1 PRIVILEGES(5) Standards, Environments, and Macros PRIVILEGES(5)
2
3
4
5 NAME
6 privileges - process privilege model
7
8 DESCRIPTION
9 Solaris software implements a set of privileges that provide fine-
10 grained control over the actions of processes. The possession of a
11 certain privilege allows a process to perform a specific set of
12 restricted operations.
13
14
15 The change to a primarily privilege-based security model in the Solaris
16 operating system gives developers an opportunity to restrict processes
17 to those privileged operations actually needed instead of all (super-
18 user) or no privileges (non-zero UIDs). Additionally, a set of
19 previously unrestricted operations now requires a privilege; these
20 privileges are dubbed the "basic" privileges and are by default given
21 to all processes.
22
23
24 Taken together, all defined privileges with the exception of the
25 "basic" privileges compose the set of privileges that are traditionally
26 associated with the root user. The "basic" privileges are "privileges"
27 unprivileged processes were accustomed to having.
28
29
30 The defined privileges are:
31
32 PRIV_CONTRACT_EVENT
33
34 Allow a process to request reliable delivery of events to an event
35 endpoint.
36
37 Allow a process to include events in the critical event set term of
38 a template which could be generated in volume by the user.
39
40
41 PRIV_CONTRACT_IDENTITY
42
43 Allows a process to set the service FMRI value of a process
44 contract template.
45
46
47 PRIV_CONTRACT_OBSERVER
48
49 Allow a process to observe contract events generated by contracts
50 created and owned by users other than the process's effective user
51 ID.
52
53 Allow a process to open contract event endpoints belonging to
54 contracts created and owned by users other than the process's
55 effective user ID.
56
57
58 PRIV_CPC_CPU
59
60 Allow a process to access per-CPU hardware performance counters.
61
62
63 PRIV_DTRACE_KERNEL
64
65 Allow DTrace kernel-level tracing.
66
67
68 PRIV_DTRACE_PROC
69
70 Allow DTrace process-level tracing. Allow process-level tracing
71 probes to be placed and enabled in processes to which the user has
72 permissions.
73
74
75 PRIV_DTRACE_USER
76
77 Allow DTrace user-level tracing. Allow use of the syscall and
78 profile DTrace providers to examine processes to which the user has
79 permissions.
80
81
82 PRIV_FILE_CHOWN
83
84 Allow a process to change a file's owner user ID. Allow a process
85 to change a file's group ID to one other than the process's
86 effective group ID or one of the process's supplemental group IDs.
87
88
89 PRIV_FILE_CHOWN_SELF
90
91 Allow a process to give away its files. A process with this
92 privilege runs as if {_POSIX_CHOWN_RESTRICTED} is not in effect.
93
94
95 PRIV_FILE_DAC_EXECUTE
96
97 Allow a process to execute an executable file whose permission bits
98 or ACL would otherwise disallow the process execute permission.
99
100
101 PRIV_FILE_DAC_READ
102
103 Allow a process to read a file or directory whose permission bits
104 or ACL would otherwise disallow the process read permission.
105
106
107 PRIV_FILE_DAC_SEARCH
108
109 Allow a process to search a directory whose permission bits or ACL
110 would not otherwise allow the process search permission.
111
112
113 PRIV_FILE_DAC_WRITE
114
115 Allow a process to write a file or directory whose permission bits
116 or ACL do not allow the process write permission. All privileges
117 are required to write files owned by UID 0 in the absence of an
118 effective UID of 0.
119
120
121 PRIV_FILE_DOWNGRADE_SL
122
123 Allow a process to set the sensitivity label of a file or directory
124 to a sensitivity label that does not dominate the existing
125 sensitivity label.
126
127 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
128 Trusted Extensions.
129
130
131 PRIV_FILE_FLAG_SET
132
133 Allows a process to set immutable, nounlink or appendonly file
134 attributes.
135
136
137 PRIV_FILE_LINK_ANY
138
139 Allow a process to create hardlinks to files owned by a UID
140 different from the process's effective UID.
