Smack – kernel based Mandatory Access Control

Last Updated on July 13, 2021

The Simplified Mandatory Access Control Kernel (Smack) provides a Linux kernel based Mandatory Access Control (MAC) mechanism for protecting processes and data from inappropriate manipulation. Smack is designed to be as simple as possible while retaining the flexibility required to meet modern system security needs.

Smack uses process, file, and network labels combined with an easy to understand and manipulate way to identify the kind of accesses that should be allowed.

Smack is included the mainline kernel. It works best with file systems that support extended attributes.

Features include:

• Kernel based scheme that requires an absolute minimum of application support and a very small amount of configuration data.
• Provides mandatory access controls based on the label attached to a task.
• Datastate access control system – uses a combination of Linux kernel based access control and event driven file scanning to implement file content based access control.
• Uses extended attributes and provides a set of general mount options, borrowing technics used elsewhere.
• Provides a pseudo-filesystem smackfs.
• Easy administration.

Website: schaufler-ca.com
Support: Secure Linux containers cookbook
Developer: Casey Schaufler
License: GNU GPL v2

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