xref: /linux/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/ipe.rst (revision a619fe35ab41fded440d3762d4fbad84ff86a4d4)
1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3Integrity Policy Enforcement (IPE)
4==================================
5
6.. NOTE::
7
8   This is the documentation for admins, system builders, or individuals
9   attempting to use IPE. If you're looking for more developer-focused
10   documentation about IPE please see :doc:`the design docs </security/ipe>`.
11
12Overview
13--------
14
15Integrity Policy Enforcement (IPE) is a Linux Security Module that takes a
16complementary approach to access control. Unlike traditional access control
17mechanisms that rely on labels and paths for decision-making, IPE focuses
18on the immutable security properties inherent to system components. These
19properties are fundamental attributes or features of a system component
20that cannot be altered, ensuring a consistent and reliable basis for
21security decisions.
22
23To elaborate, in the context of IPE, system components primarily refer to
24files or the devices these files reside on. However, this is just a
25starting point. The concept of system components is flexible and can be
26extended to include new elements as the system evolves. The immutable
27properties include the origin of a file, which remains constant and
28unchangeable over time. For example, IPE policies can be crafted to trust
29files originating from the initramfs. Since initramfs is typically verified
30by the bootloader, its files are deemed trustworthy; "file is from
31initramfs" becomes an immutable property under IPE's consideration.
32
33The immutable property concept extends to the security features enabled on
34a file's origin, such as dm-verity or fs-verity, which provide a layer of
35integrity and trust. For example, IPE allows the definition of policies
36that trust files from a dm-verity protected device. dm-verity ensures the
37integrity of an entire device by providing a verifiable and immutable state
38of its contents. Similarly, fs-verity offers filesystem-level integrity
39checks, allowing IPE to enforce policies that trust files protected by
40fs-verity. These two features cannot be turned off once established, so
41they are considered immutable properties. These examples demonstrate how
42IPE leverages immutable properties, such as a file's origin and its
43integrity protection mechanisms, to make access control decisions.
44
45For the IPE policy, specifically, it grants the ability to enforce
46stringent access controls by assessing security properties against
47reference values defined within the policy. This assessment can be based on
48the existence of a security property (e.g., verifying if a file originates
49from initramfs) or evaluating the internal state of an immutable security
50property. The latter includes checking the roothash of a dm-verity
51protected device, determining whether dm-verity possesses a valid
52signature, assessing the digest of a fs-verity protected file, or
53determining whether fs-verity possesses a valid built-in signature. This
54nuanced approach to policy enforcement enables a highly secure and
55customizable system defense mechanism, tailored to specific security
56requirements and trust models.
57
58To enable IPE, ensure that ``CONFIG_SECURITY_IPE`` (under
59:menuselection:`Security -> Integrity Policy Enforcement (IPE)`) config
60option is enabled.
61
62Use Cases
63---------
64
65IPE works best in fixed-function devices: devices in which their purpose
66is clearly defined and not supposed to be changed (e.g. network firewall
67device in a data center, an IoT device, etcetera), where all software and
68configuration is built and provisioned by the system owner.
69
70IPE is a long-way off for use in general-purpose computing: the Linux
71community as a whole tends to follow a decentralized trust model (known as
72the web of trust), which IPE has no support for it yet. Instead, IPE
73supports PKI (public key infrastructure), which generally designates a
74set of trusted entities that provide a measure of absolute trust.
75
76Additionally, while most packages are signed today, the files inside
77the packages (for instance, the executables), tend to be unsigned. This
78makes it difficult to utilize IPE in systems where a package manager is
79expected to be functional, without major changes to the package manager
80and ecosystem behind it.
81
82The digest_cache LSM [#digest_cache_lsm]_ is a system that when combined with IPE,
83could be used to enable and support general-purpose computing use cases.
84
85Known Limitations
86-----------------
87
88IPE cannot verify the integrity of anonymous executable memory, such as
89the trampolines created by gcc closures and libffi (<3.4.2), or JIT'd code.
90Unfortunately, as this is dynamically generated code, there is no way
91for IPE to ensure the integrity of this code to form a trust basis.
92
93IPE cannot verify the integrity of programs written in interpreted
94languages when these scripts are invoked by passing these program files
95to the interpreter. This is because the way interpreters execute these
96files; the scripts themselves are not evaluated as executable code
97through one of IPE's hooks, but they are merely text files that are read
98(as opposed to compiled executables). However, with the introduction of the
99``AT_EXECVE_CHECK`` flag (:doc:`AT_EXECVE_CHECK </userspace-api/check_exec>`),
100interpreters can use it to signal the kernel that a script file will be executed,
101and request the kernel to perform LSM security checks on it.
