Privman is a library that makes it easy for programs to use
privilege separation, a technique that prevents the leak or
misuse of privilege from applications that must run with some
elevated permissions. Applications that use the Privman library
split into two halves, the half that performs valid privileged
operations, and the half that contains the application's logic.
The Privman library simplifies the otherwise complex task of
separating the application, protecting the system from
compromise if an error in the application logic is found. The
library uses configuration files to provide fine-grained access
control for the privileged operations, limiting exposure in
even of an attack against the application. When the application
is compromised, the attacker gains only the privileges of an
unprivileged user and the specific privileges granted to the
application by the application's Privman configuration file.

WWW: http://opensource.nailabs.com/privman