freebsd-dev/lib/libposix1e/posix1e.3

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.Dd January 17, 2000
.Dt POSIX1E 3
.Os FreeBSD 4.0
.Sh NAME
.Nm posix1e
.Nd introduction to the POSIX.1e security API
.Sh LIBRARY
.Lb libposix1e
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <sys/acl.h>
.\" .Fd #include <sys/audit.h>
.Fd #include <sys/capability.h>
.\" .Fd #include <sys/mac.h>
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The IEEE POSIX.1e specification never left draft form, but the interfaces
it describes are now widely used despite inherent limitations.  Currently,
only a few of the interfaces and features are implemented in FreeBSD,
although efforts are underway to complete the integration at this time.

POSIX.1e describes five security extensions to the base POSIX.1 API:
Access Control Lists (ACLs), Auditing, Capabilities, Mandatory Access
Control, and Information Flow Labels.  Of these, the ACL interfaces are
currently included with FreeBSD, Auditing, Capabilities, and Mandatory
Access Control are in the wings, and Information Flow Labels are not on
the calendar.

POSIX.1e defines both syntax and semantics for these features, but fairly
substantial changes are required to implement these features in the 
operating system.  As shipped, FreeBSD 4.0 permits file systems to export
Access Control Lists via the VFS, and provides a library for userland
access to and manipulation of these ACLs, but support for ACLs is not
provided by any file systems shipped in the base operating system.
Available API calls relating to ACLs are described in detail in
.Xr acl 3 .

.Fx
currently provides documentation and APIs for fine-grained capability
support, but implementation is currently not included in the base
system.  Documentation of these API calls is provided in
.Xr cap 3 .

Additional patches supporting POSIX.1e features are provided by the
TrustedBSD project:

http://www.trustedbsd.org

.Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
FreeBSD's support for POSIX.1e interfaces and features is still under
development at this time.
.Sh ENVIRONMENT
POSIX.1e assigns security labels to all objects, extending the security
functionality described in POSIX.1.  These additional labels provide
fine-grained discretionary access control, fine-grained capabilities,
and labels necessary for mandatory access control.  POSIX.2c describes
a set of userland utilities for manipulating these labels.  These userland
utilities are not bundled with
.Fx 4.0
so as to discourage their
use in the short term.
.Sh FILES
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr acl 3 ,
.Xr acl 9 ,
.Xr cap 3 ,
.Xr cap 9 ,
.Xr extattr 9
.Sh STANDARDS
POSIX.1e is described in IEEE POSIX.1e draft 17.  Discussion
of the draft continues on the cross-platform POSIX.1e implementation
mailing list.  To join this list, see the
.Fx
POSIX.1e implementation
page for more information.
.Sh HISTORY
POSIX.1e support was introduced in
.Fx 4.0 ,
and development continues.
.Sh AUTHORS
.An Robert N M Watson ,
.An Ilmar S Habibulin
.Sh BUGS
These features are not yet fully implemented.