diff --git a/authz/Makefile.objs b/authz/Makefile.objs
index 12597c9528..2a75d53840 100644
--- a/authz/Makefile.objs
+++ b/authz/Makefile.objs
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 authz-obj-y += base.o
+authz-obj-y += simple.o
diff --git a/authz/simple.c b/authz/simple.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ab718803e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/authz/simple.c
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU simple authorization driver
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 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 "authz/simple.h"
+#include "authz/trace.h"
+#include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
+
+static bool qauthz_simple_is_allowed(QAuthZ *authz,
+                                     const char *identity,
+                                     Error **errp)
+{
+    QAuthZSimple *sauthz = QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(authz);
+
+    trace_qauthz_simple_is_allowed(authz, sauthz->identity, identity);
+    return g_str_equal(identity, sauthz->identity);
+}
+
+static void
+qauthz_simple_prop_set_identity(Object *obj,
+                                const char *value,
+                                Error **errp G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    QAuthZSimple *sauthz = QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(obj);
+
+    g_free(sauthz->identity);
+    sauthz->identity = g_strdup(value);
+}
+
+
+static char *
+qauthz_simple_prop_get_identity(Object *obj,
+                                Error **errp G_GNUC_UNUSED)
+{
+    QAuthZSimple *sauthz = QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(obj);
+
+    return g_strdup(sauthz->identity);
+}
+
+
+static void
+qauthz_simple_finalize(Object *obj)
+{
+    QAuthZSimple *sauthz = QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(obj);
+
+    g_free(sauthz->identity);
+}
+
+
+static void
+qauthz_simple_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
+{
+    QAuthZClass *authz = QAUTHZ_CLASS(oc);
+
+    authz->is_allowed = qauthz_simple_is_allowed;
+
+    object_class_property_add_str(oc, "identity",
+                                  qauthz_simple_prop_get_identity,
+                                  qauthz_simple_prop_set_identity,
+                                  NULL);
+}
+
+
+QAuthZSimple *qauthz_simple_new(const char *id,
+                                const char *identity,
+                                Error **errp)
+{
+    return QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(
+        object_new_with_props(TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE,
+                              object_get_objects_root(),
+                              id, errp,
+                              "identity", identity,
+                              NULL));
+}
+
+
+static const TypeInfo qauthz_simple_info = {
+    .parent = TYPE_QAUTHZ,
+    .name = TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(QAuthZSimple),
+    .instance_finalize = qauthz_simple_finalize,
+    .class_size = sizeof(QAuthZSimpleClass),
+    .class_init = qauthz_simple_class_init,
+    .interfaces = (InterfaceInfo[]) {
+        { TYPE_USER_CREATABLE },
+        { }
+    }
+};
+
+
+static void
+qauthz_simple_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&qauthz_simple_info);
+}
+
+
+type_init(qauthz_simple_register_types);
diff --git a/authz/trace-events b/authz/trace-events
index 481c90f511..1ef796c1e1 100644
--- a/authz/trace-events
+++ b/authz/trace-events
@@ -2,3 +2,6 @@
 
 # authz/base.c
 qauthz_is_allowed(void *authz, const char *identity, bool allowed) "AuthZ %p check identity=%s allowed=%d"
+
+# auth/simple.c
+qauthz_simple_is_allowed(void *authz, const char *wantidentity, const char *gotidentity) "AuthZ simple %p check want identity=%s got identity=%s"
diff --git a/include/authz/simple.h b/include/authz/simple.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ef13958269
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/authz/simple.h
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU simple authorization driver
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 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_SIMPLE_H__
+#define QAUTHZ_SIMPLE_H__
+
+#include "authz/base.h"
+
+#define TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE "authz-simple"
+
+#define QAUTHZ_SIMPLE_CLASS(klass)                        \
+    OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(QAuthZSimpleClass, (klass),        \
+                       TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE)
+#define QAUTHZ_SIMPLE_GET_CLASS(obj)              \
+    OBJECT_GET_CLASS(QAuthZSimpleClass, (obj),    \
+                      TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE)
+#define QAUTHZ_SIMPLE(obj) \
+    INTERFACE_CHECK(QAuthZSimple, (obj),          \
+                    TYPE_QAUTHZ_SIMPLE)
+
+typedef struct QAuthZSimple QAuthZSimple;
+typedef struct QAuthZSimpleClass QAuthZSimpleClass;
+
+
+/**
+ * QAuthZSimple:
+ *
+ * This authorization driver provides a simple mechanism
+ * for granting access based on an exact matched username.
+ *
+ * To create an instance of this class via QMP:
+ *
+ *  {
+ *    "execute": "object-add",
+ *    "arguments": {
+ *      "qom-type": "authz-simple",
+ *      "id": "authz0",
+ *      "props": {
+ *        "identity": "fred"
+ *      }
+ *    }
+ *  }
+ *
+ * Or via the command line
+ *
+ *   -object authz-simple,id=authz0,identity=fred
+ *
+ */
+struct QAuthZSimple {
+    QAuthZ parent_obj;
+
+    char *identity;
+};
+
+
+struct QAuthZSimpleClass {
+    QAuthZClass parent_class;
+};
+
+
+QAuthZSimple *qauthz_simple_new(const char *id,
+                                const char *identity,
+                                Error **errp);
+
+
+#endif /* QAUTHZ_SIMPLE_H__ */
+
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 77bd98e20b..a948cacc07 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -4360,6 +4360,30 @@ e.g to launch a SEV guest
      .....
 
