It's a standard OS X authentication API. The overview of the authorization stuff is discussed in: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Securit

It's a standard OS X authentication API. The overview of the authorization stuff is discussed in: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Security/Conceptual/authorization_concepts/01introduction/introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30000995 https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Securi... If you look under "Authorization Services Tasks" you'll see there's details about calling a privileged installer.