102
103IPE's EXECUTE operation enforcement differs between compiled executables and
104interpreted scripts: For compiled executables, enforcement is triggered
105automatically by the kernel during ``execve()``, ``execveat()``, ``mmap()``
106and ``mprotect()`` syscalls when loading executable content. For interpreted
107scripts, enforcement requires explicit interpreter integration using
108``execveat()`` with ``AT_EXECVE_CHECK`` flag. Unlike exec syscalls that IPE
109intercepts during the execution process, this mechanism needs the interpreter
110to take the initiative, and existing interpreters won't be automatically
111supported unless the signal call is added.
112
113Threat Model
114------------
115
116IPE specifically targets the risk of tampering with user-space executable
117code after the kernel has initially booted, including the kernel modules
118loaded from userspace via ``modprobe`` or ``insmod``.
119
120To illustrate, consider a scenario where an untrusted binary, possibly
121malicious, is downloaded along with all necessary dependencies, including a
122loader and libc. The primary function of IPE in this context is to prevent
123the execution of such binaries and their dependencies.
124
125IPE achieves this by verifying the integrity and authenticity of all
126executable code before allowing them to run. It conducts a thorough
127check to ensure that the code's integrity is intact and that they match an
128authorized reference value (digest, signature, etc) as per the defined
129policy. If a binary does not pass this verification process, either
130because its integrity has been compromised or it does not meet the
131authorization criteria, IPE will deny its execution. Additionally, IPE
132generates audit logs which may be utilized to detect and analyze failures
133resulting from policy violation.
134
135Tampering threat scenarios include modification or replacement of
136executable code by a range of actors including:
137
138-  Actors with physical access to the hardware
139-  Actors with local network access to the system
140-  Actors with access to the deployment system
141-  Compromised internal systems under external control
142-  Malicious end users of the system
143-  Compromised end users of the system
144-  Remote (external) compromise of the system
145
146IPE does not mitigate threats arising from malicious but authorized
147developers (with access to a signing certificate), or compromised
148developer tools used by them (i.e. return-oriented programming attacks).
149Additionally, IPE draws hard security boundary between userspace and
150kernelspace. As a result, kernel-level exploits are considered outside
151the scope of IPE and mitigation is left to other mechanisms.
152
153Policy
154------
155
156IPE policy is a plain-text [#devdoc]_ policy composed of multiple statements
157over several lines. There is one required line, at the top of the
158policy, indicating the policy name, and the policy version, for
159instance::
160
161   policy_name=Ex_Policy policy_version=0.0.0
162
163The policy name is a unique key identifying this policy in a human
164readable name. This is used to create nodes under securityfs as well as
165uniquely identify policies to deploy new policies vs update existing
166policies.
167
168The policy version indicates the current version of the policy (NOT the
169policy syntax version). This is used to prevent rollback of policy to
170potentially insecure previous versions of the policy.
171
172The next portion of IPE policy are rules. Rules are formed by key=value
173pairs, known as properties. IPE rules require two properties: ``action``,
174which determines what IPE does when it encounters a match against the
175rule, and ``op``, which determines when the rule should be evaluated.
176The ordering is significant, a rule must start with ``op``, and end with
177``action``. Thus, a minimal rule is::
178
179   op=EXECUTE action=ALLOW
180
181This example will allow any execution. Additional properties are used to
182assess immutable security properties about the files being evaluated.
183These properties are intended to be descriptions of systems within the
184kernel that can provide a measure of integrity verification, such that IPE
185can determine the trust of the resource based on the value of the property.
186
187Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom. As a result, any revocation rules,
188or denies should be placed early in the file to ensure that these rules
189are evaluated before a rule with ``action=ALLOW``.
190
191IPE policy supports comments. The character '#' will function as a
192comment, ignoring all characters to the right of '#' until the newline.
193
194The default behavior of IPE evaluations can also be expressed in policy,
195through the ``DEFAULT`` statement. This can be done at a global level,
196or a per-operation level::
197
198   # Global
199   DEFAULT action=ALLOW
200
201   # Operation Specific
202   DEFAULT op=EXECUTE action=ALLOW
203
204A default must be set for all known operations in IPE. If you want to
205preserve older policies being compatible with newer kernels that can introduce
206new operations, set a global default of ``ALLOW``, then override the
207defaults on a per-operation basis (as above).