141
142
143 PRIV_FILE_OWNER
144
145 Allow a process that is not the owner of a file to modify that
146 file's access and modification times. Allow a process that is not
147 the owner of a directory to modify that directory's access and
148 modification times. Allow a process that is not the owner of a file
149 or directory to remove or rename a file or directory whose parent
150 directory has the "save text image after execution" (sticky) bit
151 set. Allow a process that is not the owner of a file to mount a
152 namefs upon that file. Allow a process that is not the owner of a
153 file or directory to modify that file's or directory's permission
154 bits or ACL.
155
156
157 PRIV_FILE_READ
158
159 Allow a process to open objects in the filesystem for reading. This
160 privilege is not necessary to read from an already open file which
161 was opened before dropping the PRIV_FILE_READ privilege.
162
163
164 PRIV_FILE_SETID
165
166 Allow a process to change the ownership of a file or write to a
167 file without the set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits being cleared.
168 Allow a process to set the set-group-ID bit on a file or directory
169 whose group is not the process's effective group or one of the
170 process's supplemental groups. Allow a process to set the set-user-
171 ID bit on a file with different ownership in the presence of
172 PRIV_FILE_OWNER. Additional restrictions apply when creating or
173 modifying a setuid 0 file.
174
175
176 PRIV_FILE_UPGRADE_SL
177
178 Allow a process to set the sensitivity label of a file or directory
179 to a sensitivity label that dominates the existing sensitivity
180 label.
181
182 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
183 Trusted Extensions.
184
185
186 PRIV_FILE_WRITE
187
188 Allow a process to open objects in the filesytem for writing, or
189 otherwise modify them. This privilege is not necessary to write to
190 an already open file which was opened before dropping the
191 PRIV_FILE_WRITE privilege.
192
193
194 PRIV_GRAPHICS_ACCESS
195
196 Allow a process to make privileged ioctls to graphics devices.
197 Typically only an xserver process needs to have this privilege. A
198 process with this privilege is also allowed to perform privileged
199 graphics device mappings.
200
201
202 PRIV_GRAPHICS_MAP
203
204 Allow a process to perform privileged mappings through a graphics
205 device.
206
207
208 PRIV_IPC_DAC_READ
209
210 Allow a process to read a System V IPC Message Queue, Semaphore
211 Set, or Shared Memory Segment whose permission bits would not
212 otherwise allow the process read permission.
213
214
215 PRIV_IPC_DAC_WRITE
216
217 Allow a process to write a System V IPC Message Queue, Semaphore
218 Set, or Shared Memory Segment whose permission bits would not
219 otherwise allow the process write permission.
220
221
222 PRIV_IPC_OWNER
223
224 Allow a process that is not the owner of a System V IPC Message
225 Queue, Semaphore Set, or Shared Memory Segment to remove, change
226 ownership of, or change permission bits of the Message Queue,
227 Semaphore Set, or Shared Memory Segment.
228
229
230 PRIV_NET_ACCESS
231
232 Allow a process to open a TCP, UDP, SDP, or SCTP network endpoint.
233 This privilege is not necessary to communicate using an existing
234 endpoint already opened before dropping the PRIV_NET_ACCESS
235 privilege.
236
237
238 PRIV_NET_BINDMLP
239
240 Allow a process to bind to a port that is configured as a multi-
241 level port (MLP) for the process's zone. This privilege applies to
242 both shared address and zone-specific address MLPs. See
243 tnzonecfg(4) from the Trusted Extensions manual pages for
244 information on configuring MLP ports.
245
246 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
247 Trusted Extensions.
248
249
250 PRIV_NET_ICMPACCESS
251
252 Allow a process to send and receive ICMP packets.
253
254
255 PRIV_NET_MAC_AWARE
256
257 Allow a process to set the NET_MAC_AWARE process flag by using
258 setpflags(2). This privilege also allows a process to set the
259 SO_MAC_EXEMPT socket option by using setsockopt(3SOCKET). The
260 NET_MAC_AWARE process flag and the SO_MAC_EXEMPT socket option both
261 allow a local process to communicate with an unlabeled peer if the
262 local process's label dominates the peer's default label, or if the
263 local process runs in the global zone.
264
265 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
266 Trusted Extensions.
267
268
269 PRIV_NET_MAC_IMPLICIT
270
271 Allow a proces to set SO_MAC_IMPLICIT option by using
272 setsockopt(3SOCKET). This allows a privileged process to transmit
273 implicitly-labeled packets to a peer.
