ASP.NET Code Access Security (CAS) is a feature that helps protect server applications on hosting multiple Web sites, ASP.NET lets you assign a configurable trust level that corresponds to a predefined set of permissions. ASP.NET has predefined ASP.NET Trust Levels and Policy Files that you can assign to applications, you also can assign custom trust level and policy files. Most web hosting companies run ASP.NET applications in Medium Trust to prevent that one website affect or harm another site etc.

As .NET Framework's Code Access Security model has evolved, ASP.NET 4.0 Code Access Security also has introduced several changes and improvements.

The main change in ASP.NET 4.0 CAS

In ASP.NET v4.0 partial trust applications, application domain can have a default partial trust permission set as opposed to being full-trust, the permission set name is defined in the <trust /> new attribute permissionSetName that is used to initialize the application domain . By default, the PermissionSetName attribute value is "ASP.Net" which is the name of the permission set you can find in all predefined partial trust configuration files.

<trust level="Something" permissionSetName="ASP.Net" />

This is ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model. For compatibility ASP.NET 4.0 also support legacy CAS model where application domain still has full trust permission set.

You can specify new legacyCasModel attribute on the <trust /> element to indicate whether the legacy CAS model is enabled. By default legacyCasModel is false which means that new 4.0 CAS model is the default.

<trust level="Something" legacyCasModel="true|false"  />

In .Net FX 4.0 Config directory, there are two set of predefined partial trust config files for each new CAS model and legacy CAS model, trust config files with name legacy.XYZ.config are for legacy CAS model:

The figure below shows in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model what permission set to grant to code for partial trust application using predefined partial trust levels and policy files: 

There also some benefits that comes with the new CAS model:

• You can lock down a machine by making all managed code no-execute by default (e.g. setting the MyComputer zone to have no managed execution code permissions), it should still be possible to configure ASP.NET web applications to run as either full-trust or partial trust.
• UNC share doesn’t require full trust with CASPOL at machine-level CAS policy.

Side effect that comes with the new CAS model:

• processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is deprecated  in new CAS model since application domain always has partial trust permission set in new CAS model.

In ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model or ASP.NET 2.0 CAS model, even though you assign partial trust level to a application but the application domain still has full trust permission set.

The figure below shows in ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model (or ASP.NET 2.0 CAS model) what permission set to grant to code for partial trust application using predefined partial trust levels and policy files:

What $AppDirUrl$, $CodeGen$, $Gac$ represents:

The new customization of CAS Policy in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model

1. Define which named permission set in partial trust configuration files

By default the permission set that will be assigned at application domain initialization time is the named "ASP.Net" permission set found in all predefined partial trust configuration files. However ASP.NET 4.0 allows you set PermissionSetName attribute to define which named permission set in a partial trust configuration file should be the one used to initialize an application domain.

Example: add "ASP.Net_2" named permission set in partial trust configuration file:

<PermissionSet
  class="NamedPermissionSet"
  version="1"
  Name="ASP.Net_2">
   <IPermission
        class="FileIOPermission"
         version="1"
         Read="$AppDir$"
         PathDiscovery="$AppDir$"
        />
  <IPermission
        class="ReflectionPermission"
        version="1"
        Flags ="RestrictedMemberAccess" />
  <IPermission
        class="SecurityPermission "
        version="1"
        Flags ="Execution, ControlThread, ControlPrincipal, RemotingConfiguration" />
</PermissionSet>

Then you can use "ASP.Net_2" named permission set for the application domain permission set:

<trust level="Something" legacyCasModel="false" permissionSetName="ASP.Net_2"  />

2. Define a custom set of Full Trust Assemblies for an application

By using the new fullTrustAssemblies element to configure a set of Full Trust Assemblies for an application, you can modify set of partial trust assemblies to full trust at the machine, site or application level.

