diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 2f5a338..9dcbde9 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -1297,6 +1297,13 @@ F: include/qemu/throttle.h
 F: util/throttle.c
 L: qemu-block@nongnu.org
 
+Authorization
+M: Daniel P. Berrange <berrange@redhat.com>
+S: Maintained
+F: util/authz*
+F: include/qemu/authz*
+F: tests/test-authz-*
+
 Usermode Emulation
 ------------------
 Overall
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 70e3ebc..903dc35 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ endif
 dummy := $(call unnest-vars,, \
                 stub-obj-y \
                 util-obj-y \
+                util-qom-obj-y \
                 qga-obj-y \
                 ivshmem-client-obj-y \
                 ivshmem-server-obj-y \
diff --git a/Makefile.objs b/Makefile.objs
index fbcaa74..8bc9a77 100644
--- a/Makefile.objs
+++ b/Makefile.objs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ stub-obj-y = stubs/
 util-obj-y = util/ qobject/ qapi/
 util-obj-y += qmp-introspect.o qapi-types.o qapi-visit.o qapi-event.o
 
+util-qom-obj-y += util/
+
 #######################################################################
 # block-obj-y is code used by both qemu system emulation and qemu-img
 
diff --git a/Makefile.target b/Makefile.target
index 34ddb7e..9728f86 100644
--- a/Makefile.target
+++ b/Makefile.target
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ include $(SRC_PATH)/Makefile.objs
 dummy := $(call unnest-vars,,target-obj-y)
 target-obj-y-save := $(target-obj-y)
 dummy := $(call unnest-vars,.., \
+               util-qom-obj-y \
                block-obj-y \
                block-obj-m \
                crypto-obj-y \
@@ -183,6 +184,7 @@ target-obj-y := $(target-obj-y-save)
 all-obj-y += $(common-obj-y)
 all-obj-y += $(target-obj-y)
 all-obj-y += $(qom-obj-y)
+all-obj-y += $(util-qom-obj-y)
 all-obj-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += $(block-obj-y)
 all-obj-$(CONFIG_USER_ONLY) += $(crypto-aes-obj-y)
 all-obj-$(CONFIG_SOFTMMU) += $(crypto-obj-y)
diff --git a/include/qemu/authz.h b/include/qemu/authz.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89fa6da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qemu/authz.h
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU authorization framework
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef QAUTHZ_H__
+#define QAUTHZ_H__
+
+#include "qemu-common.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qom/object.h"
+
+
+#define TYPE_QAUTHZ "authz"
+
+#define QAUTHZ_CLASS(klass) \
+     OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(QAuthZClass, (klass), \
+                        TYPE_QAUTHZ)
+#define QAUTHZ_GET_CLASS(obj) \
+     OBJECT_GET_CLASS(QAuthZClass, (obj), \
+                      TYPE_QAUTHZ)
+#define QAUTHZ(obj) \
+     INTERFACE_CHECK(QAuthZ, (obj), \
+                     TYPE_QAUTHZ)
+
+typedef struct QAuthZ QAuthZ;
+typedef struct QAuthZClass QAuthZClass;
+
+/**
+ * QAuthZ:
+ *
+ * The QAuthZ class defines an API contract to be used
+ * for providing an authorization driver for network
+ * services.
+ */
+
+struct QAuthZ {
+    Object parent_obj;
+};
+
+
+struct QAuthZClass {
+    ObjectClass parent_class;
+
+    bool (*is_allowed)(QAuthZ *authz,
+                       const char *identity,
+                       Error **errp);
+};
+
+
+/**
+ * qauthz_is_allowed:
+ * @authz: the authorization object
+ * @identity: the user identity to authorize
+ * @errp: pointer to a NULL initialized error object
+ *
+ * Check if a user @identity is authorized
+ *
+ * Returns: true if @identity is authorizd, false otherwise
+ */
+bool qauthz_is_allowed(QAuthZ *authz,
+                       const char *identity,
+                       Error **errp);
+
+#endif /* QAUTHZ_H__ */
+
diff --git a/util/Makefile.objs b/util/Makefile.objs
index a8a777e..b29fb45 100644
--- a/util/Makefile.objs
+++ b/util/Makefile.objs
@@ -32,3 +32,5 @@ util-obj-y += buffer.o
 util-obj-y += timed-average.o
 util-obj-y += base64.o
 util-obj-y += log.o
+
+util-qom-obj-y += authz.o
diff --git a/util/authz.c b/util/authz.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd9f84e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/authz.c
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU authorization framework
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/authz.h"
+
+bool qauthz_is_allowed(QAuthZ *authz,
+                       const char *identity,
+                       Error **errp)
+{
+    QAuthZClass *cls = QAUTHZ_GET_CLASS(authz);
+
+    return cls->is_allowed(authz, identity, errp);
+}
+
+static const TypeInfo authz_info = {
+    .parent = TYPE_OBJECT,
+    .name = TYPE_QAUTHZ,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(QAuthZ),
+    .class_size = sizeof(QAuthZClass),
+};
+
+static void qauthz_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&authz_info);
+}
+
+type_init(qauthz_register_types)
+
