Docs/Drafts/SELinux User Guide/SELinux Information Plan

Phase 1: Information Planning

Deliverables and Milestones

• Information Plan: documents findings after the initial investigation is complete. Generates an idea about where the project is heading, and what it requires.

• Project Plan: an estimation of the time and resources required to complete the project.

Information Plan

Information Sources

• National Security Agency
• Russell Coker: <http://www.coker.com.au/selinux/>, Multi-Category Security in SELinux in Fedora Core 5, <http://www.coker.com.au/selinux/talks/auug-2005/auug2005-paper.html>
• James Morris: Have You Driven an SELinux Lately?, An Overview of Multilevel Security and LSPP under Linux.
• SELinux Symposium and Developer Summit
• What is Security-Enhanced Linux?
• RHS429 course.
• Taking advantage of SELinux in Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®
• Current SELinux project documentation todo list.
• Gentoo Wiki HOWTO Understand SELinux
• SELinux Reference Policy
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Deployment Guide:
  • End User Control of SELinux.
• Fedora Core 5 SELinux FAQ
• Fedora SELinux/FAQ
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 SELinux Guide: Working with SELinux.
• Mailing lists: <selinux@tycho.nsa.gov> and <fedora-selinux-list@redhat.com>.
• IRC: #fedora-selinux and #selinux
• fedora-selinux-list archives.
• Fedora SELinux Wiki.
• Blogs: <http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/>, <http://planet.fedoraproject.org/>, and <http://etbe.coker.com.au/>.
• SELinux news.
• SELinux webcast.
• Confining Users.
• Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme Validation Report
• Risk report: Three years of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
• Tresys (Mitigation News).
• Integrating Flexible Support for Security Policies into the Linux Operating System.
• Meeting Critical Security Objectives with Security-Enhanced Linux.

Purpose of the Documentation

• Provide a short, simple introduction to access control (MAC, MLS, MCS), and SELinux.
• Use examples to describe how SELinux operates (such as Apache HTTP server not reading user_home_t files).
• Give users information needed to do what they want without turning SELinux off.
• From the current SELinux documentation todo list, "Translate danwalsh.livejounal.com in to a beginner user guide".

Audience

• Familiar with using a Linux computer and a command line.
• No system administration experience is necessary; however, content may be geared towards system administration tasks.
• No previous SELinux experience.
• People who are never going to write their own SELinux policy.

What the Documentation Covers (in no particular order, and subject to change)

• Previous TOC Ideas

From the current SELinux documentation todo list:

• "Explain how to interpret an AVC message and how to get additional information via SYSCALL audit, including how to add a simple syscall audit filter to enable collection of PATH information".
• Document Confined Users".
• "Update FC5 FAQ".
• "Document the use of the mount command for overriding file context".
• "Describe Audit2allow and how it can just Fix the machine".
• "Update and organize the Fedora SELinux FAQ".

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SELinux Introduction:

• Brief overview.
• What SELinux can and can't do.
• Examples to explain how SELinux works (e.g., Apache HTTP).

SELinux Contexts and Attributes:

• Brief overview of objects, subjects, and object classes.
• Explain each part of SELinux labels.

Targeted Policy Overview:

• Confined and Unconfined processes.
• Confined system and user domains.

Working with SELinux:

• Installing and Upgrading packages.
• Configuration Files.
• Enable and Disable SELinux.
• semanage: booleans, labeling files, adding users, translations.
• Managing and Maintaining SELinux Labels.

Managing Users:

• Linux and SELinux user account mappings.
• Adding confined and unconfined users.
• Modifying existing users.

System Services:

• Examples, sharing content between services.

SELinux Log Files and Denials:

• auditd and setroubleshoot.
• Searching log files (ausearch).
• Interpreting AVC Denials.
• sealeart -l \*
• What to check for after a denial (DAC permissions...)
• audit2allow and audit2why.

Access Control

• Concepts of DAC, MAC, Type Enforcement®, etc.

Working with MCS and MLS

• Examples from domg472.

Project Plan

Schedule

Information Plan: July 14 -> July 24 (9 days)

Deliverables: Information Project Plans

Content Specification: July 25 -> August 14 (15 days)

Deliverables:

• Individual publications that are planned for the final document. These publications are done on the Wiki. This occurs after extensive research into topics.
• Table of contents.
• Phase review: subject matter experts approve the plan or request modifications to content.

Implementation: August 15 -> October 8 (39 days)

Designs for style, prototype sections, first, second, and approved drafts, weekly and monthly reports sent to <selinux@tycho.nsa.gov>.

Localization and Production: October 9 -> October 28 (14 days)

Translation, preparing final copies/PDFs.

Evaluation: October 29 -> October 30 (1 day)

• Evaluate the project.
• Plan maintenance cycles.
• Plan next release.

Risks

Too many Red Hat Enterprise Linux errata :(

Subject Matter Experts

• Daniel Walsh
• James Morris
• Eric Paris
• domg472
• Russell Coker
• Stephen Smalley
• Karl MacMillan
• Joshua Brindle
• Christopher J. PeBenito