diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/Smack.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/Smack.txt | 493 |
1 files changed, 493 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/Smack.txt b/Documentation/Smack.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..989c2fcd811 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/Smack.txt @@ -0,0 +1,493 @@ + + + "Good for you, you've decided to clean the elevator!" + - The Elevator, from Dark Star + +Smack is the the Simplified Mandatory Access Control Kernel. +Smack is a kernel based implementation of mandatory access +control that includes simplicity in its primary design goals. + +Smack is not the only Mandatory Access Control scheme +available for Linux. Those new to Mandatory Access Control +are encouraged to compare Smack with the other mechanisms +available to determine which is best suited to the problem +at hand. + +Smack consists of three major components: + - The kernel + - A start-up script and a few modified applications + - Configuration data + +The kernel component of Smack is implemented as a Linux +Security Modules (LSM) module. It requires netlabel and +works best with file systems that support extended attributes, +although xattr support is not strictly required. +It is safe to run a Smack kernel under a "vanilla" distribution. +Smack kernels use the CIPSO IP option. Some network +configurations are intolerant of IP options and can impede +access to systems that use them as Smack does. + +The startup script etc-init.d-smack should be installed +in /etc/init.d/smack and should be invoked early in the +start-up process. On Fedora rc5.d/S02smack is recommended. +This script ensures that certain devices have the correct +Smack attributes and loads the Smack configuration if +any is defined. This script invokes two programs that +ensure configuration data is properly formatted. These +programs are /usr/sbin/smackload and /usr/sin/smackcipso. +The system will run just fine without these programs, +but it will be difficult to set access rules properly. + +A version of "ls" that provides a "-M" option to display +Smack labels on long listing is available. + +A hacked version of sshd that allows network logins by users +with specific Smack labels is available. This version does +not work for scp. You must set the /etc/ssh/sshd_config +line: + UsePrivilegeSeparation no + +The format of /etc/smack/usr is: + + username smack + +In keeping with the intent of Smack, configuration data is +minimal and not strictly required. The most important +configuration step is mounting the smackfs pseudo filesystem. + +Add this line to /etc/fstab: + + smackfs /smack smackfs smackfsdef=* 0 0 + +and create the /smack directory for mounting. + +Smack uses extended attributes (xattrs) to store file labels. +The command to set a Smack label on a file is: + + # attr -S -s SMACK64 -V "value" path + +NOTE: Smack labels are limited to 23 characters. The attr command + does not enforce this restriction and can be used to set + invalid Smack labels on files. + +If you don't do anything special all users will get the floor ("_") +label when they log in. If you do want to log in via the hacked ssh +at other labels use the attr command to set the smack value on the +home directory and it's contents. + +You can add access rules in /etc/smack/accesses. They take the form: + + subjectlabel objectlabel access + +access is a combination of the letters rwxa which specify the +kind of access permitted a subject with subjectlabel on an +object with objectlabel. If there is no rule no access is allowed. + +A process can see the smack label it is running with by +reading /proc/self/attr/current. A privileged process can +set the process smack by writing there. + +Look for additional programs on http://schaufler-ca.com + +From the Smack Whitepaper: + +The Simplified Mandatory Access Control Kernel + +Casey Schaufler +casey@schaufler-ca.com + +Mandatory Access Control + +Computer systems employ a variety of schemes to constrain how information is +shared among the people and services using the machine. Some of these schemes +allow the program or user to decide what other programs or users are allowed +access to pieces of data. These schemes are called discretionary access +control mechanisms because the access control is specified at the discretion +of the user. Other schemes do not leave the decision regarding what a user or +program can access up to users or programs. These schemes are called mandatory +access control mechanisms because you don't have a choice regarding the users +or programs that have access to pieces of data. + +Bell & LaPadula + +From the middle of the 1980's until the turn of the century Mandatory Access +Control (MAC) was very closely associated with the Bell & LaPadula security +model, a mathematical description of the United States Department of Defense +policy for marking paper documents. MAC in this form enjoyed a following +within the Capital Beltway and Scandinavian supercomputer centers but was +often sited as failing to address general needs. + +Domain Type Enforcement + +Around the turn of the century Domain Type Enforcement (DTE) became popular. +This scheme organizes