linux/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/LoadPin.rst
Ke Wu 0ff9848067 security/loadpin: Allow to exclude specific file types
Linux kernel already provide MODULE_SIG and KEXEC_VERIFY_SIG to
make sure loaded kernel module and kernel image are trusted. This
patch adds a kernel command line option "loadpin.exclude" which
allows to exclude specific file types from LoadPin. This is useful
when people want to use different mechanisms to verify module and
kernel image while still use LoadPin to protect the integrity of
other files kernel loads.

Signed-off-by: Ke Wu <mikewu@google.com>
Reviewed-by: James Morris <jamorris@linux.microsoft.com>
[kees: fix array size issue reported by Coverity via Colin Ian King]
Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>
2019-05-31 13:57:40 -07:00

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LoadPin
=======
LoadPin is a Linux Security Module that ensures all kernel-loaded files
(modules, firmware, etc) all originate from the same filesystem, with
the expectation that such a filesystem is backed by a read-only device
such as dm-verity or CDROM. This allows systems that have a verified
and/or unchangeable filesystem to enforce module and firmware loading
restrictions without needing to sign the files individually.
The LSM is selectable at build-time with ``CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN``, and
can be controlled at boot-time with the kernel command line option
"``loadpin.enabled``". By default, it is enabled, but can be disabled at
boot ("``loadpin.enabled=0``").
LoadPin starts pinning when it sees the first file loaded. If the
block device backing the filesystem is not read-only, a sysctl is
created to toggle pinning: ``/proc/sys/kernel/loadpin/enabled``. (Having
a mutable filesystem means pinning is mutable too, but having the
sysctl allows for easy testing on systems with a mutable filesystem.)
It's also possible to exclude specific file types from LoadPin using kernel
command line option "``loadpin.exclude``". By default, all files are
included, but they can be excluded using kernel command line option such
as "``loadpin.exclude=kernel-module,kexec-image``". This allows to use
different mechanisms such as ``CONFIG_MODULE_SIG`` and
``CONFIG_KEXEC_VERIFY_SIG`` to verify kernel module and kernel image while
still use LoadPin to protect the integrity of other files kernel loads. The
full list of valid file types can be found in ``kernel_read_file_str``
defined in ``include/linux/fs.h``.