Is there a reason why style libraries and site collection images would have individual permissions?

Question

I recently found out that the Site Collection Images and Style Library in all my Site Collections are having Unique permission assigned to them.

I created a new site Collection to check if this had been automatically set by SharePoint.

I created one with Team Site template and found the Style Library was inheriting permissions and there was no "Site Collection Images" library. Once I activated the "SharePoint Server Publishing Feature", the Site Collection Images library was created and both the libraries were now having unique permissions.

So these are the questions troubling me:

Is there any specific reason that these are having Unique permissions?

Will I be breaking anything if I change the Permission to inherit?

Answer 1

It is by design, I think this has some connection with Publishing. But one thing I know for sure, If you change the permission on any of these System Libraries, you will break the things in your Site collection.

Typically peopler removes the Style Resource Reader group from the permission as this include the All authenticated User in it. But as soon you remove it, User will start getting the Access Denied.

Answer 2

I would argue that the reason these libraries have unique permissions is precisely the opposite of what Ankit Kumar is suggesting.

In Ankit's answer:

these libraries deal with configuration of the site collection and is generally used for referring any scripts /site images and any style sheets. Hence these library have unique permission where general users are forbidden to access /or downlaod any content.

Why would you want to forbid general users from downloading style sheets, images or scripts? If they do not have access to the style sheets and other resources that define the look and feel, and possibly some other basic functionality (using jQuery for DOM manipulation maybe?), the site will essentially be broken for them.

It would seem to me that those libraries have unique permissions exactly to allow general (even possibly anonymous) users to have read access to the resources that govern the site's look and feel, while still being able to maintain tighter control over who has access to the content stored in other more business related lists and libraries.

Answer 3

Yes the Site Collection Images and Site Assest/ Style library have a different set of permission when created. Because these libraries deal with configuration of the site collection and is generally used for referring any scripts /site images and any style sheets. Hence these library have unique permission where general users are forbidden to access /or downlaod any content. Only Designer/ Editors and Owner have valid access to these libraries.

You will not break anything while inheriting the permission, it just that other users will be able to download your scripts/ css/images if you have stored in these library