Skip to Content
Linux Bible, 9th Edition
book

Linux Bible, 9th Edition

by Christopher Negus
April 2015
Beginner
912 pages
25h 14m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Linux Bible, 9th Edition

images

Enhancing Linux Security with SELinux

IN THIS CHAPTER

Learning about SELinux benefits

Learning how SELinux works

Setting up SELinux

Fixing problems with SELinux

Getting additional information on SELinux

Security Enhanced Linux (SELinux) was developed by the National Security Agency (NSA) along with other security research organizations, such as Secure Computing Corporation (SCC). SELinux was released to the open source community in 2000 and became popular when Red Hat included SELinux in its Linux distributions. Now, SELinux is used by many organizations and is widely available.

Understanding SELinux Benefits

SELinux is a security enhancement module deployed on top of Linux. It provides additional security measures, is included by default, and is set to be in Enforcing mode in RHEL and Fedora.

SELinux provides improved security on the Linux system via Role Based Access Controls (RBAC) on subjects and objects (aka processes and resources). “Traditional” Linux security uses Discretionary Access Controls (DAC).

SELinux is not a replacement for DAC. Instead, it is an additional security layer.

  • DAC rules are still used when using SELinux.
  • DAC rules are checked first, and if access is allowed, then SELinux policies are checked.
  • If DAC rules deny access, SELinux policies are not reviewed.

If a user tries to execute a file that he does not have execute access to (rw-), the “traditional” ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Linux Bible, 8th Edition

Linux Bible, 8th Edition

Christopher Negus, Christine Bresnahan
Linux Bible, 10th Edition

Linux Bible, 10th Edition

Christopher Negus

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781118999875Purchase book