Possible bug in XP security permissions propagation

K

karl.brown

Hello,

Can you tell me if the following is a bug?

Do the following as a member of the administrator group
1) On an XP Pro (Version 2002, SP2), create a set of folders like this:
c:\test
c:\test\test2
c:\test\test2\test3

2) Create a file, bar.txt, in c:\test\test2\test3

3) Look at the "Users" group permissions for bar.txt. They should be
read and read & execute. This is b/c these permissions inherit from
c:\. "Users", by default, don't have the right to write to random files
on the c:\ drive.

4) Now, suppose you want to change this. Click on
c:\test->properties->security - then add all permissions for the Users
group. Click on apply.

5) Note that all of the folders (test, test2, test3) now have full
permissions.

6) Note that bar.txt does not have full permissions. Its permission
have not changed.

7) Now, click on c:\test->properties->security->advanced, then click
"Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown
here that apply to child objects". Note that
c:\test\test2\test3\bar.txt still has restricted permissions.

8) Click on c:\test\test2\test3->properties->security->advanced, then
click "Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries
shown here that apply to child objects". Note that
c:\test\test2\test3\bar.txt now has full permissions.

The suggested bugs are that
a) Changes to permissions via the "apply" button on the main security
tab propagate recursively to folders, but not to files
b) Changes to permissions via the "Replace permission entries on all
child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects"
checkbox + apply button do not apply recursively.

Thus, when it says "child" objects, it seems to mean only first-level
children, not all children recursively.

***
The net result is, if you have a set of files with restricted
permissions, and you want to enable regular users to modify those
files, you have to apply permissions using the "advanced" tab on every
single folder, instead of just the top-level folder.

Please let me know if you think this is a bug.

Or, alternately, could you please give a clear list of instructions on
how to modify the permissions of c:\test\test2\test3\bar.txt only
through manipulating the security settings of the top-level directory
c:\test - b/c I was not able make this work.

thanks!
karl
 
S

Steven L Umbach

Two things to consider is that by default users have special permissions on
the drive folder that are not apparent when you view the generic permissions
on the general security page and also keep in mind that the owner of a file
will receive whatever permissions that creator owner placeholder has which
by default is full control.

Steve
 

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