 @end example
+
+
+@item -object authz-simple,id=@var{id},identity=@var{string}
+
+Create an authorization object that will control access to network services.
+
+The @option{identity} parameter is identifies the user and its format
+depends on the network service that authorization object is associated
+with. For authorizing based on TLS x509 certificates, the identity must
+be the x509 distinguished name. Note that care must be taken to escape
+any commas in the distinguished name.
+
+An example authorization object to validate a x509 distinguished name
+would look like:
+@example
+ # $QEMU \
+     ...
+     -object 'authz-simple,id=auth0,identity=CN=laptop.example.com,,O=Example Org,,L=London,,ST=London,,C=GB' \
+     ...
+@end example
+
+Note the use of quotes due to the x509 distinguished name containing
+whitespace, and escaping of ','.
+
 @end table
 
 ETEXI
diff --git a/tests/Makefile.include b/tests/Makefile.include
index 3a6a8d4b17..df1cd255a9 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/Makefile.include
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ endif
 check-unit-y += tests/test-timed-average$(EXESUF)
 check-unit-$(CONFIG_INOTIFY1) += tests/test-util-filemonitor$(EXESUF)
 check-unit-y += tests/test-util-sockets$(EXESUF)
+check-unit-y += tests/test-authz-simple$(EXESUF)
 check-unit-y += tests/test-io-task$(EXESUF)
 check-unit-y += tests/test-io-channel-socket$(EXESUF)
 check-unit-y += tests/test-io-channel-file$(EXESUF)
@@ -536,6 +537,7 @@ test-qapi-obj-y = tests/test-qapi-visit.o tests/test-qapi-types.o \
 benchmark-crypto-obj-y = $(crypto-obj-y) $(test-qom-obj-y)
 test-crypto-obj-y = $(crypto-obj-y) $(test-qom-obj-y)
 test-io-obj-y = $(io-obj-y) $(test-crypto-obj-y)
+test-authz-obj-y = $(test-qom-obj-y) $(authz-obj-y)
 test-block-obj-y = $(block-obj-y) $(test-io-obj-y) tests/iothread.o
 
 tests/check-qnum$(EXESUF): tests/check-qnum.o $(test-util-obj-y)
@@ -662,6 +664,7 @@ tests/test-util-filemonitor$(EXESUF): tests/test-util-filemonitor.o \
 	$(test-util-obj-y)
 tests/test-util-sockets$(EXESUF): tests/test-util-sockets.o \
 	tests/socket-helpers.o $(test-util-obj-y)
+tests/test-authz-simple$(EXESUF): tests/test-authz-simple.o $(test-authz-obj-y)
 tests/test-io-task$(EXESUF): tests/test-io-task.o $(test-io-obj-y)
 tests/test-io-channel-socket$(EXESUF): tests/test-io-channel-socket.o \
         tests/io-channel-helpers.o tests/socket-helpers.o $(test-io-obj-y)
diff --git a/tests/test-authz-simple.c b/tests/test-authz-simple.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2cf14fb87e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-authz-simple.c
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/*
+ * QEMU simple authorization object testing
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 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 "qapi/error.h"
+
+#include "authz/simple.h"
+
+
+static void test_authz_simple(void)
+{
+    QAuthZSimple *authz = qauthz_simple_new("authz0",
+                                            "cthulu",
+                                            &error_abort);
+
+    g_assert(!qauthz_is_allowed(QAUTHZ(authz), "cthul", &error_abort));
+    g_assert(qauthz_is_allowed(QAUTHZ(authz), "cthulu", &error_abort));
+    g_assert(!qauthz_is_allowed(QAUTHZ(authz), "cthuluu", &error_abort));
+    g_assert(!qauthz_is_allowed(QAUTHZ(authz), "fred", &error_abort));
+
+    object_unparent(OBJECT(authz));
+}
+
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    g_test_init(&argc, &argv, NULL);
+    module_call_init(MODULE_INIT_QOM);
+
+    g_test_add_func("/authz/simple", test_authz_simple);
+
+    return g_test_run();
+}
