Why does direct access that breaks inheritence still result in inheritence working?

Question

Steps to replicate the issue:

1. Create a folder PARENT
2. Add sub folder and files
3. Assign User1 with access to PARENT via direct access [ellipses (...)->manage access->grant access (person icon on top right)]
4. At this point, User1 will have access to PARENT, and the subfolders and files (under PARENT) due to default inheritence behaviour.
5. Create a new folder under PARENT called TESTFOLDER2
6. Assign permission to User2 on this folder (TESTFOLDER2) following the same instruction given in step 3. At this point permission inheritence is broken on this folder (TESTFOLDER2)

Now add permission to User3 on PARENT by following same steps as step 3.

Expected behaviour: User3 shouldn't have access to TESTFOLDER2 (because inheritence was broken due to step 6).

Actual behaviour: User3 can access TESTFOLDER2

Is this correct behaviour? Why does permission inheritence still work even when inheritence is broken?

Answer 1

The behavior you’re observing is correct.

When you break inheritance on a folder, it only affects the explicitly defined permissions on that folder (in this case, TESTFOLDER2). After breaking inheritance, you can add or remove users and groups and assign them specific permissions (e.g., read or edit).

However, the implicit inherited permissions from the parent folder (PARENT) still apply.

So, even though User3 doesn’t have explicit permissions on TESTFOLDER2, they can still access it because they inherit permissions from the PARENT folder.

Solution:

To achieve your expected behavior (where User3 shouldn’t have access to TESTFOLDER2), you need to explicitly deny permissions to User3 on TESTFOLDER2.

Denying permissions will override any inherited permissions, ensuring that User3 cannot access the folder.

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