274
275 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
276 Trusted Extensions.
277
278
279 PRIV_NET_OBSERVABILITY
280
281 Allow a process to open a device for just receiving network
282 traffic, sending traffic is disallowed.
283
284
285 PRIV_NET_PRIVADDR
286
287 Allow a process to bind to a privileged port number. The privilege
288 port numbers are 1-1023 (the traditional UNIX privileged ports) as
289 well as those ports marked as "udp/tcp_extra_priv_ports" with the
290 exception of the ports reserved for use by NFS and SMB.
291
292
293 PRIV_NET_RAWACCESS
294
295 Allow a process to have direct access to the network layer.
296
297
298 PRIV_PROC_AUDIT
299
300 Allow a process to generate audit records. Allow a process to get
301 its own audit pre-selection information.
302
303
304 PRIV_PROC_CHROOT
305
306 Allow a process to change its root directory.
307
308
309 PRIV_PROC_CLOCK_HIGHRES
310
311 Allow a process to use high resolution timers.
312
313
314 PRIV_PROC_EXEC
315
316 Allow a process to call exec(2).
317
318
319 PRIV_PROC_FORK
320
321 Allow a process to call fork(2), fork1(2), or vfork(2).
322
323
324 PRIV_PROC_INFO
325
326 Allow a process to examine the status of processes other than those
327 to which it can send signals. Processes that cannot be examined
328 cannot be seen in /proc and appear not to exist.
329
330
331 PRIV_PROC_LOCK_MEMORY
332
333 Allow a process to lock pages in physical memory.
334
335
336 PRIV_PROC_MEMINFO
337
338 Allow a process to access physical memory information.
339
340
341 PRIV_PROC_OWNER
342
343 Allow a process to send signals to other processes and inspect and
344 modify the process state in other processes, regardless of
345 ownership. When modifying another process, additional restrictions
346 apply: the effective privilege set of the attaching process must be
347 a superset of the target process's effective, permitted, and
348 inheritable sets; the limit set must be a superset of the target's
349 limit set; if the target process has any UID set to 0 all privilege
350 must be asserted unless the effective UID is 0. Allow a process to
351 bind arbitrary processes to CPUs.
352
353
354 PRIV_PROC_PRIOUP
355
356 Allow a process to elevate its priority above its current level.
357
358
359 PRIV_PROC_PRIOCNTL
360
361 Allows all that PRIV_PROC_PRIOUP allows. Allow a process to change
362 its scheduling class to any scheduling class, including the RT
363 class.
364
365
366 PRIV_PROC_SECFLAGS
367
368 Allow a process to manipulate the secflags of processes (subject
369 to, additionally, the ability to signal that process).
370
371
372 PRIV_PROC_SESSION
373
374 Allow a process to send signals or trace processes outside its
375 session.
376
377
378 PRIV_PROC_SETID
379
380 Allow a process to set its UIDs at will, assuming UID 0 requires
381 all privileges to be asserted.
382
383
384 PRIV_PROC_TASKID
385
386 Allow a process to assign a new task ID to the calling process.
387
388
389 PRIV_PROC_ZONE
390
391 Allow a process to trace or send signals to processes in other
392 zones. See zones(5).
393
394
395 PRIV_SYS_ACCT
396
397 Allow a process to enable and disable and manage accounting through
398 acct(2).
399
400
401 PRIV_SYS_ADMIN
402
403 Allow a process to perform system administration tasks such as
404 setting node and domain name and specifying coreadm(1M) and
405 nscd(1M) settings
406
407
408 PRIV_SYS_AUDIT
409
410 Allow a process to start the (kernel) audit daemon. Allow a process
411 to view and set audit state (audit user ID, audit terminal ID,
412 audit sessions ID, audit pre-selection mask). Allow a process to
413 turn off and on auditing. Allow a process to configure the audit
414 parameters (cache and queue sizes, event to class mappings, and
415 policy options).
416
417
418 PRIV_SYS_CONFIG
419
420 Allow a process to perform various system configuration tasks.
421 Allow filesystem-specific administrative procedures, such as
422 filesystem configuration ioctls, quota calls, creation and deletion
423 of snapshots, and manipulating the PCFS bootsector.
