ConvertToAutoInheritPrivateObjectSecurity function (securitybaseapi.h)

The ConvertToAutoInheritPrivateObjectSecurity function converts a security descriptor and its access control lists (ACLs) to a format that supports automatic propagation of inheritable access control entries (ACEs).

Syntax

BOOL ConvertToAutoInheritPrivateObjectSecurity(
  [in, optional] PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR ParentDescriptor,
  [in]           PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR CurrentSecurityDescriptor,
  [out]          PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR *NewSecurityDescriptor,
  [in, optional] GUID                 *ObjectType,
  [in]           BOOLEAN              IsDirectoryObject,
  [in]           PGENERIC_MAPPING     GenericMapping
);

Parameters

[in, optional] ParentDescriptor

A pointer to the security descriptor for the parent container of the object. If there is no parent container, this parameter is NULL.

[in] CurrentSecurityDescriptor

A pointer to the current security descriptor of the object.

[out] NewSecurityDescriptor

A pointer to a variable that receives a pointer to the newly allocated self-relative security descriptor. It is the caller's responsibility to call the DestroyPrivateObjectSecurity function to free this security descriptor.

[in, optional] ObjectType

A pointer to a GUID structure that identifies the type of object associated with the CurrentSecurityDescriptor parameter. If the object does not have a GUID, this parameter must be NULL.

[in] IsDirectoryObject

If TRUE, the new object is a container and can contain other objects. If FALSE, the new object is not a container.

[in] GenericMapping

A pointer to a GENERIC_MAPPING structure that specifies the mapping from each generic right to specific rights for the object.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the function returns nonzero.

If the function fails, it returns zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The ConvertToAutoInheritPrivateObjectSecurity function attempts to determine whether the ACEs in the discretionary access control list (DACL) and system access control list (SACL) of the current security descriptor were inherited from the parent security descriptor. The function passes the ParentDescriptor parameter to the CreatePrivateObjectSecurityEx function to get ACLs that contain only inherited ACEs. Then it compares these ACEs to the ACEs in the original security descriptor to determine which of the original ACEs were inherited. The ACEs do not need to match one-to-one. For instance, an ACE that allows read and write access to a trustee can be equivalent to two ACEs: an ACE that allows read access and an ACE that allows write access.

Any ACEs in the original security descriptor that are equivalent to the ACEs inherited from the parent security descriptor are marked with the INHERITED_ACE flag and added to the new security descriptor. All other ACEs in the original security descriptor are added to the new security descriptor as noninherited ACEs.

If the original DACL does not have any inherited ACEs, the function sets the SE_DACL_PROTECTED flag in the control bits of the new security descriptor. Similarly, the SE_SACL_PROTECTED flag is set if none of the ACEs in the SACL is inherited.

For DACLs that have inherited ACEs, the function reorders the ACEs into two groups. The first group has ACEs that were directly applied to the object. The second group has inherited ACEs. This ordering ensures that noninherited ACEs have precedence over inherited ACEs. For more information, see Order of ACEs in a DACL.

The function sets the SE_DACL_AUTO_INHERITED and SE_SACL_AUTO_INHERITED flags in the control bits of the new security descriptor.

The function does not change the ordering of access-allowed ACEs in relation to access-denied ACEs in the DACL because to do so would change the semantics of the resulting security descriptor. If the function cannot convert the DACL without changing the semantics, it leaves the DACL unchanged and sets the SE_DACL_PROTECTED flag.

The new security descriptor has the same owner and primary group as the original security descriptor.

The new security descriptor is equivalent to the original security descriptor, so the caller needs no access rights or privileges to update the security descriptor to the new format.

This function works with ACL_REVISION and ACL_REVISION_DS ACLs.

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform Windows
Header securitybaseapi.h (include Windows.h)
Library Advapi32.lib
DLL Advapi32.dll

See also

Client/Server Access Control

Client/Server Access Control Functions

CreatePrivateObjectSecurityEx

DestroyPrivateObjectSecurity

GENERIC_MAPPING

GUID