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Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a Linux feature that provides a variety of security policies, including U.S. Department of Defense style Mandatory Access Control (MAC), through the use of Linux Security Modules (LSM) in the Linux kernel. It is not a Linux distribution, but rather a set of modifications that can be applied to Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux and BSD.

Running SELinux under a Linux distribution requires three things: An SELinux enabled kernel, SELinux Userspace tools and libraries, and SELinux Policies (mostly based on the Reference Policy). Some common Linux programs will also need to be patched/compiled with SELinux features.

## Current status in Arch Linux

SELinux is not officially supported (see [1][2]). The status of unofficial support is:

Name | Status | Available at
--- | --- | ---
SELinux enabled kernel | Implemented for all officially supported kernels | Available in official repositories since 4.18.8.
SELinux Userspace tools and libraries | Implemented in AUR: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=selinux | Work is done at https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux
SELinux Policy | Work in progress, using Reference Policy as upstream | Upstream: https://github.com/SELinuxProject/refpolicy (since release 20170805 the policy has integrated support for systemd and single-/usr/bin directory)

Summary of changes in AUR as compared to official core packages:

Name | Status and comments
--- | ---
linux, linux-lts, linux-zen, linux-hardened | Need to set the lsm= kernel parameter
coreutils | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag to link with libselinux
cronie | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
dbus | Need a rebuild with `--enable-libaudit` and `--enable-selinux` flags
findutils | Need a rebuild with libselinux installed to enable SELinux-specific options
iproute2 | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
logrotate | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
openssh | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
pam | Need a rebuild with `--enable-selinux` flag for Linux-PAM ; Need a patch for pam_unix2, which only removes a function already implemented in a recent versions of libselinux
pambase | Configuration changes to add pam_selinux.so to `/etc/pam.d/system-login`
psmisc | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
shadow | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flags
sudo | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag
systemd | Need a rebuild with `--enable-audit` and `--enable-selinux` flags
util-linux | Need a rebuild with `--with-selinux` flag

All of the other SELinux-related packages may be included without changes nor risks.

## Concepts: Mandatory Access Controls

Note: This section is meant for beginners. If you know what SELinux does and how it works, feel free to skip ahead to the installation.

Before you enable SELinux, it is worth understanding what it does. Simply and succinctly, SELinux enforces Mandatory Access Controls (MACs) on Linux. In contrast to SELinux, the traditional user/group/rwx permissions are a form of Discretionary Access Control (DAC). MACs are different from DACs because security policy and its execution are completely separated.

An example would be the use of the sudo command. When DACs are enforced, sudo allows temporary privilege escalation to root, giving the process so spawned unrestricted systemwide access. However, when using MACs, if the security administrator deems the process to have access only to a certain set of files, then no matter what the kind of privilege escalation used, unless the security policy itself is changed, the process will remain constrained to simply that set of files. So if sudo is tried on a machine with SELinux running in order for a process to gain access to files its policy does not allow, it will fail.

Another set of examples are the traditional (-rwxr-xr-x) type permissions given to files. When under DAC, these are user-modifiable. However, under MAC, a security administrator can choose to freeze the permissions of a certain file by which it would become impossible for any user to change these permissions until the policy regarding that file is changed.

As you may imagine, this is particularly useful for processes which have the potential to be compromised, i.e. web servers and the like. If DACs are used, then there is a particularly good chance of havoc being wreaked by a compromised program which has access to privilege escalation.

For further information, visit Wikipedia:Mandatory access control.

## Installing SELinux

### Package description

All SELinux related packages belong to the selinux group in the AUR. Before you manually install any of these, read #Installation to see recommended options for a comprehensive installation.

#### SELinux aware system utilities

coreutils-selinuxAUR
  Modified coreutils package compiled with SELinux support enabled. It replaces the coreutils package
cronie-selinuxAUR
  Fedora fork of Vixie cron with SELinux enabled. It replaces the cronie package.
dbus-selinuxAUR
  An SELinux aware version of D-Bus. It replaces the dbus package.
findutils-selinuxAUR
  Patched findutils package compiled with SELinux support to make searching of files with specified security context possible. It replaces the findutils package.
iproute2-selinuxAUR
  iproute2 package compiled with SELinux support; for example, it adds the `-Z` option to `ss`. It replaces the iproute2 package.
logrotate-selinuxAUR
  Logrotate package compiled with SELinux support. It replaces the logrotate package.
openssh-selinuxAUR
  OpenSSH package compiled with SELinux support to set security context for user sessions. It replaces the openssh package.
pam-selinuxAUR and pambase-selinuxAUR
  PAM package with pam_selinux.so. and the underlying base package. They replace the pam and pambase packages respectively.
psmisc-selinuxAUR
  Psmisc package compiled with SELinux support; for example, it adds the `-Z` option to `killall`. It replaces the psmisc package.
shadow-selinuxAUR
  Shadow package compiled with SELinux support; contains a modified `/etc/pam.d/login` file to set correct security context for user after login. It replaces the shadow package.
sudo-selinuxAUR
  Modified sudo package compiled with SELinux support which sets the security context correctly. It replaces the sudo package.
systemd-selinuxAUR
  An SELinux aware version of Systemd. It replaces the systemd package.
util-linux-selinuxAUR
  Modified util-linux package compiled with SELinux support enabled. It replaces the util-linux package.

