What is Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)?

TL;DR: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a security model that restricts system access based on the roles assigned to individual users within an organization. Users are assigned roles, and roles are assigned permissions, creating a structured approach to managing who can do what.

RBAC for B2B SaaS Applications

RBAC is the most widely adopted access control model in enterprise software. Enterprise customers expect fine-grained access controls that let them manage permissions for their team members.

RBAC vs. ABAC vs. ACL

ModelHow It WorksBest For

|-------|-------------|----------|

RBACPermissions assigned to roles, roles assigned to usersMost B2B SaaS applications
ACLPermissions assigned directly to users per resourceSimple file/resource systems

Resource-Level RBAC

Traditional RBAC checks roles at the application level ("is this user an admin?"). Resource-level RBAC extends this to individual resources ("can this user edit document #123?"). This is critical for multi-tenant SaaS where users need different permissions on different resources.

RBAC Explain Graphs

When access is denied, users and administrators need to understand why. An RBAC Explain Graph traces the decision path showing which roles were checked, which permissions were evaluated, and where the denial occurred.

How Trailbase Implements RBAC

Trailbase provides resource-level RBAC with an Explain Graph for every access decision. Permissions are checked down to individual resource IDs, and every decision is audit-logged. The Explain Graph makes debugging access issues straightforward.

Related Terms

Audit LogAn audit log is a chronological record of system activities and user actions within a software appli...SOC 2SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2) is an auditing framework developed by the AICPA that evaluate...HIPAAHIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a US federal law that sets standards ...

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