424
425
426 PRIV_SYS_DEVICES
427
428 Allow a process to create device special files. Allow a process to
429 successfully call a kernel module that calls the kernel
430 drv_priv(9F) function to check for allowed access. Allow a process
431 to open the real console device directly. Allow a process to open
432 devices that have been exclusively opened.
433
434
435 PRIV_SYS_DL_CONFIG
436
437 Allow a process to configure a system's datalink interfaces.
438
439
440 PRIV_SYS_IP_CONFIG
441
442 Allow a process to configure a system's IP interfaces and routes.
443 Allow a process to configure network parameters for TCP/IP using
444 ndd. Allow a process access to otherwise restricted TCP/IP
445 information using ndd. Allow a process to configure IPsec. Allow a
446 process to pop anchored STREAMs modules with matching zoneid.
447
448
449 PRIV_SYS_IPC_CONFIG
450
451 Allow a process to increase the size of a System V IPC Message
452 Queue buffer.
453
454
455 PRIV_SYS_IPTUN_CONFIG
456
457 Allow a process to configure IP tunnel links.
458
459
460 PRIV_SYS_LINKDIR
461
462 Allow a process to unlink and link directories.
463
464
465 PRIV_SYS_MOUNT
466
467 Allow a process to mount and unmount filesystems that would
468 otherwise be restricted (that is, most filesystems except namefs).
469 Allow a process to add and remove swap devices.
470
471
472 PRIV_SYS_NET_CONFIG
473
474 Allow a process to do all that PRIV_SYS_IP_CONFIG,
475 PRIV_SYS_DL_CONFIG, and PRIV_SYS_PPP_CONFIG allow, plus the
476 following: use the rpcmod STREAMS module and insert/remove STREAMS
477 modules on locations other than the top of the module stack.
478
479
480 PRIV_SYS_NFS
481
482 Allow a process to provide NFS service: start NFS kernel threads,
483 perform NFS locking operations, bind to NFS reserved ports: ports
484 2049 (nfs) and port 4045 (lockd).
485
486
487 PRIV_SYS_PPP_CONFIG
488
489 Allow a process to create, configure, and destroy PPP instances
490 with pppd(1M) pppd(1M) and control PPPoE plumbing with
491 sppptun(1M)sppptun(1M). This privilege is granted by default to
492 exclusive IP stack instance zones.
493
494
495 PRIV_SYS_RES_BIND
496
497 Allows a process to bind processes to processor sets.
498
499
500 PRIV_SYS_RES_CONFIG
501
502 Allows all that PRIV_SYS_RES_BIND allows. Allow a process to
503 create and delete processor sets, assign CPUs to processor sets and
504 override the PSET_NOESCAPE property. Allow a process to change the
505 operational status of CPUs in the system using p_online(2). Allow a
506 process to configure filesystem quotas. Allow a process to
507 configure resource pools and bind processes to pools.
508
509
510 PRIV_SYS_RESOURCE
511
512 Allow a process to exceed the resource limits imposed on it by
513 setrlimit(2) and setrctl(2).
514
515
516 PRIV_SYS_SMB
517
518 Allow a process to provide NetBIOS or SMB services: start SMB
519 kernel threads or bind to NetBIOS or SMB reserved ports: ports 137,
520 138, 139 (NetBIOS) and 445 (SMB).
521
522
523 PRIV_SYS_SUSER_COMPAT
524
525 Allow a process to successfully call a third party loadable module
526 that calls the kernel suser() function to check for allowed access.
527 This privilege exists only for third party loadable module
528 compatibility and is not used by Solaris proper.
529
530
531 PRIV_SYS_TIME
532
533 Allow a process to manipulate system time using any of the
534 appropriate system calls: stime(2), adjtime(2), and ntp_adjtime(2).
535
536
537 PRIV_SYS_TRANS_LABEL
538
539 Allow a process to translate labels that are not dominated by the
540 process's sensitivity label to and from an external string form.
541
542 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
543 Trusted Extensions.
544
545
546 PRIV_VIRT_MANAGE
547
548 Allows a process to manage virtualized environments such as xVM(5).
549
550
551 PRIV_WIN_COLORMAP
552
553 Allow a process to override colormap restrictions.
554
555 Allow a process to install or remove colormaps.
556
557 Allow a process to retrieve colormap cell entries allocated by
558 other processes.