#### SELinux userspace utilities

checkpolicyAUR
  Tools to build SELinux policy
mcstransAUR
  Daemon which is used by libselinux to translate MCS labels
libselinuxAUR
  Library for security-aware applications. Python bindings needed for semanage and setools now included.
libsemanageAUR
  Library for policy management. Python bindings needed for semanage and setools now included.
libsepolAUR
  Library for binary policy manipulation.
policycoreutilsAUR
  SELinux core utils such as newrole, setfiles, etc.
restorecondAUR
  Daemon which maintains the label of some files
secilcAUR
  Compiler for SELinux policies written in CIL (Common Intermediate Language)
selinux-dbus-configAUR
  DBus service which allows managing SELinux configuration
selinux-guiAUR
  SELinux GUI tools (system-config-selinux)
selinux-pythonAUR and selinux-python2AUR
  SELinux python tools and libraries (semanage, sepolgen, sepolicy, etc.)
selinux-sandboxAUR
  Sandboxing tool for SELinux
semodule-utilsAUR
  Tools to handle SELinux modules when building a policy

#### SELinux policy packages

selinux-refpolicy-srcAUR
  Reference policy sources
selinux-refpolicy-gitAUR
  Reference policy git master (https://github.com/SELinuxProject/refpolicy) built with configuration specific for Arch Linux
selinux-refpolicy-archAUR
  Precompiled modular Reference policy with headers and documentation but without sources. Development Arch Linux Refpolicy patches included, which fixes issues related to path labeling and systemd support. These patches are also sent to Reference Policy maintainers and their inclusion in selinux-refpolicy-archAUR is mainly a way to perform updates between Refpolicy releases.

#### Other SELinux tools

setoolsAUR
  CLI and GUI tools to manage SELinux
selinux-alpm-hookAUR
  pacman hook to label files accordingly to SELinux policy when installing and updating packages

### Installation

There are three methods to install the requisite SELinux packages.

#### Via binary package on GitHub

This article or section is a candidate for merging with Unofficial user repositories#Unsigned.

Notes: Unofficial repositories belong to the dedicated page. (Discuss in Talk:SELinux)

All packages are maintained at https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux . The repository provides a binary package, available by adding the repository to `/etc/pacman.conf`:

    [selinux]
    Server = https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux/releases/download/ArchLinux-SELinux
    SigLevel = Never

The package can then be installed via pacman. Additionally, the `base` package can be replaced with `base-selinux` during the `arch-bootstrap` stage of system installation.

Warning: Currently this repository does not provide signed packages, meaning that the binary it downloads will not be verified by pacman. This presents a security risk; proceed with caution

#### Via build script from GitHub

This repository also contains a script named `build_and_install_all.sh` which builds and installs (or updates) all packages in the needed order. Here is an example of a way this script can be used in a user shell to install all packages (with downloading the GPG keys which are used to verify the source tarballs of the package):

    $ git clone https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux.git
    $ cd selinux
    $ ./recv_gpg_keys.sh
    $ ./build_and_install_all.sh

Of course, it is possible to modify the content of `build_and_install_all.sh` before running it, for example if you already have SELinux support in your kernel.

