Automatically discovering attribute permissions is provided. A profile indicating a set of attributes that can be converted into permissions for a new target instance is provided. In response to detecting that the new target instance is being added, a convertible set of attributes for the new target instance is searched for based on the profile. Search results for the convertible set of attributes are displayed. Ones of the convertible set of attributes are selected as a set of attribute permissions for the new target instance for access control to the new target instance.