IP Library Granted Patent US 12664315
Granted Patent B2
US 12664315 · App. 17/746,269 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Managing privilege delegation on a server device

Inventors: John Goodridge (Cheshire, GB); Thomas Couser (Lancashire, GB)
Assignee: Avecto Limited
G06F21/629G06F9/44526G06F9/468G06F21/126G06F21/53H04L63/105H04L67/564G06F2221/2141G06F2221/2149
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12664315
App. No.
17/746,269
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A server device for managing privilege delegation to control execution of commands thereon is described. Execution of a command, according to first privileges, by a remote management (RM) server on the server device is requested from a RM client on a client device. An agent plug-in, chained to a command execution plug-in of the RM server, intercepts the request and forwards related information to an agent service cooperating with an operating system of the server device. The agent service determines whether to execute the command according to second privileges, different from the first privileges and if permitted, delegates the second privileges to the command, and causes, via the agent plug-in chained to the command execution plug-in, the command to be executed according to the second privileges.

Claims (47)

1 . A system, comprising:

a memory; and

a remote management (RM) server comprising a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:

intercept a request, via an agent plug-in installed on the RM server, originating from a first user account of a logged-in user on a client device to execute a command by the RM server and as a second user account on the RM server, wherein the first user account is assigned first privileges, the second user account is assigned second privileges, the request is transmitted over a network from the client device to the RM server, and the request is intercepted by the agent plug-in prior to receipt by an intended recipient on the RM server;

obtain information related to the request to execute the command;

determine whether to execute the command on the RM server by applying a policy to the information related to the request; and

in response to determining to execute the command, cause the command to be executed according to the second privileges in the second user account.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the policy comprises a plurality of rules and the processing circuit is further configured to evaluate the information against the plurality of rules.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to delegate the second privileges to a thread executing the command by providing the thread with a token, wherein the second privileges are assigned to the token.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the agent plug-in is configured to be executed by the processing circuit and cause the processing circuit to intercept the request.

5 . A method, comprising:

intercepting, via an agent plug-in installed on an RM server, a request originating from a first user account of a logged-in user on a client device to execute a command by the RM server and as a second user account on the RM server, wherein the first user account is assigned first privileges, the second user account is assigned second privileges, the request is transmitted over a network from the client device to the RM server, and the request is intercepted by the agent plug-in prior to receipt by an intended recipient on the RM server;

obtaining, via the RM server, information related to the request to execute the command;

determining, via the RM server, whether to execute the command on the RM server by applying a policy to the information related to the request; and

in response to determining to execute the command, causing, via the RM server, the command to be executed according to the second privileges in the second user account.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

capturing, via the RM server, a set of identities associates with the request; and

requesting, via the RM server, the policy based on the set of identities.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the set of identities comprises at least one of: a user identity of the first user account, a user identity of the second user account, a group identity, and a process identity.

8 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

generating, via the RM server, a custom message based on the policy; and

causing, via the RM server, the custom message to be rendered on a display of the client device.

9 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

exposing, via the RM server, a function corresponding to a command execution plug-in function; and

receiving, via the RM server, the request via the exposed function.

10 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising providing a token to a thread executing the command, wherein the second privileges are assigned to the token.

11 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

calling a command execution plug-in function;

delegating the second privileges to the command; and

passing the command to the command execution plug-in function.

12 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising passive handling of the request based on the policy.

13 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program that, when executed by a processing circuit of a remote management (RM) server, causes the processing circuit to:

intercept a request, via an agent plug-in installed on the RM server, originating from a first user account of a logged-in user on a client device to execute a command by the RM server and as a second user account on the RM server, wherein the first user account is assigned first privileges, the second user account is assigned second privileges, the request is transmitted over a network from the client device to the RM server, and the request is intercepted by the agent plug-in prior to receipt by an intended recipient on the RM server;

obtain information related to the request to execute the command;

determine whether to execute the command on the RM server by applying a policy to the information related to the request; and

in response to determining to execute the command, cause the command to be executed according to the second privileges in the second user account.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further causes the processing circuit to delegate the second privileges to an agent service and the agent service executes the command.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further causes the processing circuit to intercept the request from the first user account of the logged-in user on the client device by exposing a function corresponding to a command execution plug-in function and receiving the request via the exposed function.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the request originating from the first user account of the logged-in user on the client device to execute the command by the RM server is received from a terminal.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further causes the processing circuit to relay the command to a command execution plug-in provided by an operating system of the RM server.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further causes the processing circuit to:

intercept a connection request, from the client device, to connect to the RM server; and

control connection of the logged-in user on the client device to the RM server.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further causes the processing circuit to:

generate a custom message comprising a challenge-response based on the policy; and

receive a validation code to authenticate the first user account.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein RM server is configured to generate responses for requests as the intended recipient unless the request is intercepted.