and alerts to monitor usage and policy adherence.

Relation to existing concepts: Processallowing draws on capability-based security, discretionary and mandatory access control, and sandboxing. It can be implemented at kernel level, in a runtime layer, or as part of a container or orchestration platform, complementing traditional identity-based access controls.

Limitations: Policy complexity, governance, and potential performance overhead are challenges. Keeping allowances aligned with workload changes requires disciplined management. When well designed, processallowing reduces the blast radius of compromises and provides finer-grained resource control.