208
209With configurable policy-based LSMs, there's several issues with
210enforcing the configurable policies at startup, around reading and
211parsing the policy:
212
2131. The kernel *should* not read files from userspace, so directly reading
214   the policy file is prohibited.
2152. The kernel command line has a character limit, and one kernel module
216   should not reserve the entire character limit for its own
217   configuration.
2183. There are various boot loaders in the kernel ecosystem, so handing
219   off a memory block would be costly to maintain.
220
221As a result, IPE has addressed this problem through a concept of a "boot
222policy". A boot policy is a minimal policy which is compiled into the
223kernel. This policy is intended to get the system to a state where
224userspace is set up and ready to receive commands, at which point a more
225complex policy can be deployed via securityfs. The boot policy can be
226specified via ``SECURITY_IPE_BOOT_POLICY`` config option, which accepts
227a path to a plain-text version of the IPE policy to apply. This policy
228will be compiled into the kernel. If not specified, IPE will be disabled
229until a policy is deployed and activated through securityfs.
230
231Deploying Policies
232~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
233
234Policies can be deployed from userspace through securityfs. These policies
235are signed through the PKCS#7 message format to enforce some level of
236authorization of the policies (prohibiting an attacker from gaining
237unconstrained root, and deploying an "allow all" policy). These
238policies must be signed by a certificate that chains to the
239``SYSTEM_TRUSTED_KEYRING``, or to the secondary and/or platform keyrings if
240``CONFIG_IPE_POLICY_SIG_SECONDARY_KEYRING`` and/or
241``CONFIG_IPE_POLICY_SIG_PLATFORM_KEYRING`` are enabled, respectively.
242With openssl, the policy can be signed by::
243
244   openssl smime -sign \
245      -in "$MY_POLICY" \
246      -signer "$MY_CERTIFICATE" \
247      -inkey "$MY_PRIVATE_KEY" \
248      -noattr \
249      -nodetach \
250      -nosmimecap \
251      -outform der \
252      -out "$MY_POLICY.p7b"
253
254Deploying the policies is done through securityfs, through the
255``new_policy`` node. To deploy a policy, simply cat the file into the
256securityfs node::
257
258   cat "$MY_POLICY.p7b" > /sys/kernel/security/ipe/new_policy
259
260Upon success, this will create one subdirectory under
261``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/``. The subdirectory will be the
262``policy_name`` field of the policy deployed, so for the example above,
263the directory will be ``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/Ex_Policy``.
264Within this directory, there will be seven files: ``pkcs7``, ``policy``,
265``name``, ``version``, ``active``, ``update``, and ``delete``.
266
267The ``pkcs7`` file is read-only. Reading it returns the raw PKCS#7 data
268that was provided to the kernel, representing the policy. If the policy being
269read is the boot policy, this will return ``ENOENT``, as it is not signed.
270
271The ``policy`` file is read only. Reading it returns the PKCS#7 inner
272content of the policy, which will be the plain text policy.
273
274The ``active`` file is used to set a policy as the currently active policy.
275This file is rw, and accepts a value of ``"1"`` to set the policy as active.
276Since only a single policy can be active at one time, all other policies
277will be marked inactive. The policy being marked active must have a policy
278version greater or equal to the currently-running version.
279
280The ``update`` file is used to update a policy that is already present
281in the kernel. This file is write-only and accepts a PKCS#7 signed
282policy. Two checks will always be performed on this policy: First, the
283``policy_names`` must match with the updated version and the existing
284version. Second the updated policy must have a policy version greater than
285the currently-running version. This is to prevent rollback attacks.
286
287The ``delete`` file is used to remove a policy that is no longer needed.
288This file is write-only and accepts a value of ``1`` to delete the policy.
289On deletion, the securityfs node representing the policy will be removed.
290However, delete the current active policy is not allowed and will return
291an operation not permitted error.
292
293Similarly, writing to both ``update`` and ``new_policy`` could result in
294bad message(policy syntax error) or file exists error. The latter error happens
295when trying to deploy a policy with a ``policy_name`` while the kernel already
296has a deployed policy with the same ``policy_name``.
297
298Deploying a policy will *not* cause IPE to start enforcing the policy. IPE will
299only enforce the policy marked active. Note that only one policy can be active
300at a time.
301
302Once deployment is successful, the policy can be activated, by writing file
303``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/$policy_name/active``.