#### Via AUR

- First, install SELinux userspace tools and libraries, in this order (because of the dependencies): libsepolAUR, libselinuxAUR, checkpolicyAUR, secilcAUR, setoolsAUR, libsemanageAUR, semodule-utilsAUR, policycoreutilsAUR, selinux-pythonAUR (which depends on python-ipy), mcstransAUR and restorecondAUR.
- Then install pambase-selinuxAUR and pam-selinuxAUR and make sure you can login again after the installation completed, because files in `/etc/pam.d/` got removed and created when pambase got replaced with pambase-selinuxAUR.
- Next you can recompile some core packages by installing: coreutils-selinuxAUR, findutils-selinuxAUR, iproute2-selinuxAUR, logrotate-selinuxAUR, openssh-selinuxAUR, psmisc-selinuxAUR, shadow-selinuxAUR, cronie-selinuxAUR
- Next, backup your `/etc/sudoers` file. Install sudo-selinuxAUR and restore your `/etc/sudoers` (it is overridden when this package is installed as a replacement of sudo).
- Next come util-linux and systemd. Because of a cyclic makedepends between these two packages which will not be fixed (FS#39767), you need to build the source package systemd-selinuxAUR, install systemd-libs-selinuxAUR, build and install util-linux-selinuxAUR (with util-linux-libs-selinuxAUR) and rebuild and install systemd-selinuxAUR.
- Next, install dbus-selinuxAUR.
- Next, install selinux-alpm-hookAUR in order to run restorecon every time pacman installs a package.

After all these steps, you can install a SELinux kernel (like linux) and a policy (like selinux-refpolicy-archAUR or selinux-refpolicy-gitAUR).

### Enable SELinux LSM

To enable SELinux as default security model on every boot, set the following kernel parameter:

    lsm=landlock,lockdown,yama,integrity,selinux,bpf

Note: The `lsm=` kernel parameter sets the initialization order of Linux security modules. The kernel's configured `lsm=` value can be found with `zgrep CONFIG_LSM= /proc/config.gz` and the current value with `cat /sys/kernel/security/lsm`.

- Make sure that `selinux` is the first "major" module in the list.[3] Examples of valid values and their order can be found in security/Kconfig.
- `capability` should be omitted from `lsm=` as it will always get included automatically.

#### Custom kernel

When compiling the kernel, it is required to set at least the following options:

    CONFIG_SECURITY_SELINUX=y
    CONFIG_AUDIT=y

To enable the SELinux Linux security model by default and omit the need to set kernel parameters, additionally set the `CONFIG_LSM` option and specify `selinux` as the first "major" module in the list:

    CONFIG_LSM="landlock,lockdown,yama,integrity,selinux,bpf"

### Checking PAM

A correctly set-up PAM is important to get the proper security context after login. Check for the presence of the following lines in `/etc/pam.d/system-login`:

    # pam_selinux.so close should be the first session rule
    session         required        pam_selinux.so close

    # pam_selinux.so open should only be followed by sessions to be executed in the user context
    session         required        pam_selinux.so open

### Installing a policy

Warning: The reference policy as given by SELinuxProject is not very good for Arch Linux. Most people submitting patches to improve the policy use an other distribution (Debian, Gentoo, RHEL, etc.), therefore the compatibility with Arch Linux packages is not perfect (for example the policy may not support the most recent features of a program).

Policies are the mainstay of SELinux. They are what govern its behaviour. The only policy currently available in the AUR is the Reference Policy. In order to install it, you should use the source files, which may be got from the package selinux-refpolicy-srcAUR or by downloading the latest release on https://github.com/SELinuxProject/refpolicy/wiki/DownloadRelease#current-release. When using the AUR package, navigate to `/etc/selinux/refpolicy/src/policy` and run the following commands:

    # make bare
    # make conf
    # make install

to install the reference policy as it is. Those who know how to write SELinux policies can tweak them to their heart's content before running the commands written above. The command takes a while to do its job and taxes one core of your system completely, so do not worry. Just sit back and let the command run for as long as it takes.

To load the reference policy run:

    # make load

Then, make the file `/etc/selinux/config` with the following contents (Only works if you used the defaults as mentioned above. If you decided to change the name of the policy, you need to tweak the file):

    /etc/selinux/config

    # This file controls the state of SELinux on the system.
    # SELINUX= can take one of these three values:
    #       enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced.
    #                   Set this value once you know for sure that SELinux is configured the way you like it and that your system is ready for deployment
    #       permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing.
    #                    Use this to customise your SELinux policies and booleans prior to deployment. Recommended during policy development.
    #       disabled - No SELinux policy is loaded.
    #                  This is not a recommended setting, for it may cause problems with file labelling
    SELINUX=permissive
    # SELINUXTYPE= takes the name of SELinux policy to
    # be used. Current options are:
    #       refpolicy (vanilla reference policy)
    #       <custompolicy> - Substitute <custompolicy> with the name of any custom policy you choose to load
    SELINUXTYPE=refpolicy

Now, you may reboot. After rebooting, run:

    # restorecon -r /

to label your filesystem.

