DCOM security levels

Access to a COM server is governed by Windows security and controlled by access control lists (ACLs), which grant specific users or groups permission to use that server. In addition, systemlevel policies and settings determine how users are authenticated and how permissions are granted.

DCOM security is implemented on several levels:

• System-level ACLs, settings and policies define the minimum level of security for all DCOM components (the Edit Limits ACLs in dcomcnfg utility).

• Default ACLs and security levels are used if a DCOM component does not explicitly set a security level (the Edit Defaults ACLs in dcomcnfg utility).

• Custom ACLs and security levels can be specified for individual DCOM servers using the Windows dcomcnfg utility.

• Custom security can be implemented in code by the DCOM server (CoInitializeSecurity).