304For example, the ``Ex_Policy`` can be activated by::
305
306   echo 1 > "/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/Ex_Policy/active"
307
308From above point on, ``Ex_Policy`` is now the enforced policy on the
309system.
310
311IPE also provides a way to delete policies. This can be done via the
312``delete`` securityfs node,
313``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/$policy_name/delete``.
314Writing ``1`` to that file deletes the policy::
315
316   echo 1 > "/sys/kernel/security/ipe/policies/$policy_name/delete"
317
318There is only one requirement to delete a policy: the policy being deleted
319must be inactive.
320
321.. NOTE::
322
323   If a traditional MAC system is enabled (SELinux, apparmor, smack), all
324   writes to ipe's securityfs nodes require ``CAP_MAC_ADMIN``.
325
326Modes
327~~~~~
328
329IPE supports two modes of operation: permissive (similar to SELinux's
330permissive mode) and enforced. In permissive mode, all events are
331checked and policy violations are logged, but the policy is not really
332enforced. This allows users to test policies before enforcing them.
333
334The default mode is enforce, and can be changed via the kernel command
335line parameter ``ipe.enforce=(0|1)``, or the securityfs node
336``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/enforce``.
337
338.. NOTE::
339
340   If a traditional MAC system is enabled (SELinux, apparmor, smack, etcetera),
341   all writes to ipe's securityfs nodes require ``CAP_MAC_ADMIN``.
342
343Audit Events
344~~~~~~~~~~~~
345
3461420 AUDIT_IPE_ACCESS
347^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
348Event Examples::
349
350   type=1420 audit(1653364370.067:61): ipe_op=EXECUTE ipe_hook=MMAP enforcing=1 pid=2241 comm="ld-linux.so" path="/deny/lib/libc.so.6" dev="sda2" ino=14549020 rule="DEFAULT action=DENY"
351   type=1300 audit(1653364370.067:61): SYSCALL arch=c000003e syscall=9 success=no exit=-13 a0=7f1105a28000 a1=195000 a2=5 a3=812 items=0 ppid=2219 pid=2241 auid=0 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts0 ses=2 comm="ld-linux.so" exe="/tmp/ipe-test/lib/ld-linux.so" subj=unconfined key=(null)
352   type=1327 audit(1653364370.067:61): 707974686F6E3300746573742F6D61696E2E7079002D6E00
353
354   type=1420 audit(1653364735.161:64): ipe_op=EXECUTE ipe_hook=MMAP enforcing=1 pid=2472 comm="mmap_test" path=? dev=? ino=? rule="DEFAULT action=DENY"
355   type=1300 audit(1653364735.161:64): SYSCALL arch=c000003e syscall=9 success=no exit=-13 a0=0 a1=1000 a2=4 a3=21 items=0 ppid=2219 pid=2472 auid=0 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts0 ses=2 comm="mmap_test" exe="/root/overlake_test/upstream_test/vol_fsverity/bin/mmap_test" subj=unconfined key=(null)
356   type=1327 audit(1653364735.161:64): 707974686F6E3300746573742F6D61696E2E7079002D6E00
357
358This event indicates that IPE made an access control decision; the IPE
359specific record (1420) is always emitted in conjunction with a
360``AUDITSYSCALL`` record.
361
362Determining whether IPE is in permissive or enforced mode can be derived
363from ``success`` property and exit code of the ``AUDITSYSCALL`` record.