559
560 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
561 Trusted Extensions.
562
563
564 PRIV_WIN_CONFIG
565
566 Allow a process to configure or destroy resources that are
567 permanently retained by the X server.
568
569 Allow a process to use SetScreenSaver to set the screen saver
570 timeout value
571
572 Allow a process to use ChangeHosts to modify the display access
573 control list.
574
575 Allow a process to use GrabServer.
576
577 Allow a process to use the SetCloseDownMode request that can retain
578 window, pixmap, colormap, property, cursor, font, or graphic
579 context resources.
580
581 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
582 Trusted Extensions.
583
584
585 PRIV_WIN_DAC_READ
586
587 Allow a process to read from a window resource that it does not own
588 (has a different user ID).
589
590 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
591 Trusted Extensions.
592
593
594 PRIV_WIN_DAC_WRITE
595
596 Allow a process to write to or create a window resource that it
597 does not own (has a different user ID). A newly created window
598 property is created with the window's user ID.
599
600 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
601 Trusted Extensions.
602
603
604 PRIV_WIN_DEVICES
605
606 Allow a process to perform operations on window input devices.
607
608 Allow a process to get and set keyboard and pointer controls.
609
610 Allow a process to modify pointer button and key mappings.
611
612 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
613 Trusted Extensions.
614
615
616 PRIV_WIN_DGA
617
618 Allow a process to use the direct graphics access (DGA) X protocol
619 extensions. Direct process access to the frame buffer is still
620 required. Thus the process must have MAC and DAC privileges that
621 allow access to the frame buffer, or the frame buffer must be
622 allocated to the process.
623
624 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
625 Trusted Extensions.
626
627
628 PRIV_WIN_DOWNGRADE_SL
629
630 Allow a process to set the sensitivity label of a window resource
631 to a sensitivity label that does not dominate the existing
632 sensitivity label.
633
634 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
635 Trusted Extensions.
636
637
638 PRIV_WIN_FONTPATH
639
640 Allow a process to set a font path.
641
642 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
643 Trusted Extensions.
644
645
646 PRIV_WIN_MAC_READ
647
648 Allow a process to read from a window resource whose sensitivity
649 label is not equal to the process sensitivity label.
650
651 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
652 Trusted Extensions.
653
654
655 PRIV_WIN_MAC_WRITE
656
657 Allow a process to create a window resource whose sensitivity label
658 is not equal to the process sensitivity label. A newly created
659 window property is created with the window's sensitivity label.
660
661 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
662 Trusted Extensions.
663
664
665 PRIV_WIN_SELECTION
666
667 Allow a process to request inter-window data moves without the
668 intervention of the selection confirmer.
669
670 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
671 Trusted Extensions.
672
673
674 PRIV_WIN_UPGRADE_SL
675
676 Allow a process to set the sensitivity label of a window resource
677 to a sensitivity label that dominates the existing sensitivity
678 label.
679
680 This privilege is interpreted only if the system is configured with
681 Trusted Extensions.
682
683
684 PRIV_XVM_CONTROL
685
686 Allows a process access to the xVM(5) control devices for managing
687 guest domains and the hypervisor. This privilege is used only if
688 booted into xVM on x86 platforms.
689
690
691
692 Of the privileges listed above, the privileges PRIV_FILE_LINK_ANY,
693 PRIV_PROC_INFO, PRIV_PROC_SESSION, PRIV_PROC_FORK, PRIV_FILE_READ,
694 PRIV_FILE_WRITE, PRIV_NET_ACCESS and PRIV_PROC_EXEC are considered
695 "basic" privileges. These are privileges that used to be always
696 available to unprivileged processes. By default, processes still have
697 the basic privileges.
698
699
700 The privileges PRIV_PROC_SETID and PRIV_PROC_AUDIT must be present in
701 the Limit set (see below) of a process in order for set-uid root execs
702 to be successful, that is, get an effective UID of 0 and additional
703 privileges.
704
705
706 The privilege implementation in Solaris extends the process credential
707 with four privilege sets:
708
709 I, the inheritable set
710 The privileges inherited on exec.
711
712
713 P, the permitted set
714 The maximum set of privileges for the
715 process.
716
717
718 E, the effective set
719 The privileges currently in effect.
720
721
722 L, the limit set
723 The upper bound of the privileges a process
724 and its offspring can obtain. Changes to L
725 take effect on the next exec.