users, programs, and data into domains that are +protected from each other. This scheme has been widely deployed as a component +of popular Linux distributions. The administrative overhead required to +maintain this scheme and the detailed understanding of the whole system +necessary to provide a secure domain mapping leads to the scheme being +disabled or used in limited ways in the majority of cases. + +Smack + +Smack is a Mandatory Access Control mechanism designed to provide useful MAC +while avoiding the pitfalls of its predecessors. The limitations of Bell & +LaPadula are addressed by providing a scheme whereby access can be controlled +according to the requirements of the system and its purpose rather than those +imposed by an arcane government policy. The complexity of Domain Type +Enforcement and avoided by defining access controls in terms of the access +modes already in use. + +Smack Terminology + +The jargon used to talk about Smack will be familiar to those who have dealt +with other MAC systems and shouldn't be too difficult for the uninitiated to +pick up. There are four terms that are used in a specific way and that are +especially important: + + Subject: A subject is an active entity on the computer system. + On Smack a subject is a task, which is in turn the basic unit + of execution. + + Object: An object is a passive entity on the computer system. + On Smack files of all types, IPC, and tasks can be objects. + + Access: Any attempt by a subject to put information into or get + information from an object is an access. + + Label: Data that identifies the Mandatory Access Control + characteristics of a subject or an object. + +These definitions are consistent with the traditional use in the security +community. There are also some terms from Linux that are likely to crop up: + + Capability: A task that possesses a capability has permission to + violate an aspect of the system security policy, as identified by + the specific capability. A task that possesses one or more + capabilities is a privileged task, whereas a task with no + capabilities is an unprivileged task. + + Privilege: A task that is allowed to violate the system security + policy is said to have privilege. As of this writing a task can + have privilege either by possessing capabilities or by having an + effective user of root. + +Smack Basics + +Smack is an extension to a Linux system. It enforces additional restrictions +on what subjects can access which objects, based on the labels attached to +each of the subject and the object. + +Labels + +Smack labels are ASCII character strings, one to twenty-three characters in +length. Single character labels using special characters, that being anything +other than a letter or digit, are reserved for use by the Smack development +team. Smack labels are unstructured, case sensitive, and the only operation +ever performed on them is comparison for equality. Smack labels cannot +contain unprintable characters or the "/" (slash) character. + +There are some predefined labels: + + _ Pronounced "floor", a single underscore character. + ^ Pronounced "hat", a single circumflex character. + * Pronounced "star", a single asterisk character. + ? Pronounced "huh", a single question mark character. + +Every task on a Smack system is assigned a label. System tasks, such as +init(8) and systems daemons, are run with the floor ("_") label. User tasks +are assigned labels according to the specification found in the +/etc/smack/user configuration file. + +Access Rules + +Smack uses the traditional access modes of Linux. These modes are read, +execute, write, and occasionally append. There are a few cases where the +access mode may not be obvious. These include: + + Signals: A signal is a write operation from the subject task to + the object task. + Internet Domain IPC: Transmission of a packet is considered a + write operation from the source task to the destination task. + +Smack restricts access based on the label attached to a subject and the label +attached to the object it is trying to access. The rules enforced are, in +order: + + 1. Any access requested by a task labeled "*" is denied. + 2. A read or execute access requested by a task labeled "^" + is permitted. + 3. A read or execute access requested on an object labeled "_" + is permitted. + 4. Any access requested on an object labeled "*" is permitted. + 5. Any access requested by a task on an object with the same + label is permitted. + 6. Any access requested that is explicitly defined in the loaded + rule set is permitted. + 7. Any other access is denied. + +Smack Access Rules + +With the isolation provided by Smack access separation is simple. There are +many interesting cases where limited access by subjects to objects with +different labels is desired. One example is the familiar spy model of +sensitivity, where a scientist working on a highly classified project would be +able to read documents of lower classifications and anything she writes will +be "born" highly classified. To accommodate such schemes Smack includes a +mechanism for specifying rules allowing access between labels. + +Access Rule Format + +The format of an access rule is: + + subject-label object-label access + +Where subject-label