364
365
366Field descriptions:
367
368+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
369| Field     | Value Type | Optional? | Description of Value                                                            |
370+===========+============+===========+=================================================================================+
371| ipe_op    | string     | No        | The IPE operation name associated with the log                                  |
372+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
373| ipe_hook  | string     | No        | The name of the LSM hook that triggered the IPE event                           |
374+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
375| enforcing | integer    | No        | The current IPE enforcing state 1 is in enforcing mode, 0 is in permissive mode |
376+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
377| pid       | integer    | No        | The pid of the process that triggered the IPE event.                            |
378+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
379| comm      | string     | No        | The command line program name of the process that triggered the IPE event       |
380+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
381| path      | string     | Yes       | The absolute path to the evaluated file                                         |
382+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
383| ino       | integer    | Yes       | The inode number of the evaluated file                                          |
384+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
385| dev       | string     | Yes       | The device name of the evaluated file, e.g. vda                                 |
386+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
387| rule      | string     | No        | The matched policy rule                                                         |
388+-----------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
389
3901421 AUDIT_IPE_CONFIG_CHANGE
391^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
392
393Event Example::
394
395   type=1421 audit(1653425583.136:54): old_active_pol_name="Allow_All" old_active_pol_version=0.0.0 old_policy_digest=sha256:E3B0C44298FC1C149AFBF4C8996FB92427AE41E4649B934CA495991B7852B855 new_active_pol_name="boot_verified" new_active_pol_version=0.0.0 new_policy_digest=sha256:820EEA5B40CA42B51F68962354BA083122A20BB846F26765076DD8EED7B8F4DB auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 lsm=ipe res=1
396   type=1300 audit(1653425583.136:54): SYSCALL arch=c000003e syscall=1 success=yes exit=2 a0=3 a1=5596fcae1fb0 a2=2 a3=2 items=0 ppid=184 pid=229 auid=4294967295 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts0 ses=4294967295 comm="python3" exe="/usr/bin/python3.10" key=(null)
397   type=1327 audit(1653425583.136:54): PROCTITLE proctitle=707974686F6E3300746573742F6D61696E2E7079002D66002E2
398
399This event indicates that IPE switched the active poliy from one to another
400along with the version and the hash digest of the two policies.
401Note IPE can only have one policy active at a time, all access decision
402evaluation is based on the current active policy.
403The normal procedure to deploy a new policy is loading the policy to deploy
404into the kernel first, then switch the active policy to it.
405
406This record will always be emitted in conjunction with a ``AUDITSYSCALL`` record for the ``write`` syscall.
407
408Field descriptions:
409
410+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
411| Field                  | Value Type | Optional? | Description of Value                              |
412+========================+============+===========+===================================================+
413| old_active_pol_name    | string     | Yes       | The name of previous active policy                |
414+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
415| old_active_pol_version | string     | Yes       | The version of previous active policy             |
416+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
417| old_policy_digest      | string     | Yes       | The hash of previous active policy                |
418+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
419| new_active_pol_name    | string     | No        | The name of current active policy                 |
420+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
421| new_active_pol_version | string     | No        | The version of current active policy              |
422+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
423| new_policy_digest      | string     | No        | The hash of current active policy                 |
424+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
425| auid                   | integer    | No        | The login user ID                                 |
426+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
427| ses                    | integer    | No        | The login session ID                              |
428+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
429| lsm                    | string     | No        | The lsm name associated with the event            |
430+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
431| res                    | integer    | No        | The result of the audited operation(success/fail) |
432+------------------------+------------+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
433
4341422 AUDIT_IPE_POLICY_LOAD
435^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
436
437Event Example::
438
439   type=1422 audit(1653425529.927:53): policy_name="boot_verified" policy_version=0.0.0 policy_digest=sha256:820EEA5B40CA42B51F68962354BA083122A20BB846F26765076DD8EED7B8F4DB auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 lsm=ipe res=1 errno=0
440   type=1300 audit(1653425529.927:53): arch=c000003e syscall=1 success=yes exit=2567 a0=3 a1=5596fcae1fb0 a2=a07 a3=2 items=0 ppid=184 pid=229 auid=4294967295 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts0 ses=4294967295 comm="python3" exe="/usr/bin/python3.10" key=(null)
441   type=1327 audit(1653425529.927:53): PROCTITLE proctitle=707974686F6E3300746573742F6D61696E2E7079002D66002E2E
442
443This record indicates a new policy has been loaded into the kernel with the policy name, policy version and policy hash.
444
445This record will always be emitted in conjunction with a ``AUDITSYSCALL`` record for the ``write`` syscall.
