Introduction
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a method of restricting network access based on the roles of individual users within an enterprise. RBAC lets employees have access rights only to the information they need to do their jobs and prevents them from accessing information that doesn't pertain to them.
Why RBAC?
As applications grow, managing permissions for each user becomes a nightmare. RBAC simplifies this by grouping permissions into roles and assigning roles to users.
Key Concepts
- User: An individual who needs access to the system.
- Role: A collection of permissions.
- Permission: A right to perform a specific action on a resource.
Implementation in Node.js
We can implement RBAC in Node.js using middleware. Here is a simple example...
const checkPermission = (permission) => {
return (req, res, next) => {
const userRole = req.user.role;
if (roles[userRole].includes(permission)) {
next();
} else {
res.status(403).json({ message: "Forbidden" });
}
};
};
Conclusion
RBAC is an essential part of modern application security. By implementing it correctly, you can ensure that your application is secure and scalable.