The configuration definition is shown below:

<fullTrustAssemblies>
    <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" version="1.1.2.3" 
          publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />
</fullTrustAssemblies>

3. Define <CodeGroup /> policy in partial trust configuration files

ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model will retain the ability for developers to optionally define <CodeGroup />with membership conditions and assigned permission sets. The specific restriction in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model though will be that the results of evaluating custom policies can only result in one of two outcomes: either an assembly is granted full trust, or an assembly is granted the partial trust permission set currently associated with the running application domain. It will not be possible to use custom policies to create additional custom partial trust permission sets.

When parsing the partial trust configuration file:

• Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with "PermissionSet='FullTrust'" will run at full trust.
• Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with "PermissionSet='Nothing'" will result in a PolicyError being thrown from the CLR. This is acceptable since it provides administrators with a way to do a blanket-deny of managed code followed by selectively defining policy in a <CodeGroup /> that re-adds assemblies that would be allowed to run.
• Any assemblies that match to code groups associated with other permissions sets will be interpreted to mean the assembly should run at the permission set of the appdomain. This means that even though syntactically a developer could define additional "flavors" of partial trust in an ASP.NET partial trust configuration file, those "flavors" will always be ignored.

Example: defines full trust in <CodeGroup /> for my strong named assemblies in partial trust config files:

<CodeGroup
    class="FirstMatchCodeGroup"
    version="1"
    PermissionSetName="Nothing">
    <IMembershipCondition
    class="AllMembershipCondition"
    version="1"
    />
    <CodeGroup
    class="UnionCodeGroup"
    version="1"
    PermissionSetName="FullTrust"
    Name="My_Strong_Name"
    Description="This code group grants code signed full trust. ">
     <IMembershipCondition
      class="StrongNameMembershipCondition"
        version="1"                             
      PublicKeyBlob="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob"
      />
    </CodeGroup>
    <CodeGroup
   class="UnionCodeGroup"
      version="1"
      PermissionSetName="ASP.Net">
   <IMembershipCondition
        class="UrlMembershipCondition"
        version="1"
        Url="$AppDirUrl$/*"
      />
    </CodeGroup>
    <CodeGroup
     class="UnionCodeGroup"
     version="1"
     PermissionSetName="ASP.Net">
   <IMembershipCondition
      class="UrlMembershipCondition"
      version="1"
      Url="$CodeGen$/*"
   />
    </CodeGroup>
</CodeGroup>

 

4. Customize CAS policy at runtime in ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model

ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model allows to customize CAS policy at runtime by using custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver that overrides the ASP.NET code access security policy.

Example: use custom host security policy resolver to resolve partial trust web application bin folder MyTrustedAssembly.dll to full trust at runtime:

You can create a custom host security policy resolver and compile it to assembly MyCustomResolver.dll with strong name enabled and deploy in GAC:

public class MyCustomResolver : HostSecurityPolicyResolver
{
  public override HostSecurityPolicyResults ResolvePolicy(Evidence evidence)
  {
        IEnumerator hostEvidence = evidence.GetHostEnumerator();

        while (hostEvidence.MoveNext())
        {
            object hostEvidenceObject = hostEvidence.Current;
            
            if (hostEvidenceObject is System.Security.Policy.Url)
            {
               string assemblyName = hostEvidenceObject.ToString();
               if (assemblyName.Contains(“MyTrustedAssembly.dll”)
                  return HostSecurityPolicyResult.FullTrust;
            }
        }  

        //default fall-through
        return HostSecurityPolicyResult.DefaultPolicy;
  }
}

Because ASP.NET accesses the custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver during application domain initialization, and a custom policy resolver requires full trust, you also can add a custom policy resolver in <fullTrustAssemblies /> , or deploy in the GAC.

You also need configure a custom HostSecurityPolicyResolver instance by adding the HostSecurityPolicyResolverType attribute in the <trust /> element:

<trust level="Something"  
    legacyCasModel="false" 
    hostSecurityPolicyResolverType="MyCustomResolver,  MyCustomResolver"
    permissionSetName="ASP.Net" 
    />

Note:

If an assembly policy define in <CodeGroup/> and also in hostSecurityPolicyResolverType, hostSecurityPolicyResolverType will win.