446
447Field descriptions:
448
449+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
450| Field          | Value Type | Optional? | Description of Value                                        |
451+================+============+===========+=============================================================+
452| policy_name    | string     | Yes       | The policy_name                                             |
453+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
454| policy_version | string     | Yes       | The policy_version                                          |
455+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
456| policy_digest  | string     | Yes       | The policy hash                                             |
457+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
458| auid           | integer    | No        | The login user ID                                           |
459+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
460| ses            | integer    | No        | The login session ID                                        |
461+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
462| lsm            | string     | No        | The lsm name associated with the event                      |
463+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
464| res            | integer    | No        | The result of the audited operation(success/fail)           |
465+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
466| errno          | integer    | No        | Error code from policy loading operations (see table below) |
467+----------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
468
469Policy error codes (errno):
470
471The following table lists the error codes that may appear in the errno field while loading or updating the policy:
472
473+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
474| Error Code     | Description                                            |
475+================+========================================================+
476| 0              | Success                                                |
477+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
478| -EPERM         | Insufficient permission                                |
479+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
480| -EEXIST        | Same name policy already deployed                      |
481+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
482| -EBADMSG       | Policy is invalid                                      |
483+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
484| -ENOMEM        | Out of memory (OOM)                                    |
485+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
486| -ERANGE        | Policy version number overflow                         |
487+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
488| -EINVAL        | Policy version parsing error                           |
489+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
490| -ENOKEY        | Key used to sign the IPE policy not found in keyring   |
491+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
492| -EKEYREJECTED  | Policy signature verification failed                   |
493+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
494| -ESTALE        | Attempting to update an IPE policy with older version  |
495+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
496| -ENOENT        | Policy was deleted while updating                      |
497+----------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
498
4991404 AUDIT_MAC_STATUS
500^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
501
502Event Examples::
503
504   type=1404 audit(1653425689.008:55): enforcing=0 old_enforcing=1 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 enabled=1 old-enabled=1 lsm=ipe res=1
505   type=1300 audit(1653425689.008:55): arch=c000003e syscall=1 success=yes exit=2 a0=1 a1=55c1065e5c60 a2=2 a3=0 items=0 ppid=405 pid=441 auid=0 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=)
506   type=1327 audit(1653425689.008:55): proctitle="-bash"
507
508   type=1404 audit(1653425689.008:55): enforcing=1 old_enforcing=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 enabled=1 old-enabled=1 lsm=ipe res=1
509   type=1300 audit(1653425689.008:55): arch=c000003e syscall=1 success=yes exit=2 a0=1 a1=55c1065e5c60 a2=2 a3=0 items=0 ppid=405 pid=441 auid=0 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=)
510   type=1327 audit(1653425689.008:55): proctitle="-bash"
511
512This record will always be emitted in conjunction with a ``AUDITSYSCALL`` record for the ``write`` syscall.
513
514Field descriptions:
515
516+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
517| Field         | Value Type | Optional? | Description of Value                                                                            |
518+===============+============+===========+=================================================================================================+
519| enforcing     | integer    | No        | The enforcing state IPE is being switched to, 1 is in enforcing mode, 0 is in permissive mode   |
520+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
521| old_enforcing | integer    | No        | The enforcing state IPE is being switched from, 1 is in enforcing mode, 0 is in permissive mode |
522+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
523| auid          | integer    | No        | The login user ID                                                                               |
524+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
525| ses           | integer    | No        | The login session ID                                                                            |
526+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
527| enabled       | integer    | No        | The new TTY audit enabled setting                                                               |
528+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
529| old-enabled   | integer    | No        | The old TTY audit enabled setting                                                               |
530+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
531| lsm           | string     | No        | The lsm name associated with the event                                                          |
532+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
533| res           | integer    | No        | The result of the audited operation(success/fail)                                               |
534+---------------+------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
535
536
537Success Auditing
538^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
539
540IPE supports success auditing. When enabled, all events that pass IPE
541policy and are not blocked will emit an audit event. This is disabled by
542default, and can be enabled via the kernel command line
543``ipe.success_audit=(0|1)`` or
544``/sys/kernel/security/ipe/success_audit`` securityfs file.
545
546This is *very* noisy, as IPE will check every userspace binary on the
547system, but is useful for debugging policies.
548
549.. NOTE::
550
551   If a traditional MAC system is enabled (SELinux, apparmor, smack, etcetera),
552   all writes to ipe's securityfs nodes require ``CAP_MAC_ADMIN``.
553
554Properties
555----------
556
557As explained above, IPE properties are ``key=value`` pairs expressed in IPE
558policy. Two properties are built-into the policy parser: 'op' and 'action'.
559The other properties are used to restrict immutable security properties
560about the files being evaluated. Currently those properties are:
561'``boot_verified``', '``dmverity_signature``', '``dmverity_roothash``',
562'``fsverity_signature``', '``fsverity_digest``'. A description of all
563properties supported by IPE are listed below:
564
565op
566~~
567
568Indicates the operation for a rule to apply to. Must be in every rule,
569as the first token. IPE supports the following operations:
570
571   ``EXECUTE``
572
573      Pertains to any file attempting to be executed, or loaded as an
574      executable.