726
727
728
729 The sets I, P and E are typically identical to the basic set of
730 privileges for unprivileged processes. The limit set is typically the
731 full set of privileges.
732
733
734 Each process has a Privilege Awareness State (PAS) that can take the
735 value PA (privilege-aware) and NPA (not-PA). PAS is a transitional
736 mechanism that allows a choice between full compatibility with the old
737 superuser model and completely ignoring the effective UID.
738
739
740 To facilitate the discussion, we introduce the notion of "observed
741 effective set" (oE) and "observed permitted set" (oP) and the
742 implementation sets iE and iP.
743
744
745 A process becomes privilege-aware either by manipulating the effective,
746 permitted, or limit privilege sets through setppriv(2) or by using
747 setpflags(2). In all cases, oE and oP are invariant in the process of
748 becoming privilege-aware. In the process of becoming privilege-aware,
749 the following assignments take place:
750
751 iE = oE
752 iP = oP
753
754
755
756 When a process is privilege-aware, oE and oP are invariant under UID
757 changes. When a process is not privilege-aware, oE and oP are observed
758 as follows:
759
760 oE = euid == 0 ? L : iE
761 oP = (euid == 0 || ruid == 0 || suid == 0) ? L : iP
762
763
764
765 When a non-privilege-aware process has an effective UID of 0, it can
766 exercise the privileges contained in its limit set, the upper bound of
767 its privileges. If a non-privilege-aware process has any of the UIDs
768 0, it appears to be capable of potentially exercising all privileges in
769 L.
770
771
772 It is possible for a process to return to the non-privilege aware state
773 using setpflags(). The kernel always attempts this on exec(2). This
774 operation is permitted only if the following conditions are met:
775
776 o If any of the UIDs is equal to 0, P must be equal to L.
777
778 o If the effective UID is equal to 0, E must be equal to L.
779
780
781 When a process gives up privilege awareness, the following assignments
782 take place:
783
784 if (euid == 0) iE = L & I
785 if (any uid == 0) iP = L & I
786
787
788
789 The privileges obtained when not having a UID of 0 are the inheritable
790 set of the process restricted by the limit set.
791
792
793 Only privileges in the process's (observed) effective privilege set
794 allow the process to perform restricted operations. A process can use
795 any of the privilege manipulation functions to add or remove privileges
796 from the privilege sets. Privileges can be removed always. Only
797 privileges found in the permitted set can be added to the effective and
798 inheritable set. The limit set cannot grow. The inheritable set can be
799 larger than the permitted set.
800
801
802 When a process performs an exec(2), the kernel first tries to
803 relinquish privilege awareness before making the following privilege
804 set modifications:
805
806 E' = P' = I' = L & I
807 L is unchanged
808
809
810
811 If a process has not manipulated its privileges, the privilege sets
812 effectively remain the same, as E, P and I are already identical.
813
814
815 The limit set is enforced at exec time.
816
817
818 To run a non-privilege-aware application in a backward-compatible
819 manner, a privilege-aware application should start the non-privilege-
820 aware application with I=basic.
821
822
823 For most privileges, absence of the privilege simply results in a
824 failure. In some instances, the absense of a privilege can cause system
825 calls to behave differently. In other instances, the removal of a
826 privilege can force a set-uid application to seriously malfunction.
827 Privileges of this type are considered "unsafe". When a process is
828 lacking any of the unsafe privileges from its limit set, the system
829 does not honor the set-uid bit of set-uid root applications. The
830 following unsafe privileges have been identified: proc_setid,
831 sys_resource and proc_audit.
832
833 Privilege Escalation
834 In certain circumstances, a single privilege could lead to a process
835 gaining one or more additional privileges that were not explicitly
836 granted to that process. To prevent such an escalation of privileges,
837 the security policy requires explicit permission for those additional
838 privileges.
839
840
841 Common examples of escalation are those mechanisms that allow
842 modification of system resources through "raw'' interfaces; for
843 example, changing kernel data structures through /dev/kmem or changing
844 files through /dev/dsk/*. Escalation also occurs when a process
845 controls processes with more privileges than the controlling process. A
846 special case of this is manipulating or creating objects owned by UID 0
847 or trying to obtain UID 0 using setuid(2). The special treatment of UID
848 0 is needed because the UID 0 owns all system configuration files and
849 ordinary file protection mechanisms allow processes with UID 0 to
850 modify the system configuration. With appropriate file modifications, a
851 given process running with an effective UID of 0 can gain all
852 privileges.
