xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/mac_biba.4 (revision 4b2eaea43fec8e8792be611dea204071a10b655a)
1.\" Copyright (c) 2002 Networks Associates Technology, Inc.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" This software was developed for the FreeBSD Project by Chris Costello
5.\" at Safeport Network Services and Network Associates Laboratories, the
6.\" Security Research Division of Network Associates, Inc. under
7.\" DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035 ("CBOSS"), as part of the
8.\" DARPA CHATS research program.
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31.\" $FreeBSD$
32.Dd NOVEMBER 18, 2002
33.Os
34.Dt MAC_BIBA 4
35.Sh NAME
36.Nm mac_biba
37.Nd Biba data integrity policy
38.Sh SYNOPSIS
39To compile Biba into your kernel, place the following lines in your kernel
40configuration file:
41.Cd "options MAC"
42.Cd "options MAC_BIBA"
43.Pp
44Alternately, to load the Biba module at boot time, place the following line
45in your kernel configuration file:
46.Cd "options MAC"
47.Pp
48and in
49.Xr loader.conf 5 :
50.Cd mac_biba_load= Ns \&"YES"
51.Sh DESCRIPTION
52The
53.Nm
54policy module implements the Biba integrity model,
55which protects the integrity of system objects and subjects by means of
56a strict information flow policy.
57In Biba, all system subjects and objects are assigned integrity labels, made
58up of hierarchal grades, and non-hierarchal components.
59Together, these label elements permit all labels to be placed in a partial
60order, with information flow protections based on a dominance operator
61describing the order.
62The hierarchal grade field is expressed as a value between 0 and 65535,
63with higher values reflecting higher integrity.
64The non-hierarchal compartment field is expressed as a set of up to 256
65components, numbered from 0 to 255.
66A complete label consists of both hierarchal and non-hierarchal elements.
67.Pp
68Three special label values exist:
69.Bl -column -offset indent "biba/equal" "lower than all other labels"
70.It Sy Label Ta Sy Comparison
71.It Li biba/low Ta lower than all other labels
72.It Li biba/equal Ta equal to all other labels
73.It Li biba/high Ta higher than all other labels
74.El
75.Pp
76The
77.Dq biba/high
78label is assigned to system objects which affect the integrity of the system
79as a whole.
80.Dq biba/equal
81may be used to indicate that a particular subject or object is exempt from
82the Biba protections.
83These special label values are not specified as containing any compartments,
84although in a label comparison,
85.Dq biba/high
86appears to contain all compartments,
87.Dq biba/equal
88the same compartments as the other label to which it is being compared,
89and
90.Dq biba/low
91none.
92.Pp
93Almost all system objects are tagged with a single, active label element,
94reflecting the integrity of the object, or integrity of the data contained
95in the object.
96In general, objects labels are represented in the following form:
97.Pp
98.Dl biba/grade:compartments
99.Pp
100For example:
101.Pp
102.Bd -literal -offset indent
103biba/10:2+3+6
104biba/low
105.Ed
106.Pp
107Subject labels consist of three label elements: a single (active) label,
108as well as a range of available labels.
109This range is represented using two ordered Biba label elements, and when set
110on a process, permits the process to change its active label to any label of
111greater or equal integrity to the low end of the range, and lesser or equal
112integrity to the high end of the range.
113In general, subject labels are represented in the following form:
114.Pp
115.Dl biba/singlegrade:singlecompartments(lograde:locompartments-
116.Dl higrade:hicompartments)
117.Pp
118For example:
119.Bd -literal -offset indent
120biba/10:2+3+6(5-20:2+3+4+5+6)
121biba/high(low-high)
122.Ed
123.Pp
124Valid ranged labels must meet the following requirement regarding their
125elements:
126.Pp
127.Dl rangehigh >= single >= rangelow
128.Pp
129One class of objects with ranges currently exists, the network interface.
130In the case of the network interface, the single label element references the
131default label for packets received over the interface, and the range
132represents the range of acceptable labels of packets to be transmitted over
133the interface.
134.Pp
135In general, Biba access control takes the following model:
136.Bl -bullet
137.It
138A subject at the same integrity level as an object may both read from
139and write to the object as though Biba protections were not in place.
140.It
141A subject at a higher integrity level than an object may write to the object,
142but not read the object.
143.It
144A subject at a lower integrity level than an object may read the object,
145but not write to the object.
146.It
147If the subject and object labels may not be compared in the partial order,
148all access is restricted.
149.El
150.Pp
151These rules prevent subjects of lower integrity from influencing the
152behavior of higher integrity subjects by preventing the flow of information,
153and hence control, from allowing low integrity subjects to modify either
154a high integrity object or high integrity subjects acting on those objects.
155Biba integrity policies may be appropriate in a number of environments,
156both from the perspective of preventing corruption of the operating system,
157and corruption of user data if marked as higher integrity than the attacker.
158In traditional trusted operating systems, the Biba integrity model is used
159to protect the Trusted Code Base (TCB).
160.Pp
161The Biba integrity model is similar to
162.Xr lomac 4 ,
163with the exception that LOMAC permits access by a higher integrity subject
164to a lower integrity object, but downgrades the integrity level of the subject
165to prevent integrity rules from being violated.
166Biba is a fixed label policy in that all subject and object label changes are
167explicit, whereas LOMAC is a floating label policy.
168.Pp
169The Biba integrity model is also similar to
170.Xr mac_mls 4 ,
171with the exception that the dominance operator and access rules are reversed,
172preventing the downward flow of information rather than the upward flow of
173information.
174Multi-Level Security (MLS) protects the confidentiality, rather than the
175integrity, of subjects and objects.
176.Sh SEE ALSO
177.Xr lomac 4 ,
178.Xr mac 4 ,
179.Xr mac_bsdextended 4 ,
180.Xr mac_ifoff 4 ,
181.Xr mac_lomac 4 ,
182.Xr mac_mls 4 ,
183.Xr mac_none 4 ,
184.Xr mac_partition 4 ,
185.Xr mac_seeotheruids 4 ,
186.Xr mac_test 4 ,
187.Xr maclabel 7 ,
188.Xr mac 9
189.Sh HISTORY
190The
191.Nm
192policy module first appeared in
193.Fx 5.0
194and was developed by the TrustedBSD Project.
195.Sh AUTHORS
196This software was contributed to the
197.Fx
198Project by Network Associates Labs,
199the Security Research Division of Network Associates
200Inc. under DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035 ("CBOSS"),
201as part of the DARPA CHATS research program.
202