fix:(palm) limited staff cohorts and gradebook access [BB-7962]

common/djangoapps/student/auth.py

@@ -93,9 +93,16 @@ def get_user_permissions(user, course_key, org=None):
         return all_perms
     if course_key and user_has_role(user, CourseInstructorRole(course_key)):
         return all_perms
-    # Limited Course Staff does not have access to Studio.
+    # HACK: Limited Staff should not have studio read access. However, since many LMS views depend on the
+    #  `has_course_author_access` check and `course_author_access_required` decorator, we have to allow write access
+    #  until the permissions become more granular. For example, there could be STUDIO_VIEW_COHORTS and
+    #  STUDIO_EDIT_COHORTS specifically for the cohorts endpoint, which is used to display the "Cohorts" tab of the
+    #  Instructor Dashboard.
+    #  The permissions matrix from the RBAC project (https://github.com/openedx/platform-roadmap/issues/246) shows that
+    #  the LMS and Studio permissions will be separated as a part of this project. Once this is done (and this code is
+    #  not removed during its implementation), we can replace the Limited Staff permissions with more granular ones.
     if course_key and user_has_role(user, CourseLimitedStaffRole(course_key)):
-        return STUDIO_NO_PERMISSIONS
+        return STUDIO_EDIT_CONTENT
     # Staff have all permissions except EDIT_ROLES:
     if OrgStaffRole(org=org).has_user(user) or (course_key and user_has_role(user, CourseStaffRole(course_key))):
         return STUDIO_VIEW_USERS | STUDIO_EDIT_CONTENT | STUDIO_VIEW_CONTENT

common/djangoapps/student/tests/test_authz.py

@@ -285,14 +285,14 @@ def test_remove_user_from_course_group_permission_denied(self):
         with pytest.raises(PermissionDenied):
             remove_users(self.staff, CourseStaffRole(self.course_key), another_staff)
 
-    def test_no_limited_staff_read_or_write_access(self):
+    def test_limited_staff_no_studio_read_access(self):
         """
-        Test that course limited staff have no read or write access.
+        Verifies that course limited staff have no read, but have write access.
         """
         add_users(self.global_admin, CourseLimitedStaffRole(self.course_key), self.limited_staff)
 
         assert not has_studio_read_access(self.limited_staff, self.course_key)
-        assert not has_studio_write_access(self.limited_staff, self.course_key)
+        assert has_studio_write_access(self.limited_staff, self.course_key)
 
 
 class CourseOrgGroupTest(TestCase):