I am new to django. I want to edit default user auth_permissions. More precisely I want to add an integer field in addition to "label", "code" features to distinct permission types (like strong, moderate and etc.). So far I could not find anything like this. I tried to make custom permissions, but could not add them to the permission database. Anyone could help me?
Per Object permission
When i first got into django i also tried relying on the permissions framework within django, I also found the permissions were too broad and inefficient, which lead me to researching django-guardian, I tried to submit an edit to the Django project itself to make more object-base permissions with no success, they said as per object permissions were too personalised for the framework.
The thing is, after getting to work in the industry i realised how people do these permissions in the industry (which honestly was something that bugged me), they mainly create custom login middlewares to keep track of authentication types and add the checks on the view itself. So basically you will have to check in the view who the user is and if you want to give them permission to whatever.
When in MIT they kept asking me to make some weird permissions and I created a table called ExtraordinaryPermissions, this had a ForeignKey to the user and could be used to check within the views what objects the user had access to
It is troublesome, but as-per-object permissions are handed this way in the industry
good luck
Related
I want to be able to allow certain staff users the rights to add other users and staff but what seems weird to me is that 1) a staff member can just change their own privileges to superuser or just make a new user and grant superuser privileges to them. 2) delete a superuser or revoke their superuser status
Some staff users should be able to modify/create/delete users but they should not be able to delete super users nor assign permissions to themselves or other users that they do not have the permission themselves.
This has always been logic I have incorporated into my user systems that I've written in PHP and I was just wondering if there was a way to change these settings in Django as I really like Python/Django (I'm just beginning to learn it) and can see myself migrating away from PHP. But part of the beauty for me lied in the admin panel and if that is something that cannot be changed, that's kind of cringe-worthy.
It reminds me of a restaurant POS system that I used to use when I was a GM. As the GM, I had powers that shift managers did not have. However, the shift managers could add a fingerprint to my profile (theirs) and then just log in as me and do anything they wanted to. I always felt this was a severe security breach and even took disciplinary action on an employee for doing this. It also allowed the shift managers to create new employees with titles that were above theirs which created the same problem as they could just create a new GM or Area Manager, login, do whatever they wanted, and see all kinds of things that they shouldn't (like their colleagues' salaries), and then hide (not delete) the user. (this is how he got caught)
If anyone has a fix or any ideas and suggestions, I'd love to hear them and keep learning this exciting new language. Thanks in advance!
Django admin is a basic CRUD system, it is not recommended to use in that way. Django views (your custom views) give you more power to control the process.
First of all, Django Permissions might be a good start point. Create Groups for user types and assign desired permissions for each group. Do not give permission for non-superusers to change group or permissions.
Second thing is using Django Signals to check data before saving it. For example, a pre_save signal for User creation can be used to check if is_superuser, is_staff values of the user are set by non-superuser. You can add added_by value to the user model and verify your checks using this value.
Also, using custom forms for Django admin is also possible and might be the simplest solution for it. Just make a custom form for creating and editing users and verify changes in the form directly before allowing the view to save anything. It is also possible to inform user that they don't have access for changes they made and also notify the management about the attempt.
I am building a website where you can keep your private portfolio, logs, etc using Django.
All courses, documentation, I came accross so far give all users the possibility to view all entries made by all users (e.g. blog, posts etc.). However I want to restrict any user from viewing & READING other users' data.
How can this be best achieved? Is there an extension available? I know that django doesn't have row-level permissions, but there are extensions for that available such as Django-rules.
In my case however I want restrict a user from viewing other users' data. In other words, a user can only see his/her porfolio and is also not in any way able to CHANGE, UPDATE, DELETE any entries which is not its own.
I found that django-guardian does the job.
I am working on a database project for different users in Django, but I don't understand nearly enough about the idea of groups and permissions to know where to start for allowing users to collaborate on projects.
Essentially, I want each project (and its entries) to be owned by the person who created it (this part I have covered), but I also want users to be able to add usernames for other users onto each project (and its entries) so that other users can view the project, the entries, update them and create new entries for that project.
Also I want it to display only projects & entries that the user has either created or is a collaborator on.
I've never worked with permissions before and while I'm reading through "Using the Django authentication system" I'm not having much luck getting my head around it. Are there any good writeups on how to incorporate this or maybe something from another perspective or a tutorial?
I had originally made a text field column where a user could add usernames of fellow collaborators, then the views would check it and if one of the usernames matched the logged in user, it would allow them to view that project, but it sounds like this is not the secure way to go.
