xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/posix1e/mac.3 (revision 40a8ac8f62b535d30349faf28cf47106b7041b83)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2001, 2003 Networks Associates Technology, Inc.
2.\" Copyright (c) 2009 Robert N. M. Watson
3.\" All rights reserved.
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5.\" This software was developed for the FreeBSD Project by Chris
6.\" Costello at Safeport Network Services and Network Associates
7.\" Laboratories, the Security Research Division of Network Associates,
8.\" Inc. under DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035 ("CBOSS"), as part
9.\" of the DARPA CHATS research program.
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32.\" $FreeBSD$
33.\"
34.Dd August 7, 2009
35.Dt MAC 3
36.Os
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm mac
39.Nd introduction to the MAC security API
40.Sh LIBRARY
41.Lb libc
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.In sys/mac.h
44.Pp
45In the kernel configuration file:
46.Cd "options MAC"
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48Mandatory Access Control labels describe confidentiality, integrity, and
49other security attributes of operating system objects, overriding
50discretionary access control.
51Not all system objects support MAC labeling, and MAC policies must be
52explicitly enabled by the administrator.
53This API, based on POSIX.1e, includes routines to retrieve, manipulate, set,
54and convert to and from text the MAC labels on files and processes.
55.Pp
56MAC labels consist of a set of (name, value) tuples, representing security
57attributes from MAC policies.
58For example, this label contains security labels defined by two policies,
59.Xr mac_biba 4
60and
61.Xr mac_mls 4 :
62.Bd -literal -offset indent
63biba/low,mls/low
64.Ed
65.Pp
66Further syntax and semantics of MAC labels may be found in
67.Xr maclabel 7 .
68.Pp
69Applications operate on labels stored in
70.Vt mac_t ,
71but can convert between this internal format and a text format for the
72purposes of presentation to uses or external storage.
73When querying a label on an object, a
74.Vt mac_t
75must first be prepared using the interfaces described in
76.Xr mac_prepare 3 ,
77allowing the application to declare which policies it wishes to interrogate.
78The application writer can also rely on default label names declared in
79.Xr mac.conf 5 .
80.Pp
81When finished with a
82.Vt mac_t ,
83the application must call
84.Xr mac_free 3
85to release its storage.
86.Pp
87The following functions are defined:
88.Bl -tag -width indent
89.It Fn mac_is_present
90This function, described in
91.Xr mac_is_present 3 ,
92allows applications to test whether MAC is configured, as well as whether
93specific policies are configured.
94.It Fn mac_get_fd , Fn mac_get_file , Fn mac_get_link , Fn mac_get_peer
95These functions, described in
96.Xr mac_get 3 ,
97retrieve the MAC labels associated with file descriptors, files, and socket
98peers.
99.It Fn mac_get_pid , Fn mac_get_proc
100These functions, described in
101.Xr mac_get 3 ,
102retrieve the MAC labels associated with processes.
103.It Fn mac_set_fd , Fn mac_set_file , Fn mac_set_link
104These functions, described in
105.Xr mac_set 3 ,
106set the MAC labels associated with file descriptors and files.
107.It Fn mac_set_proc
108This function, described in
109.Xr mac_set 3 ,
110sets the MAC label associated with the current process.
111.It Fn mac_free
112This function, described in
113.Xr mac_free 3 ,
114frees working MAC label storage.
115.It Fn mac_from_text
116This function, described in
117.Xr mac_text 3 ,
118converts a text-form MAC label into working MAC label storage,
119.Vt mac_t .
120.It Fn mac_prepare , Fn mac_prepare_file_label , Fn mac_prepare_ifnet_label , Fn mac_prepare_process_label , Fn mac_prepare_type
121These functions,  described in
122.Xr mac_prepare 3 ,
123allocate working storage for MAC label operations.
124.Xr mac_prepare 3
125prepares a label based on caller-specified label names; the other calls
126rely on the default configuration specified in
127.Xr mac.conf 5 .
128.It Fn mac_to_text
129This function is described in
130.Xr mac_text 3 ,
131and may be used to convert a
132.Vt mac_t
133into a text-form MAC label.
134.El
135.Sh FILES
136.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /etc/mac.conf" -compact
137.It Pa /etc/mac.conf
138MAC library configuration file, documented in
139.Xr mac.conf 5 .
140Provides default behavior for applications aware of MAC labels on
141system objects, but without policy-specific knowledge.
142.El
143.Sh SEE ALSO
144.Xr mac_free 3 ,
145.Xr mac_get 3 ,
146.Xr mac_is_present 3 ,
147.Xr mac_prepare 3 ,
148.Xr mac_set 3 ,
149.Xr mac_text 3 ,
150.Xr posix1e 3 ,
151.Xr mac 4 ,
152.Xr mac.conf 5 ,
153.Xr mac 9
154.Sh STANDARDS
155These APIs are loosely based on the APIs described in POSIX.1e, as described
156in IEEE POSIX.1e draft 17.
157However, the resemblance of these APIs to the POSIX APIs is loose, as the
158POSIX APIs were unable to express some notions required for flexible and
159extensible access control.
160.Sh HISTORY
161Support for Mandatory Access Control was introduced in
162.Fx 5.0
163as part of the
164.Tn TrustedBSD
165Project.
166.Sh BUGS
167The
168.Tn TrustedBSD
169MAC Framework and associated policies, interfaces, and
170applications are considered to be an experimental feature in
171.Fx .
172Sites considering production deployment should keep the experimental
173status of these services in mind during any deployment process.
174See also
175.Xr mac 9
176for related considerations regarding the kernel framework.
177