is the Smack label of the task, object-label is the Smack +label of the thing being accessed, and access is a string specifying the sort +of access allowed. The Smack labels are limited to 23 characters. The access +specification is searched for letters that describe access modes: + + a: indicates that append access should be granted. + r: indicates that read access should be granted. + w: indicates that write access should be granted. + x: indicates that execute access should be granted. + +Uppercase values for the specification letters are allowed as well. +Access mode specifications can be in any order. Examples of acceptable rules +are: + + TopSecret Secret rx + Secret Unclass R + Manager Game x + User HR w + New Old rRrRr + Closed Off - + +Examples of unacceptable rules are: + + Top Secret Secret rx + Ace Ace r + Odd spells waxbeans + +Spaces are not allowed in labels. Since a subject always has access to files +with the same label specifying a rule for that case is pointless. Only +valid letters (rwxaRWXA) and the dash ('-') character are allowed in +access specifications. The dash is a placeholder, so "a-r" is the same +as "ar". A lone dash is used to specify that no access should be allowed. + +Applying Access Rules + +The developers of Linux rarely define new sorts of things, usually importing +schemes and concepts from other systems. Most often, the other systems are +variants of Unix. Unix has many endearing properties, but consistency of +access control models is not one of them. Smack strives to treat accesses as +uniformly as is sensible while keeping with the spirit of the underlying +mechanism. + +File system objects including files, directories, named pipes, symbolic links, +and devices require access permissions that closely match those used by mode +bit access. To open a file for reading read access is required on the file. To +search a directory requires execute access. Creating a file with write access +requires both read and write access on the containing directory. Deleting a +file requires read and write access to the file and to the containing +directory. It is possible that a user may be able to see that a file exists +but not any of its attributes by the circumstance of having read access to the +containing directory but not to the differently labeled file. This is an +artifact of the file name being data in the directory, not a part of the file. + +IPC objects, message queues, semaphore sets, and memory segments exist in flat +namespaces and access requests are only required to match the object in +question. + +Process objects reflect tasks on the system and the Smack label used to access +them is the same Smack label that the task would use for its own access +attempts. Sending a signal via the kill() system call is a write operation +from the signaler to the recipient. Debugging a process requires both reading +and writing. Creating a new task is an internal operation that results in two +tasks with identical Smack labels and requires no access checks. + +Sockets are data structures attached to processes and sending a packet from +one process to another requires that the sender have write access to the +receiver. The receiver is not required to have read access to the sender. + +Setting Access Rules + +The configuration file /etc/smack/accesses contains the rules to be set at +system startup. The contents are written to the special file /smack/load. +Rules can be written to /smack/load at any time and take effect immediately. +For any pair of subject and object labels there can be only one rule, with the +most recently specified overriding any earlier specification. + +The program smackload is provided to ensure data is formatted +properly when written to /smack/load. This program reads lines +of the form + + subjectlabel objectlabel mode. + +Task Attribute + +The Smack label of a process can be read from /proc/<pid>/attr/current. A +process can read its own Smack label from /proc/self/attr/current. A +privileged process can change its own Smack label by writing to +/proc/self/attr/current but not the label of another process. + +File Attribute + +The Smack label of a filesystem object is stored as an extended attribute +named SMACK64 on the file. This attribute is in the security namespace. It can +only be changed by a process with privilege. + +Privilege + +A process with CAP_MAC_OVERRIDE is privileged. + +Smack Networking + +As mentioned before, Smack enforces access control on network protocol +transmissions. Every packet sent by a Smack process is tagged with its Smack +label. This is done by adding a CIPSO tag to the header of the IP packet. Each +packet received is expected to have a CIPSO tag that identifies the label and +if it lacks such a tag the network ambient label is assumed. Before the packet +is delivered a check is made to determine that a subject with the label on the +packet has write access to the receiving process and if that is not the case +the packet is dropped. + +CIPSO Configuration + +It is normally unnecessary to specify the CIPSO configuration. The default +values used by the system handle all internal cases. Smack will compose CIPSO +label values to match the Smack labels being used without