Thanks for any help.
I'm building a Django-based review website where public users create all of the content on the site. Users create reviews for given items and they also create the items themselves that will be reviewed (providing a description and brief summary of the item, along with a few tags).
My question is this: Should I be using Django's admin features for this website (as in, exposing admin controls to the public users)? Or should I just stick with normal forms? I'm not too familiar with the admin-aspect of Django, and so far I've just been using forms for the website, but I've seen a lot of people talking about Django's admin features, and I'm starting to wonder if I should be using them.
Thanks for any feedback!
Maybe. If the admin functionality covers most of what you want to offer, there's no reason why you shouldn't use it as a starting point.
django.contrib.admin is an application like any other, and provides basically a CRUD interface to your models. Access can be controlled via groups/permissions, just like you would for an application you write yourself. You can give full access to a model with a one-liner, but obviously will have to configure properly when opening up to others.
See also my question
Django AdminSite/ModelAdmin for end users?
and similar questions Exposing django admin to users. Harmful? and How to make Django admin site accessed by non-staff user?
Regarding arguments about the "intended use" of the admin, please note Django's security update at the end of last year: http://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2010/dec/22/security/ regarding querystring parameters in object lists. Such an update (quote: "an attacker with access to the admin [...]") is a clear indication that the admin's implementation of the permission system is being constantly scrutinized.
No. The django admin is not intended for any end-user.
The django admin feature is intended to assist the website developer, and that is all. Even usage by site administrators is contra-indicated, although in practice most small sites get away with it since they're only talking a few people who can call on the developer personally if they get into trouble.
For your purposes, the review items and the workflow in creating the items is a critical part of your application feature set. The admin will give you ideas, but it would be a mistake to attempt to build your application upon it.
I wouldn't expose the admin interface to regular users. You can use the authentication and user-management side (for your purposes), but it's usually best practice to give users a separate way to manage their objects. You also don't run as much of a risk of granting the wrong privileges to users (or allowing them to grant their own).
Have a read though the docs if you want a better overview about what it can do.
I am working on a Django somewhat e-commerce project, where, briefly, I have both a Customer and a Merchant model. The Merchant model is associated with a MerchantStore model which is somehow "complicated", having a plethora of m2m and foreign key relationships to various models.
Following the solution in this post and having not enough "time" to make a custom implementation, I decided to let each Merchant be a "stuff member" and customize his store through the admin interface. Of cource I created a new group with the appropriate permissions.
However, some questions arise:
1) Is this considered harmful? Are there any security threats associated?
2) Isn't this the best way to do it if you have not enough time anyway?
No, I would not consider this harmful.
The "Zen of Admin" as described in Apress's djangobook seemed to imply an assumption of trust as part of the admin's "philosophy", and paired with the often-repeated "admin is not your app" advice, I too was scared at first and think the Django documentation could point out intended, viable use cases.
Please see my almost identical question Django AdminSite/ModelAdmin for end users?
From Jordan's answer (who I gave the bounty):
There is nothing inherently special
about admin. It behaves just like any
other view. So if it is using
permissions to determine access (for
example, if you set a user's .is_staff
to True but give them access only to
specific permissions) then it will be
equally secure to any view you might
create that uses permissions to
determine access.
...
The people who wrote
django.contrib.admin did not write it
with the assumption that anyone with
an is_staff = True could be trusted as
much as a superuser, or was stupid
enough to never take a look at the
source code of a web page. Although
writing your own views is encouraged,
it is still a robust interface.
Also note Django's relatively recent security update http://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2010/dec/22/security/
regarding querystring parameters in object lists.
Such an update (quote: "an attacker with access to the admin [...]") is a clear indication that the admin's implementation of the permission system is being constantly scrutinized.
Yes, this is considered "harmful", mostly due to the design considerations of the Django developers. The admin revolves around a concept of "trusted users". In other words, if someone is a staff member (thereby having access to the admin), they presumably have enough of your trust to not be worried about security breaches. Now in truth, you could block them from portions they're not supposed to mess with (as you've done), but the point is that Django makes no guarantees in this area. You probably won't have any problems, in all actuality, but you could.
Ironically, I think I've spent more time in my life customizing the Django admin than it would have taken me to build it from scratch. Funny how that goes. Regardless, I'd liken it to using scaffolding in Ruby on Rails. It's a quick way to get something live, but the goal is to replace it as soon as possible.