Re: [PATCH] remove sys_security

From: Crispin Cowan (crispinat_private)
Date: Fri Oct 18 2002 - 00:04:00 PDT

  • Next message: Greg KH: "Re: [PATCH] remove sys_security"

    Christoph Hellwig wrote:
    
    >On Thu, Oct 17, 2002 at 01:10:31PM -0700, Greg KH wrote:
    >  
    >
    >>>>How would they be done differently now?  Multiple different syscalls?
    >>>>        
    >>>>
    >>>Yes.
    >>>      
    >>>
    >>Hm, in looking at the SELinux documentation, here's a list of the
    >>syscalls they need:
    >>	http://www.nsa.gov/selinux/docs2.html
    >>
    >>That's a lot of syscalls :)
    >>    
    >>
    >I know.  but hiding them doesn't make them any better..
    >
    Actuall, yes it does, and that is the point. You don't have to like 
    SELinux's system calls, or any other module's syscalls. The whole point 
    of LSM was to decouple security design from the Linux kernel development.
    
    There are a butt-load of different access control models, and many of 
    them are not compatible with one another. You wouldn't want to support 
    them all--that would be serious bloat. So instead, LSM lets each user 
    choose the model that suits them:
    
        * server users can choose a highly secure model
        * workstation users can choose something desktop oriented
        * embedded people can choose nothing at all, or the specific
          narrow-cast model that they need
    
    On the other hand: what is the big cost here? One system call. Isn't 
    that actually *lower* overhead than the (say) half dozen 
    security-oriented syscalls we might convince you to accept if we drop 
    the sys_security syscall as you suggest? Why the fierce desire to remove 
    something so cheap?
    
    Crispin
    
    -- 
    Crispin Cowan, Ph.D.
    Chief Scientist, WireX                      http://wirex.com/~crispin/
    Security Hardened Linux Distribution:       http://immunix.org
    Available for purchase: http://wirex.com/Products/Immunix/purchase.html
    
    
    
    

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