diff --git a/src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp b/src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
--- a/src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
+++ b/src/core/kfileitemlistproperties.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
           m_supportsDeleting(false),
           m_supportsWriting(false),
           m_supportsMoving(false),
+          m_supportsPrivilegeExecution(false),
           m_isLocal(true)
     { }
     void setItems(const KFileItemList &items);
@@ -52,6 +53,7 @@
     bool m_supportsDeleting : 1;
     bool m_supportsWriting : 1;
     bool m_supportsMoving : 1;
+    bool m_supportsPrivilegeExecution : 1;
     bool m_isLocal : 1;
 };
 
@@ -90,9 +92,10 @@
         bool isLocal = false;
         const QUrl url = item.mostLocalUrl(&isLocal);
         m_isLocal = m_isLocal && isLocal;
+        m_supportsPrivilegeExecution = 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_supportsPrivilegeExecution ||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
@@ -103,7 +106,7 @@
             if (parentDirInfo.filePath() != directory) {
                 parentDirInfo.setFile(directory);
             }
-            if (!parentDirInfo.isWritable()) {
+            if (!parentDirInfo.isWritable() && !m_supportsPrivilegeExecution)) {
                 m_supportsDeleting = false;
                 m_supportsMoving = false;
             }
diff --git a/src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp b/src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
--- a/src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/core/kprotocolinfo.cpp
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
     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")) {
@@ -143,6 +144,7 @@
     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();
diff --git a/src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h b/src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
--- a/src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
+++ b/src/core/kprotocolinfo_p.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
     bool m_canRenameFromFile : 1;
     bool m_canRenameToFile : 1;
     bool m_canDeleteRecursive : 1;
+    bool m_supportsPrivilegeExecution : 1;
     QString m_defaultMimetype;
     QString m_icon;
     QString m_config;
diff --git a/src/core/kprotocolmanager.h b/src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
--- a/src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
+++ b/src/core/kprotocolmanager.h
@@ -640,6 +640,18 @@
      * @since 4.1
      */
     static QString protocolForArchiveMimetype(const QString &mimeType);
+    
+    /**
+     * 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
+     * @since 5.70
+     */
+    static bool supportsPrivilegeExecution(const QUrl &url);
 
     /*=============================== OTHERS ====================================*/
 
diff --git a/src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp b/src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
--- a/src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
+++ b/src/core/kprotocolmanager.cpp
@@ -1233,6 +1233,16 @@
     return prot->m_supportsTruncating;
 }
 
+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);
diff --git a/src/ioslaves/file/file.json b/src/ioslaves/file/file.json
--- a/src/ioslaves/file/file.json
+++ b/src/ioslaves/file/file.json
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@
             "output": "filesystem", 
             "protocol": "file", 
             "reading": true, 
-            "writing": true
+            "writing": true,
+            "privilegeExecution": true
         }
     }
 }