Airtight system security with Grsecurity
Seal It!
Security-conscious people dig a deep moat with crocodiles around their homes, hide their furniture in back rooms, and only let visitors into the bathroom if they know the secret password. Grsecurity follows a similarly extreme principle.
A small Linux patch collection called Grsecurity (for Greater Security) transforms the Linux kernel into an extremely untrusting fellow. Grsecurity unleashes a whole package of actions that preemptively block out attackers. Each user is initially treated as a principal source of danger. For example, Grsecurity only allows certain users to call dmesg; it locks the /proc directory, and it prevents access to /dev/kmem, /dev/mem, and /dev/port. Grsecurity also moves applications to a random location in memory (address space layout randomization), and it hides all the kernel threads.
Role-Play
The core of Grsecurity is Role-Based Access Control (RBAC for short), which sits on top of existing rights management. Grsecurity initially deprives all users of their access
rights, even hiding parts of the filesystem from them, and thus allows only the bare necessities. The administrator can then allow specific actions for individual users. Users with similar tasks can be grouped as “roles,” and the admin can then grant additional rights to these roles. For example, the webmaster group needs to start the SSH daemon, but the database administrator group does not.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Direct Download
Read full article as PDF:
Price $2.95
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Find SysAdmin Jobs
News
-
LibreOffice 7.5 has Arrived and is Loaded with New Features and Improvements
The favorite office suite of the Linux community has a new release that includes some visual refreshing and new features across all modules.
-
The Next Major Release of Elementary OS Has Arrived
It's been over a year since the developers of elementary OS released version 6.1 (Jólnir) but they've finally made their latest release (Horus) available with a renewed focus on the user.
-
KDE Plasma 5.27 Beta Is Ready for Testing
The latest beta iteration of the KDE Plasma desktop is now available and includes some important additions and fixes.
-
Netrunner OS 23 Is Now Available
The latest version of this Linux distribution is now based on Debian Bullseye and is ready for installation and finally hits the KDE 5.20 branch of the desktop.
-
New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers
With a Gnome desktop that offers different layouts and a custom kernel, PikaOS is a great option for gamers of all types.
-
System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop
The darling of open-source-powered laptops and desktops will soon drop a new AMD Ryzen 7-powered version of their popular Pangolin laptop.
-
Nobara Project Is a Modified Version of Fedora with User-Friendly Fixes
If you're looking for a version of Fedora that includes third-party and proprietary packages, look no further than the Nobara Project.
-
Gnome 44 Now Has a Release Date
Gnome 44 will be officially released on March 22, 2023.
-
Nitrux 2.6 Available with Kernel 6.1 and a Major Change
The developers of Nitrux have officially released version 2.6 of their Linux distribution with plenty of new features to excite users.
-
Vanilla OS Initial Release Is Now Available
A stock GNOME experience with on-demand immutability finally sees its first production release.