Null DACLs and Empty DACLs

Having a null discretionary access-control list (DACL) in the nTSecurityDescriptor attribute of any object can create a serious security risk. A null DACL grants full access to any user that requests it; normal security checking is not performed with respect to the object. A null DACL should not be confused with an empty DACL. An empty DACL is a properly allocated and initialized DACL containing no access-control entries (ACEs). An empty DACL grants no access to the object it is assigned to.

For more information, see Null DACLs and Empty DACLs.