If an assembly added in <fullTrustAssemblies/> then the assembly has full trust no matter what policy in <CodeGroup/> or in hostSecurityPolicyResolverType.

Other changes in ASP.NET 4.0 CAS

Use the new transparency model introduced in .Net Framework 4.0

• Change in dynamically compiled code generated assemblies by ASP.NET:

In new CAS model they will be marked as security transparent level2 to use Framework 4.0 security transparent rule that means partial trust code is treated as completely Transparent and it is more strict enforcement.

In legacy CAS model they will be marked as security transparent level1 to use Framework 2.0 security transparent rule for compatibility.

• Most of ASP.NET products runtime assemblies are also changed to be marked as security transparent level2 to switch to SecurityTransparent code by default unless SecurityCritical or SecuritySafeCritical attribute specified.

You also can look at Security Changes in the .NET Framework 4 for more information about these security attributes.

Support conditional APTCA

• If an assembly is marked with the Conditional APTCA attribute to allow partially trusted callers, and if you want to make the assembly both visible and accessible to partial-trust code in your web application, you must add a reference to the assembly in the partialTrustVisibleAssemblies section:

<partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>
   <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" 
        publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />
/partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>

 

• Most of ASP.NET products runtime assemblies are also changed to be marked as conditional APTCA to prevent use of ASP.NET APIs in partial trust environments such as Winforms or WPF UI controls hosted in Internet Explorer.

Differences between ASP.NET new CAS model and legacy CAS model:

Here list some differences between ASP.NET new CAS model and legacy CAS model

ASP.NET 4.0 legacy CAS model  :

• Asp.net partial trust appdomains have full trust permission

• Multiple different permission sets in a single appdomain are allowed in ASP.NET partial trust configuration files Code groups

• Machine CAS policy is honored

• processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is still honored 

• New configuration setting for legacy model:

<trust level="Something" 
    legacyCASModel="true" >
</trust>


<partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>
    <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" 
          publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />
</partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>

ASP.NET 4.0 new CAS model:

• ASP.NET will now run in homogeneous application domains. Only full trust or the app-domain's partial trust grant set, are allowable permission sets.

• It is no longer possible to define arbitrary permission sets that get assigned to different assemblies. If an application currently depends on fine-tuning the partial trust permission set using the ASP.NET partial trust configuration file, this will no longer be possible.

• processRequestInApplicationTrust attribute is deprecated

• Dynamically compiled assemblies output by ASP.NET build providers will be updated to explicitly mark assemblies as transparent.

• ASP.NET partial trust grant sets will be independent from any enterprise, machine, or user CAS policy levels.

• A simplified model for locking down web servers that only allows trusted managed web applications to run.
  • Machine policy used to always grant full-trust to managed code (based on membership conditions) can instead be configured using the new ASP.NET 4.0 full-trust assembly configuration section. The full-trust assembly configuration section requires explicitly listing each assembly as opposed to using membership conditions.
  • Alternatively, the membership condition(s) used in machine policy can instead be re-defined in a <CodeGroup /> within ASP.NET's partial trust configuration file to grant full-trust.

• New configuration setting for new model:

<trust level="Something" 
    legacyCASModel="false"
    permissionSetName="ASP.Net"            
    hostSecurityPolicyResolverType=".NET type string" >
</trust>


<fullTrustAssemblies>
    <add assemblyName=”MyAssembly” version=”1.0.0.0”
        publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />
</fullTrustAssemblies>


<partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>
    <add assemblyName="MyAssembly" 
          publicKey="hex_char_representation_of_key_blob" />
</partialTrustVisibleAssemblies>

 

Hope this post is helpful to better understand the ASP.Net 4.0 CAS.

Xiaohong Tang
ASP.NET QA Team