Smack: Bring-up access mode
People keep asking me for permissive mode, and I keep saying "no".
Permissive mode is wrong for more reasons than I can enumerate,
but the compelling one is that it's once on, never off.
Nonetheless, there is an argument to be made for running a
process with lots of permissions, logging which are required,
and then locking the process down. There wasn't a way to do
that with Smack, but this provides it.
The notion is that you start out by giving the process an
appropriate Smack label, such as "ATBirds". You create rules
with a wide range of access and the "b" mode. On Tizen it
might be:
ATBirds System rwxalb
ATBirds User rwxalb
ATBirds _ rwxalb
User ATBirds wb
System ATBirds wb
Accesses that fail will generate audit records. Accesses
that succeed because of rules marked with a "b" generate
log messages identifying the rule, the program and as much
object information as is convenient.
When the system is properly configured and the programs
brought in line with the labeling scheme the "b" mode can
be removed from the rules. When the system is ready for
production the facility can be configured out.
This provides the developer the convenience of permissive
mode without creating a system that looks like it is
enforcing a policy while it is not.
Signed-off-by: Casey Schaufler <casey@schaufler-ca.com>
diff --git a/security/smack/Kconfig b/security/smack/Kconfig
index e69de9c..b065f97 100644
--- a/security/smack/Kconfig
+++ b/security/smack/Kconfig
@@ -12,3 +12,19 @@
of other mandatory security schemes.
If you are unsure how to answer this question, answer N.
+config SECURITY_SMACK_BRINGUP
+ bool "Reporting on access granted by Smack rules"
+ depends on SECURITY_SMACK
+ default n
+ help
+ Enable the bring-up ("b") access mode in Smack rules.
+ When access is granted by a rule with the "b" mode a
+ message about the access requested is generated. The
+ intention is that a process can be granted a wide set
+ of access initially with the bringup mode set on the
+ rules. The developer can use the information to
+ identify which rules are necessary and what accesses
+ may be inappropriate. The developer can reduce the
+ access rule set once the behavior is well understood.
+ This is a superior mechanism to the oft abused
+ "permissive" mode of other systems.