Replace `is_super_admin()` with `current_user_can( 'manage_options' )` in wp-admin/network.php

[ashokkumar24]

This is part of the #37616 task. There is 1 is_super_admin() check in wp-admin/network.php that should be replaced with current_user_can( 'manage_options' ).

[flixos90]

Thanks for the patch @ashokkumar24! You are using the manage_network capability there although it should be manage_options (see "Ticket 15" in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/37616#comment:28 for reference) - could you update the patch accordingly?

[ashokkumar24]

Hi @flixos90,

I have updated the patch. Please find the attachment.

[flixos90]

Thanks @ashokkumar24!

[flixos90]

I noticed that we might need to rethink our actions here. With the current patch, the capability required is always manage_options. That means when a user on an already-setup multisite tries to access wp-admin/network/setup.php, they can do so even if they are not a network administrator. So we need to change the check the following way:

• If a multisite, the user must have manage_network.
• If not a multisite, the user must have manage_options.

There's a small room for discussion on how we implement this. I see two possible ways:

• Just make the clause a little more complex (as in is_multisite() && ! current_user_can( 'manage_network' ) || ! is_multisite() && ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' )).
• Introduce a meta capability setup_network and handle the above check in map_meta_cap().

I think the latter approach would be cleaner. Just as a reminder, we would need to add the new meta capability to the unit tests as well.

[johnbillion]

I'd prefer a setup_network meta capability (handled in map_meta_cap()) which maps to the logic you mentioned.

Needs a patch, and the cap needs adding to Tests_User_Capabilities::_getSingleSiteMetaCaps() and Tests_User_Capabilities::_getMultiSiteMetaCaps().

[flixos90]

39206.diff​ introduces a setup_network cap as discussed. In single site, it falls back to manage_options; in multisite, it falls back to manage_network_options. While I originally proposed manage_network as fallback, manage_network_options is a better choice since that has been previously used as a capability for the menu item in multisite and aligns better with the single site fallback.

[flixos90]

Adding needs-dev-note since this is a new capability that should be documented in the multisite dev note for 4.8.

[flixos90]

In 40390:

Multisite: Introduce a setup_network capability for setting up multisite.

setup_network is a new meta capability that brings more granular control over the permissions to setup a multisite environment. In a non-multisite environment it falls back to manage_options while in a multisite it falls back to manage_network_options. The introduction of this capability furthermore allows replacing an is_super_admin() check.

Props ashokkumar24 for the original patch.
Fixes #39206. See #37616.

[desrosj]

This was detailed in the following dev note: ​https://make.wordpress.org/core/2017/05/22/multisite-focused-changes-in-4-8/