Now, make a file `requiredmod.te` with the contents:

    requiredmod.te

    module requiredmod 1.0;

    require {
            type devpts_t;
            type kernel_t;
            type device_t;
            type var_run_t;
            type udev_t;
            type hugetlbfs_t;
            type udev_tbl_t;
            type tmpfs_t;
            class sock_file write;
            class unix_stream_socket { read write ioctl };
            class capability2 block_suspend;
            class dir { write add_name };
            class filesystem associate;
    }

    #============= devpts_t ==============
    allow devpts_t device_t:filesystem associate;

    #============= hugetlbfs_t ==============
    allow hugetlbfs_t device_t:filesystem associate;

    #============= kernel_t ==============
    allow kernel_t self:capability2 block_suspend;

    #============= tmpfs_t ==============
    allow tmpfs_t device_t:filesystem associate;

    #============= udev_t ==============
    allow udev_t kernel_t:unix_stream_socket { read write ioctl };
    allow udev_t udev_tbl_t:dir { write add_name };
    allow udev_t var_run_t:sock_file write;

and run the following commands:

    # checkmodule -m -o requiredmod.mod requiredmod.te
    # semodule_package -o requiredmod.pp -m requiredmod.mod
    # semodule -i requiredmod.pp

This is required to remove a few messages from `/var/log/audit/audit.log` which are a nuisance to deal with in the reference policy. This is an ugly hack and it should be made very clear that the policy so installed simply patches the reference policy in order to hide the effects of incorrect labelling.

### Testing in a Vagrant virtual machine

It is possible to use Vagrant to provision a virtual Arch Linux machine with SELinux configured. This is a convenient way to test an Arch Linux system running SELinux without modifying a current system. Here are commands which can be used to achieve this:

    $ git clone https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux.git
    $ cd selinux/_vagrant
    $ vagrant up
    $ vagrant ssh

## Post-installation steps

You can check that SELinux is working with `sestatus`. You should get something like:

    SELinux status:                 enabled
    SELinuxfs mount:                /sys/fs/selinux
    SELinux root directory:         /etc/selinux
    Loaded policy name:             refpolicy
    Current mode:                   permissive
    Mode from config file:          permissive
    Policy MLS status:              disabled
    Policy deny_unknown status:     allowed
    Max kernel policy version:      28

To maintain correct context, you can enable `restorecond.service`.

To switch to enforcing mode without rebooting, you can use:

    # echo 1 > /sys/fs/selinux/enforce

### Swapfiles

If you have a swap file instead of a swap partition, issue the following commands in order to set the appropriate security context:

    # semanage fcontext -a -t swapfile_t "/path/to/swapfile"
    # restorecon /path/to/swapfile

## Working with SELinux

SELinux defines security using a different mechanism than traditional Unix access controls. The best way to understand it is by example. For example, the SELinux security context of the apache homepage looks like the following:

    $ ls -lZ /var/www/html/index.html

    -rw-r--r--  username username system_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t /var/www/html/index.html

The first three and the last columns should be familiar to any (Arch) Linux user. The fourth column is new and has the format:

    user:role:type[:level]

To explain:

1. User: The SELinux user identity. This can be associated to one or more roles that the SELinux user is allowed to use.
2. Role: The SELinux role. This can be associated to one or more types the SELinux user is allowed to access.
3. Type: When a type is associated with a process, it defines what processes (or domains) the SELinux user (the subject) can access. When a type is associated with an object, it defines what access permissions the SELinux user has to that object.
4. Level: This optional field can also be know as a range and is only present if the policy supports MCS or MLS.

This is important in case you wish to understand how to build your own policies, for these are the basic building blocks of SELinux. However, for most purposes, there is no need to, for the reference policy is sufficiently mature. However, if you are a power user or someone with very specific needs, then it might be ideal for you to learn how to make your own SELinux policies.

This is a great series of articles for someone seeking to understand how to work with SELinux.

## Troubleshooting

The place to look for SELinux errors is the systemd journal. In order to see SELinux messages related to the label `system_u:system_r:policykit_t:s0` (for example), you would need to run:

    # journalctl _SELINUX_CONTEXT=system_u:system_r:policykit_t:s0

### Useful tools

There are some tools/commands that can greatly help with SELinux.

restorecon
  Restores the context of a file/directory (or recursively with `-R`) based on any policy rules
chcon
  Change the context on a specific file

### Reporting issues

Please report issues on GitHub: https://github.com/archlinuxhardened/selinux/issues

## See also

- Security Enhanced Linux
- Gentoo:SELinux
- Fedora:SELinux
- NSA's Official SELinux Homepage
- SELinux Project Homepage
  - Reference Policy Homepage
  - SETools Homepage
- ArchLinux, SELinux and You (archived)

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- Access control
- Kernel
- Red Hat

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