administrative +intervention. Unlabeled packets that come into the system will be given the +ambient label. + +Smack requires configuration in the case where packets from a system that is +not smack that speaks CIPSO may be encountered. Usually this will be a Trusted +Solaris system, but there are other, less widely deployed systems out there. +CIPSO provides 3 important values, a Domain Of Interpretation (DOI), a level, +and a category set with each packet. The DOI is intended to identify a group +of systems that use compatible labeling schemes, and the DOI specified on the +smack system must match that of the remote system or packets will be +discarded. The DOI is 3 by default. The value can be read from /smack/doi and +can be changed by writing to /smack/doi. + +The label and category set are mapped to a Smack label as defined in +/etc/smack/cipso. + +A Smack/CIPSO mapping has the form: + + smack level [category [category]*] + +Smack does not expect the level or category sets to be related in any +particular way and does not assume or assign accesses based on them. Some +examples of mappings: + + TopSecret 7 + TS:A,B 7 1 2 + SecBDE 5 2 4 6 + RAFTERS 7 12 26 + +The ":" and "," characters are permitted in a Smack label but have no special +meaning. + +The mapping of Smack labels to CIPSO values is defined by writing to +/smack/cipso. Again, the format of data written to this special file +is highly restrictive, so the program smackcipso is provided to +ensure the writes are done properly. This program takes mappings +on the standard input and sends them to /smack/cipso properly. + +In addition to explicit mappings Smack supports direct CIPSO mappings. One +CIPSO level is used to indicate that the category set passed in the packet is +in fact an encoding of the Smack label. The level used is 250 by default. The +value can be read from /smack/direct and changed by writing to /smack/direct. + +Socket Attributes + +There are two attributes that are associated with sockets. These attributes +can only be set by privileged tasks, but any task can read them for their own +sockets. + + SMACK64IPIN: The Smack label of the task object. A privileged + program that will enforce policy may set this to the star label. + + SMACK64IPOUT: The Smack label transmitted with outgoing packets. + A privileged program may set this to match the label of another + task with which it hopes to communicate. + +Writing Applications for Smack + +There are three sorts of applications that will run on a Smack system. How an +application interacts with Smack will determine what it will have to do to +work properly under Smack. + +Smack Ignorant Applications + +By far the majority of applications have no reason whatever to care about the +unique properties of Smack. Since invoking a program has no impact on the +Smack label associated with the process the only concern likely to arise is +whether the process has execute access to the program. + +Smack Relevant Applications + +Some programs can be improved by teaching them about Smack, but do not make +any security decisions themselves. The utility ls(1) is one example of such a +program. + +Smack Enforcing Applications + +These are special programs that not only know about Smack, but participate in +the enforcement of system policy. In most cases these are the programs that +set up user sessions. There are also network services that provide information +to processes running with various labels. + +File System Interfaces + +Smack maintains labels on file system objects using extended attributes. The +Smack label of a file, directory, or other file system object can be obtained +using getxattr(2). + + len = getxattr("/", "security.SMACK64", value, sizeof (value)); + +will put the Smack label of the root directory into value. A privileged +process can set the Smack label of a file system object with setxattr(2). + + len = strlen("Rubble"); + rc = setxattr("/foo", "security.SMACK64", "Rubble", len, 0); + +will set the Smack label of /foo to "Rubble" if the program has appropriate +privilege. + +Socket Interfaces + +The socket attributes can be read using fgetxattr(2). + +A privileged process can set the Smack label of outgoing packets with +fsetxattr(2). + + len = strlen("Rubble"); + rc = fsetxattr(fd, "security.SMACK64IPOUT", "Rubble", len, 0); + +will set the Smack label "Rubble" on packets going out from the socket if the +program has appropriate privilege. + + rc = fsetxattr(fd, "security.SMACK64IPIN, "*", strlen("*"), 0); + +will set the Smack label "*" as the object label against which incoming +packets will be checked if the program has appropriate privilege. + +Administration + +Smack supports some mount options: + + smackfsdef=label: specifies the label to give files that lack + the Smack label extended attribute. + + smackfsroot=label: specifies the label to assign the root of the + file system if it lacks the Smack extended attribute. + + smackfshat=label: specifies a label that must have read access to + all labels set on the filesystem. Not yet enforced. + + smackfsfloor=label: specifies a label to which all labels set on the + filesystem must have read access. Not yet enforced. + +These mount options apply to all file system types. + |