This past week at the SQL Server Connections Conference in Las Vegas, I was asked about the permissions required for managing Extended Event Sessions in SQL Server.  In SQL Server 2008 and 2008R2, using Extended Events required the CONTROL SERVER permission for the instance of SQL Server (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677289(v=sql.105).aspx).  In SQL Server 2012, a much more granular permission is required, ALTER ANY EVENT SESSION (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677289.aspx) which reduces the level of access that you have to provide to end users that need to use an Extended Event Session.  What is even better is that you can attach this permission set to a Custom Server Role (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee677610(v=sql.110).aspx), to apply it to end users in a much easier to implement method than having to manually add the ALTER ANY EVENT SESSION to the login when it is created.