You're reading from SELinux System Administration, Third Edition Implement mandatory access control to secure applications, users, and information flows on Linux

Product type Paperback

Published in Dec 2020

Publisher Packt

ISBN-13 9781800201477

Length 458 pages

Edition 3rd Edition

Tools

Docker

Concepts

System Administration

Author (1):

Sven Vermeulen

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Table of Contents (22) Chapters

Preface

1. Section 1: Using SELinux

2. Chapter 1: Fundamental SELinux Concepts FREE CHAPTER

3. Chapter 2: Understanding SELinux Decisions and Logging

4. Chapter 3: Managing User Logins

5. Chapter 4: Using File Contexts and Process Domains

6. Chapter 5: Controlling Network Communications

7. Chapter 6: Configuring SELinux through Infrastructure-as-Code Orchestration

8. Section 2: SELinux-Aware Platforms

9. Chapter 7: Configuring Application-Specific SELinux Controls

10. Chapter 8: SEPostgreSQL – Extending PostgreSQL with SELinux

11. Chapter 9: Secure Virtualization

12. Chapter 10: Using Xen Security Modules with FLASK

13. Chapter 11: Enhancing the Security of Containerized Workloads

14. Section 3: Policy Management

15. Chapter 12: Tuning SELinux Policies

16. Chapter 13: Analyzing Policy Behavior

17. Chapter 14: Dealing with New Applications

18. Chapter 15: Using the Reference Policy

19. Chapter 16: Developing Policies with SELinux CIL

20. Assessments

21. Other Books You May Enjoy

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Chapter 2: Understanding SELinux Decisions and Logging

Once we enable SELinux on the system, it starts its access control functionality, as described in the previous chapter. Once it starts, administrators need to keep a close eye on its actions, and often need to deal with unexpected behavior if one or more applications are not acting according to the SELinux policy. Through SELinux logging, we learn how SELinux enforces its policies toward the applications on the system.

Administrators have to know how to switch between SELinux in full-enforcement mode (resembling a host-based intrusion prevention system) versus its permissive, logging-only mode, and use its various methods to toggle the SELinux state (enabled or disabled; permissive or enforcing). Furthermore, we should know how to disable SELinux's enforcement for a single domain rather than an entire system, and learn to interpret the SELinux log events that describe which activities SELinux has prevented. We will finish...