853
854
855 In situations where a process might obtain UID 0, the security policy
856 requires additional privileges, up to the full set of privileges. Such
857 restrictions could be relaxed or removed at such time as additional
858 mechanisms for protection of system files became available. There are
859 no such mechanisms in the current Solaris release.
860
861
862 The use of UID 0 processes should be limited as much as possible. They
863 should be replaced with programs running under a different UID but with
864 exactly the privileges they need.
865
866
867 Daemons that never need to exec subprocesses should remove the
868 PRIV_PROC_EXEC privilege from their permitted and limit sets.
869
870 Assigned Privileges and Safeguards
871 When privileges are assigned to a user, the system administrator could
872 give that user more powers than intended. The administrator should
873 consider whether safeguards are needed. For example, if the
874 PRIV_PROC_LOCK_MEMORY privilege is given to a user, the administrator
875 should consider setting the project.max-locked-memory resource control
876 as well, to prevent that user from locking all memory.
877
878 Privilege Debugging
879 When a system call fails with a permission error, it is not always
880 immediately obvious what caused the problem. To debug such a problem,
881 you can use a tool called privilege debugging. When privilege debugging
882 is enabled for a process, the kernel reports missing privileges on the
883 controlling terminal of the process. (Enable debugging for a process
884 with the -D option of ppriv(1).) Additionally, the administrator can
885 enable system-wide privilege debugging by setting the system(4)
886 variable priv_debug using:
887
888 set priv_debug = 1
889
890
891
892 On a running system, you can use mdb(1) to change this variable.
893
894 Privilege Administration
895 The Solaris Management Console (see smc(1M)) is the preferred method of
896 modifying privileges for a command. Use usermod(1M) or smrole(1M) to
897 assign privileges to or modify privileges for, respectively, a user or
898 a role. Use ppriv(1) to enumerate the privileges supported on a system
899 and truss(1) to determine which privileges a program requires.
900
901 SEE ALSO
902 mdb(1), ppriv(1), add_drv(1M), ifconfig(1M), lockd(1M), nfsd(1M),
903 pppd(1M), rem_drv(1M), smbd(1M), sppptun(1M), update_drv(1M), Intro(2),
904 access(2), acct(2), acl(2), adjtime(2), audit(2), auditon(2), chmod(2),
905 chown(2), chroot(2), creat(2), exec(2), fcntl(2), fork(2),
906 fpathconf(2), getacct(2), getpflags(2), getppriv(2), getsid(2),
907 kill(2), link(2), memcntl(2), mknod(2), mount(2), msgctl(2), nice(2),
908 ntp_adjtime(2), open(2), p_online(2), priocntl(2), priocntlset(2),
909 processor_bind(2), pset_bind(2), pset_create(2), readlink(2),
910 resolvepath(2), rmdir(2), semctl(2), setauid(2), setegid(2),
911 seteuid(2), setgid(2), setgroups(2), setpflags(2), setppriv(2),
912 setrctl(2), setregid(2), setreuid(2), setrlimit(2), settaskid(2),
913 setuid(2), shmctl(2), shmget(2), shmop(2), sigsend(2), stat(2),
914 statvfs(2), stime(2), swapctl(2), sysinfo(2), uadmin(2), ulimit(2),
915 umount(2), unlink(2), utime(2), utimes(2), bind(3SOCKET),
916 door_ucred(3C), priv_addset(3C), priv_set(3C), priv_getbyname(3C),
917 priv_getbynum(3C), priv_set_to_str(3C), priv_str_to_set(3C),
918 socket(3SOCKET), t_bind(3NSL), timer_create(3C), ucred_get(3C),
919 exec_attr(4), proc(4), system(4), user_attr(4), xVM(5), ddi_cred(9F),
920 drv_priv(9F), priv_getbyname(9F), priv_policy(9F),
921 priv_policy_choice(9F), priv_policy_only(9F)
922
923
924 System Administration Guide: Security Services
925
926
927
928 October 30, 2015 PRIVILEGES(5)