Re: [RFC] LSM changes for 2.5.38

From: Greg KH (gregat_private)
Date: Thu Sep 26 2002 - 13:28:44 PDT

  • Next message: Greg KH: "Re: [PATCH] accessfs v0.5 ported to LSM - 1/2"

    # This is a BitKeeper generated patch for the following project:
    # Project Name: Linux kernel tree
    # This patch format is intended for GNU patch command version 2.5 or higher.
    # This patch includes the following deltas:
    #	           ChangeSet	1.614   -> 1.615  
    #	Documentation/DocBook/kernel-api.tmpl	1.19    -> 1.20   
    #	Documentation/DocBook/Makefile	1.30    -> 1.31   
    #	               (new)	        -> 1.1     Documentation/DocBook/lsm.tmpl
    #
    # The following is the BitKeeper ChangeSet Log
    # --------------------------------------------
    # 02/09/26	gregat_private	1.615
    # LSM: added the LSM documentation to the tree.
    # --------------------------------------------
    #
    diff -Nru a/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile b/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile
    --- a/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile	Thu Sep 26 13:23:49 2002
    +++ b/Documentation/DocBook/Makefile	Thu Sep 26 13:23:49 2002
    @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
     	    kernel-locking.sgml via-audio.sgml mousedrivers.sgml \
     	    deviceiobook.sgml procfs-guide.sgml tulip-user.sgml \
     	    writing_usb_driver.sgml scsidrivers.sgml sis900.sgml \
    -	    kernel-api.sgml
    +	    kernel-api.sgml lsm.sgml
     
     ###
     # The build process is as follows (targets):
    diff -Nru a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-api.tmpl b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-api.tmpl
    --- a/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-api.tmpl	Thu Sep 26 13:23:49 2002
    +++ b/Documentation/DocBook/kernel-api.tmpl	Thu Sep 26 13:23:49 2002
    @@ -185,6 +185,11 @@
     !Efs/devfs/base.c
       </chapter>
     
