Index: src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
+++ src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
           m_supportsDeleting(false),
           m_supportsWriting(false),
           m_supportsMoving(false),
+          m_supportsPrivilegeExec(false),
           m_isLocal(true)
     { }
     void setItems(const KFileItemList &items);
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@
     bool m_supportsDeleting : 1;
     bool m_supportsWriting : 1;
     bool m_supportsMoving : 1;
+    bool m_supportsPrivilegeExec : 1;
     bool m_isLocal : 1;
 };
 
@@ -88,9 +90,10 @@
     foreach (const KFileItem &item, items) {
         const QUrl url = item.url();
         m_isLocal = m_isLocal && url.isLocalFile();
+        m_supportsPrivilegeExec = KProtocolManager::supportsPrivilegeExecution(url);
         m_supportsReading  = m_supportsReading  && KProtocolManager::supportsReading(url);
         m_supportsDeleting = m_supportsDeleting && KProtocolManager::supportsDeleting(url);
-        m_supportsWriting  = m_supportsWriting  && KProtocolManager::supportsWriting(url) && item.isWritable();
+        m_supportsWriting  = m_supportsWriting  && KProtocolManager::supportsWriting(url) && (m_supportsPrivilegeExec || item.isWritable());
         m_supportsMoving   = m_supportsMoving   && KProtocolManager::supportsMoving(url);
 
         // For local files we can do better: check if we have write permission in parent directory
@@ -101,7 +104,7 @@
             if (parentDirInfo.filePath() != directory) {
                 parentDirInfo.setFile(directory);
             }
-            if (!parentDirInfo.isWritable()) {
+            if (!parentDirInfo.isWritable() && !m_supportsPrivilegeExec) {
                 m_supportsDeleting = false;
                 m_supportsMoving = false;
             }
Index: src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
+++ src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
@@ -27,15 +27,13 @@
 #include <kconfiggroup.h>
 #include <QUrl>
 #include <KPluginMetaData>
-
 //
 // Internal functions:
 //
 KProtocolInfoPrivate::KProtocolInfoPrivate(const QString &path)
 {
     KConfig sconfig(path, KConfig::SimpleConfig);
     KConfigGroup config(&sconfig, "Protocol");
-
     m_name = config.readEntry("protocol");
     m_exec = config.readPathEntry("exec", QString());
     m_isSourceProtocol = config.readEntry("source", true);
@@ -52,6 +50,7 @@
     m_canRenameFromFile = config.readEntry("renameFromFile", false);
     m_canRenameToFile = config.readEntry("renameToFile", false);
     m_canDeleteRecursive = config.readEntry("deleteRecursive", false);
+    m_supportsPrivilegeExecution = config.readEntry("privilegeExecution", false);
     const QString fnu = config.readEntry("fileNameUsedForCopying", "FromURL");
     m_fileNameUsedForCopying = KProtocolInfo::FromUrl;
     if (fnu == QLatin1String("Name")) {
@@ -141,6 +140,7 @@
     m_canRenameFromFile = json.value(QStringLiteral("renameFromFile")).toBool();
     m_canRenameToFile = json.value(QStringLiteral("renameToFile")).toBool();
     m_canDeleteRecursive = json.value(QStringLiteral("deleteRecursive")).toBool();
+    m_supportsPrivilegeExecution = json.value(QStringLiteral("privilegeExecution")).toBool();
 
     // default is "FromURL"
     const QString fnu = json.value(QStringLiteral("fileNameUsedForCopying")).toString();
Index: src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
===================================================================
--- src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
+++ src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
     bool m_supportsLinking : 1;
     bool m_supportsMoving : 1;
     bool m_supportsOpening : 1;
+    bool m_supportsPrivilegeExecution : 1;
     bool m_determineMimetypeFromExtension : 1;
     bool m_canCopyFromFile : 1;
     bool m_canCopyToFile : 1;
Index: src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
===================================================================
--- src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
+++ src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
@@ -468,6 +468,17 @@
     static bool supportsOpening(const QUrl &url);
 
     /**
+     * Returns whether the protocol can modify file system with elevated privileges.
+     *
+     * This corresponds to the "privilegeExecution=" field in the protocol description
+     * file. Valid values for this field are "true" or "false" (default).
+     *
+     * @param url the url to check
+     * @return true if protocol supports privilege execution
+     */
+    static bool supportsPrivilegeExecution(const QUrl &url);
+
+    /**
      * Returns whether the protocol can copy files/objects directly from the
      * filesystem itself. If not, the application will read files from the
      * filesystem using the file-protocol and pass the data on to the destination
Index: src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
===================================================================
--- src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
+++ src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
@@ -1233,6 +1233,16 @@
     return prot->m_supportsOpening;
 }
 
+bool KProtocolManager::supportsPrivilegeExecution(const QUrl &url)
+{
+    KProtocolInfoPrivate *prot = findProtocol(url);
+    if (!prot) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return prot->m_supportsPrivilegeExecution;
+}
+
 bool KProtocolManager::canCopyFromFile(const QUrl &url)
 {
     KProtocolInfoPrivate *prot = findProtocol(url);
Index: src/ioslaves/file/file.json
===================================================================
--- src/ioslaves/file/file.json
+++ src/ioslaves/file/file.json
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@
             "output": "filesystem", 
             "protocol": "file", 
             "reading": true, 
-            "writing": true
+            "writing": true,
+            "privilegeExecution": true
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}