575
576   ``FIRMWARE``:
577
578      Pertains to firmware being loaded via the firmware_class interface.
579      This covers both the preallocated buffer and the firmware file
580      itself.
581
582   ``KMODULE``:
583
584      Pertains to loading kernel modules via ``modprobe`` or ``insmod``.
585
586   ``KEXEC_IMAGE``:
587
588      Pertains to kernel images loading via ``kexec``.
589
590   ``KEXEC_INITRAMFS``
591
592      Pertains to initrd images loading via ``kexec --initrd``.
593
594   ``POLICY``:
595
596      Controls loading policies via reading a kernel-space initiated read.
597
598      An example of such is loading IMA policies by writing the path
599      to the policy file to ``$securityfs/ima/policy``
600
601   ``X509_CERT``:
602
603      Controls loading IMA certificates through the Kconfigs,
604      ``CONFIG_IMA_X509_PATH`` and ``CONFIG_EVM_X509_PATH``.
605
606action
607~~~~~~
608
609   Determines what IPE should do when a rule matches. Must be in every
610   rule, as the final clause. Can be one of:
611
612   ``ALLOW``:
613
614      If the rule matches, explicitly allow access to the resource to proceed
615      without executing any more rules.
616
617   ``DENY``:
618
619      If the rule matches, explicitly prohibit access to the resource to
620      proceed without executing any more rules.
621
622boot_verified
623~~~~~~~~~~~~~
624
625   This property can be utilized for authorization of files from initramfs.
626   The format of this property is::
627
628         boot_verified=(TRUE|FALSE)
629
630
631   .. WARNING::
632
633      This property will trust files from initramfs(rootfs). It should
634      only be used during early booting stage. Before mounting the real
635      rootfs on top of the initramfs, initramfs script will recursively
636      remove all files and directories on the initramfs. This is typically
637      implemented by using switch_root(8) [#switch_root]_. Therefore the
638      initramfs will be empty and not accessible after the real
639      rootfs takes over. It is advised to switch to a different policy
640      that doesn't rely on the property after this point.
641      This ensures that the trust policies remain relevant and effective
642      throughout the system's operation.
643
644dmverity_roothash
645~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
646
647   This property can be utilized for authorization or revocation of
648   specific dm-verity volumes, identified via their root hashes. It has a
649   dependency on the DM_VERITY module. This property is controlled by
650   the ``IPE_PROP_DM_VERITY`` config option, it will be automatically
651   selected when ``SECURITY_IPE`` and ``DM_VERITY`` are all enabled.
652   The format of this property is::
653
654      dmverity_roothash=DigestName:HexadecimalString
655
656   The supported DigestNames for dmverity_roothash are [#dmveritydigests]_
657
658      + blake2b-512
659      + blake2s-256
660      + sha256
661      + sha384
662      + sha512
663      + sha3-224
664      + sha3-256
665      + sha3-384
666      + sha3-512
667      + sm3
668      + rmd160
669
670dmverity_signature
671~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
672
673   This property can be utilized for authorization of all dm-verity
674   volumes that have a signed roothash that validated by a keyring
675   specified by dm-verity's configuration, either the system trusted
676   keyring, or the secondary keyring. It depends on
677   ``DM_VERITY_VERIFY_ROOTHASH_SIG`` config option and is controlled by
678   the ``IPE_PROP_DM_VERITY_SIGNATURE`` config option, it will be automatically
679   selected when ``SECURITY_IPE``, ``DM_VERITY`` and
680   ``DM_VERITY_VERIFY_ROOTHASH_SIG`` are all enabled.
681   The format of this property is::
682
683      dmverity_signature=(TRUE|FALSE)
684
685fsverity_digest
686~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
687
688   This property can be utilized for authorization of specific fsverity
689   enabled files, identified via their fsverity digests.
690   It depends on ``FS_VERITY`` config option and is controlled by
691   the ``IPE_PROP_FS_VERITY`` config option, it will be automatically
692   selected when ``SECURITY_IPE`` and ``FS_VERITY`` are all enabled.
693   The format of this property is::
694
695      fsverity_digest=DigestName:HexadecimalString
696
697   The supported DigestNames for fsverity_digest are [#fsveritydigest]_
698
699      + sha256
700      + sha512
701
702fsverity_signature
703~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
704
705   This property is used to authorize all fs-verity enabled files that have
706   been verified by fs-verity's built-in signature mechanism. The signature
707   verification relies on a key stored within the ".fs-verity" keyring. It
708   depends on ``FS_VERITY_BUILTIN_SIGNATURES`` config option and
709   it is controlled by the ``IPE_PROP_FS_VERITY`` config option,
710   it will be automatically selected when ``SECURITY_IPE``, ``FS_VERITY``
711   and ``FS_VERITY_BUILTIN_SIGNATURES`` are all enabled.