    +  <chapter id="security">
    +     <title>Security Framework</title>
    +!Esecurity/security.c
    +  </chapter>
    +
       <chapter id="pmfuncs">
          <title>Power Management</title>
     !Ekernel/pm.c
    diff -Nru a/Documentation/DocBook/lsm.tmpl b/Documentation/DocBook/lsm.tmpl
    --- /dev/null	Wed Dec 31 16:00:00 1969
    +++ b/Documentation/DocBook/lsm.tmpl	Thu Sep 26 13:23:49 2002
    @@ -0,0 +1,285 @@
    +<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN"[]>
    +<article class="whitepaper" id="LinuxSecurityModule" lang="en">
    + <artheader>
    + <title>Linux Security Modules:  General Security Hooks for Linux</title>
    + <authorgroup>
    + <author>
    + <firstname>Stephen</firstname> 
    + <surname>Smalley</surname>
    + <affiliation>
    + <orgname>NAI Labs</orgname>
    + <address><email>ssmalleyat_private</email></address>
    + </affiliation>
    + </author>
    + <author>
    + <firstname>Timothy</firstname> 
    + <surname>Fraser</surname>
    + <affiliation>
    + <orgname>NAI Labs</orgname>
    + <address><email>tfraserat_private</email></address>
    + </affiliation>
    + </author>
    + <author>
    + <firstname>Chris</firstname> 
    + <surname>Vance</surname>
    + <affiliation>
    + <orgname>NAI Labs</orgname>
    + <address><email>cvanceat_private</email></address>
    + </affiliation>
    + </author>
    + </authorgroup
    + </artheader>
    +
    +<sect1><title>Introduction</title>
    +
    +<para>
    +In March 2001, the National Security Agency (NSA) gave a presentation
    +about Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) at the 2.5 Linux Kernel
    +Summit.  SELinux is an implementation of flexible and fine-grained
    +nondiscretionary access controls in the Linux kernel, originally
    +implemented as its own particular kernel patch.  Several other
    +security projects (e.g. RSBAC, Medusa) have also developed flexible
    +access control architectures for the Linux kernel, and various
    +projects have developed particular access control models for Linux
    +(e.g. LIDS, DTE, SubDomain).  Each project has developed and
    +maintained its own kernel patch to support its security needs.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +In response to the NSA presentation, Linus Torvalds made a set of
    +remarks that described a security framework he would be willing to
    +consider for inclusion in the mainstream Linux kernel.  He described a
    +general framework that would provide a set of security hooks to
    +control operations on kernel objects and a set of opaque security
    +fields in kernel data structures for maintaining security attributes.
    +This framework could then be used by loadable kernel modules to
    +implement any desired model of security.  Linus also suggested the
    +possibility of migrating the Linux capabilities code into such a
    +module.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +The Linux Security Modules (LSM) project was started by WireX to
    +develop such a framework.  LSM is a joint development effort by
    +several security projects, including Immunix, SELinux, SGI and Janus,
    +and several individuals, including Greg Kroah-Hartman and James
    +Morris, to develop a Linux kernel patch that implements this
    +framework.  The patch is currently tracking the 2.4 series and is
    +targeted for integration into the 2.5 development series.  This
    +technical report provides an overview of the framework and the example
    +capabilities security module provided by the LSM kernel patch.
    +</para>
    +
    +</sect1>
    +
    +<sect1 id="framework"><title>LSM Framework</title>
    +
    +<para>
    +The LSM kernel patch provides a general kernel framework to support
    +security modules.  In particular, the LSM framework is primarily
    +focused on supporting access control modules, although future
    +development is likely to address other security needs such as
    +auditing.  By itself, the framework does not provide any additional
    +security; it merely provides the infrastructure to support security
    +modules.  The LSM kernel patch also moves most of the capabilities
    +logic into an optional security module, with the system defaulting
    +to the traditional superuser logic.  This capabilities module
    +is discussed further in <XRef LinkEnd="cap">.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +The LSM kernel patch adds security fields to kernel data structures
    +and inserts calls to hook functions at critical points in the kernel
    +code to manage the security fields and to perform access control.  It
    +also adds functions for registering and unregistering security
    +modules, and adds a general <function>security</function> system call
    +to support new system calls for security-aware applications.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +The LSM security fields are simply <type>void*</type> pointers.  For
    +process and program execution security information, security fields
    +were added to <structname>struct task_struct</structname> and 
    +<structname>struct linux_binprm</structname>.  For filesystem security
    +information, a security field was added to 
    +<structname>struct super_block</structname>.  For pipe, file, and socket
    +security information, security fields were added to 
    +<structname>struct inode</structname> and 
    +<structname>struct file</structname>.  For packet and network device security
    +information, security fields were added to
    +<structname>struct sk_buff</structname> and
    +<structname>struct net_device</structname>.  For System V IPC security
    +information, security fields were added to
    +<structname>struct kern_ipc_perm</structname> and
    +<structname>struct msg_msg</structname>; additionally, the definitions
    +for <structname>struct msg_msg</structname>, <structname>struct 
    +msg_queue</structname>, and <structname>struct 
    +shmid_kernel</structname> were moved to header files
    +(<filename>include/linux/msg.h</filename> and
    +<filename>include/linux/shm.h</filename> as appropriate) to allow
    +the security modules to use these definitions.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +Each LSM hook is a function pointer in a global table,
    +security_ops. This table is a
    +<structname>security_operations</structname> structure as defined by
    +<filename>include/linux/security.h</filename>.  Detailed documentation
    +for each hook is included in this header file.  At present, this
    +structure consists of a collection of substructures that group related
    +hooks based on the kernel object (e.g. task, inode, file, sk_buff,
    +etc) as well as some top-level hook function pointers for system
    +operations.  This structure is likely to be flattened in the future
    +for performance.  The placement of the hook calls in the kernel code
    +is described by the "called:" lines in the per-hook documentation in
    +the header file.  The hook calls can also be easily found in the
    +kernel code by looking for the string "security_ops->".
    +
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +Linus mentioned per-process security hooks in his original remarks as a
    +possible alternative to global security hooks.  However, if LSM were
    +to start from the perspective of per-process hooks, then the base
    +framework would have to deal with how to handle operations that
    +involve multiple processes (e.g. kill), since each process might have
