Proposed is a Capability Management System (CMS) in a distributed computing environment that controls access to multiple objects by multiple subjects based upon a specified access order. A capability is dynamically constructed when the capability is needed. After the capability is used to access an object, a new capability is generated. In the alternative, multiple capabilities for enforcing an access order are generated independently of each other. The new capability is then employed by the same or another subject to access the object according to a prescribed access sequence. In this manner, at any particular time there is one capability valid to access the object by the appropriate subject. In addition, the capability includes information for verifying the authenticity of the capability and for specifying an expiration time associated with the cap ability. The technology may also be enhanced by providing a linkage between capabilities intended for use in a sequence.