[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
CIMOM's security support differs depending on the platform. On Windows NT platforms, CIMOM supports a limited form of security whereby DCOM positively identifies each user before allowing the user to attempt to connect to CIMOM. Once identified, CIMOM verifies that the user has the appropriate access level.
An administrator can change the access level for users. Some users can perform read-only operations while others can make modifications.
Users have access to either all or none of the classes supported by CIMOM and providers. CIMOM does not enforce security on particular classes. That is, a user cannot be able to access class A but not class B.
Security support differs on Windows 95 and 98 platforms where all local users are assumed to be authentic. Because these operating systems are not secure, no check is made to validate the user names or passwords of local users. For remote access, CIMOM supports security through Microsoft® LAN Manager.
For more information about security and authentication in WBEM, see Security and Authentication.