    +its own hook for controlling the operation.  This would require a
    +general mechanism for composing hooks in the base framework.
    +Additionally, LSM would still need global hooks for operations that
    +have no process context (e.g. network input operations).
    +Consequently, LSM provides global security hooks, but a security
    +module is free to implement per-process hooks (where that makes sense)
    +by storing a security_ops table in each process' security field and
    +then invoking these per-process hooks from the global hooks.
    +The problem of composition is thus deferred to the module.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +The global security_ops table is initialized to a set of hook
    +functions provided by a dummy security module that provides
    +traditional superuser logic.  A <function>register_security</function>
    +function (in <filename>security/security.c</filename>) is provided to
    +allow a security module to set security_ops to refer to its own hook
    +functions, and an <function>unregister_security</function> function is
    +provided to revert security_ops to the dummy module hooks.  This
    +mechanism is used to set the primary security module, which is
    +responsible for making the final decision for each hook.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +LSM also provides a simple mechanism for stacking additional security
    +modules with the primary security module.  It defines
    +<function>register_security</function> and
    +<function>unregister_security</function> hooks in the
    +<structname>security_operations</structname> structure and provides
    +<function>mod_reg_security</function> and
    +<function>mod_unreg_security</function> functions that invoke these
    +hooks after performing some sanity checking.  A security module can
    +call these functions in order to stack with other modules.  However,
    +the actual details of how this stacking is handled are deferred to the
    +module, which can implement these hooks in any way it wishes
    +(including always returning an error if it does not wish to support
    +stacking).  In this manner, LSM again defers the problem of
    +composition to the module.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +Although the LSM hooks are organized into substructures based on
    +kernel object, all of the hooks can be viewed as falling into two
    +major categories: hooks that are used to manage the security fields
    +and hooks that are used to perform access control.  Examples of the
    +first category of hooks include the
    +<function>alloc_security</function> and
    +<function>free_security</function> hooks defined for each kernel data
    +structure that has a security field.  These hooks are used to allocate
    +and free security structures for kernel objects.  The first category
    +of hooks also includes hooks that set information in the security
    +field after allocation, such as the <function>post_lookup</function>
    +hook in <structname>struct inode_security_ops</structname>.  This hook
    +is used to set security information for inodes after successful lookup
    +operations.  An example of the second category of hooks is the
    +<function>permission</function> hook in 
    +<structname>struct inode_security_ops</structname>.  This hook checks
    +permission when accessing an inode.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +LSM adds a general <function>security</function> system call that
    +simply invokes the <function>sys_security</function> hook.  This
    +system call and hook permits security modules to implement new system
    +calls for security-aware applications.  The interface is similar to
    +socketcall, but also has an <parameter>id</parameter> to help identify
    +the security module whose call is being invoked.  
    +To eliminate the need for a central registry of ids,
    +the recommended convention for creating the hexadecimal id value is:
    +<programlisting>
    +<![CDATA[
    + echo "Name_of_module" | md5sum | cut -c -8
    +]]>
    +</programlisting>
    +C code will need to prefix this result with ``0x''.
    +For example, the id for ``SGI Trusted Linux'' could be used in C as:
    +<programlisting>
    +<![CDATA[
    + #define SYS_SECURITY_MODID 0xc4c7be22
    +]]>
    +</programlisting>
    +</para>
    +
    +</sect1>
    +
    +<sect1 id="cap"><title>LSM Capabilities Module</title>
    +
    +<para>
    +The LSM kernel patch moves most of the existing POSIX.1e capabilities
    +logic into an optional security module stored in the file
    +<filename>security/capability.c</filename>.  This change allows
    +users who do not want to use capabilities to omit this code entirely
    +from their kernel, instead using the dummy module for traditional
    +superuser logic or any other module that they desire.  This change
    +also allows the developers of the capabilities logic to maintain and
    +enhance their code more freely, without needing to integrate patches
    +back into the base kernel.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +In addition to moving the capabilities logic, the LSM kernel patch
    +could move the capability-related fields from the kernel data
    +structures into the new security fields managed by the security
    +modules.  However, at present, the LSM kernel patch leaves the
    +capability fields in the kernel data structures.  In his original
    +remarks, Linus suggested that this might be preferable so that other
    +security modules can be easily stacked with the capabilities module
    +without needing to chain multiple security structures on the security field.
    +It also avoids imposing extra overhead on the capabilities module
    +to manage the security fields.  However, the LSM framework could
    +certainly support such a move if it is determined to be desirable,
    +with only a few additional changes described below.
    +</para>
    +
    +<para>
    +At present, the capabilities logic for computing process capabilities
    +on <function>execve</function> and <function>set*uid</function>,
    +checking capabilities for a particular process, saving and checking
    +capabilities for netlink messages, and handling the
    +<function>capget</function> and <function>capset</function> system
    +calls have been moved into the capabilities module.  There are still a
    +few locations in the base kernel where capability-related fields are
    +directly examined or modified, but the current version of the LSM
    +patch does allow a security module to completely replace the
    +assignment and testing of capabilities.  These few locations would
    +need to be changed if the capability-related fields were moved into
    +the security field.  The following is a list of known locations that
    +still perform such direct examination or modification of
    +capability-related fields:
    +<itemizedlist>
    +<listitem><para><filename>fs/open.c</filename>:<function>sys_access</function></para></listitem>
    +<listitem><para><filename>fs/lockd/host.c</filename>:<function>nlm_bind_host</function></para></listitem>
    +<listitem><para><filename>fs/nfsd/auth.c</filename>:<function>nfsd_setuser</function></para></listitem>
    +<listitem><para><filename>fs/proc/array.c</filename>:<function>task_cap</function></para></listitem>
    +</itemizedlist>
    +</para>
    +
    +</sect1>
    +
    +</article>
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