712   The format of this property is::
713
714      fsverity_signature=(TRUE|FALSE)
715
716Policy Examples
717---------------
718
719Allow all
720~~~~~~~~~
721
722::
723
724   policy_name=Allow_All policy_version=0.0.0
725   DEFAULT action=ALLOW
726
727Allow only initramfs
728~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
729
730::
731
732   policy_name=Allow_Initramfs policy_version=0.0.0
733   DEFAULT action=DENY
734
735   op=EXECUTE boot_verified=TRUE action=ALLOW
736
737Allow any signed and validated dm-verity volume and the initramfs
738~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
739
740::
741
742   policy_name=Allow_Signed_DMV_And_Initramfs policy_version=0.0.0
743   DEFAULT action=DENY
744
745   op=EXECUTE boot_verified=TRUE action=ALLOW
746   op=EXECUTE dmverity_signature=TRUE action=ALLOW
747
748Prohibit execution from a specific dm-verity volume
749~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
750
751::
752
753   policy_name=Deny_DMV_By_Roothash policy_version=0.0.0
754   DEFAULT action=DENY
755
756   op=EXECUTE dmverity_roothash=sha256:cd2c5bae7c6c579edaae4353049d58eb5f2e8be0244bf05345bc8e5ed257baff action=DENY
757
758   op=EXECUTE boot_verified=TRUE action=ALLOW
759   op=EXECUTE dmverity_signature=TRUE action=ALLOW
760
761Allow only a specific dm-verity volume
762~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
763
764::
765
766   policy_name=Allow_DMV_By_Roothash policy_version=0.0.0
767   DEFAULT action=DENY
768
769   op=EXECUTE dmverity_roothash=sha256:401fcec5944823ae12f62726e8184407a5fa9599783f030dec146938 action=ALLOW
770
771Allow any fs-verity file with a valid built-in signature
772~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
773
774::
775
776   policy_name=Allow_Signed_And_Validated_FSVerity policy_version=0.0.0
777   DEFAULT action=DENY
778
779   op=EXECUTE fsverity_signature=TRUE action=ALLOW
780
781Allow execution of a specific fs-verity file
782~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
783
784::
785
786   policy_name=ALLOW_FSV_By_Digest policy_version=0.0.0
787   DEFAULT action=DENY
788
789   op=EXECUTE fsverity_digest=sha256:fd88f2b8824e197f850bf4c5109bea5cf0ee38104f710843bb72da796ba5af9e action=ALLOW
790
791Additional Information
792----------------------
793
794- `Github Repository <https://github.com/microsoft/ipe>`_
795- :doc:`Developer and design docs for IPE </security/ipe>`
796
797FAQ
798---
799
800Q:
801   What's the difference between other LSMs which provide a measure of
802   trust-based access control?
803
804A:
805
806   In general, there's two other LSMs that can provide similar functionality:
807   IMA, and Loadpin.
808
809   IMA and IPE are functionally very similar. The significant difference between
810   the two is the policy. [#devdoc]_
811
812   Loadpin and IPE differ fairly dramatically, as Loadpin only covers the IPE's
813   kernel read operations, whereas IPE is capable of controlling execution
814   on top of kernel read. The trust model is also different; Loadpin roots its
815   trust in the initial super-block, whereas trust in IPE is stemmed from kernel
816   itself (via ``SYSTEM_TRUSTED_KEYS``).
817
818-----------
819
820.. [#digest_cache_lsm] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20240415142436.2545003-1-roberto.sassu@huaweicloud.com/
821
822.. [#devdoc] Please see :doc:`the design docs </security/ipe>` for more on
823             this topic.
824
825.. [#switch_root] https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/switch_root.8.html
826
827.. [#dmveritydigests] These hash algorithms are based on values accepted by
828                      the Linux crypto API; IPE does not impose any
829                      restrictions on the digest algorithm itself;
830                      thus, this list may be out of date.
831
832.. [#fsveritydigest] These hash algorithms are based on values accepted by the
833                     kernel's fsverity support; IPE does not impose any
834                     restrictions on the digest algorithm itself;
835                     thus, this list may be out of date.
836