Walsh: Introducing the SELinux Sandbox

Posted May 27, 2009 15:23 UTC (Wed) by Kit (guest, #55925)
In reply to: Walsh: Introducing the SELinux Sandbox by spender
Parent article: Walsh: Introducing the SELinux Sandbox

>You really should refrain from using words like "only" (especially emphasized) when talking about what arbitrary code executing in the context of a large piece of software with many dependencies and addons is limited to doing.
Did you miss where I said 'unless an additional exploit or two are also found in the limited area that the browser can actually access'? Surely limiting the surface area that an exploit could possibly happen is a GOOD thing? And the reason I said 'only' is because in this situation, if the browser is exploited, it can't just immediately copy all your sensitive data to $EVIL_HACKER then wipe your home directory.

>What files of the user the exploit could write to didn't even come into the picture.
Yes it does. The user cares about HIS data when it comes to desktop systems (which this sandbox is an attempt to help protect), and the traditional security model does pretty much NOTHING to protect that on a standard desktop. Not all systems are far off remote servers where no one ever logs in locally, they deserve security systems designed for their situations which so far the traditional systems have largely failed at.

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Walsh: Introducing the SELinux Sandbox

Posted May 27, 2009 22:26 UTC (Wed) by spender (guest, #23067) [Link]

You're mixing up terminology. You used the word "exploit" which has a very specific meaning, but it seems like you're now wanting to be credited for meaning "vulnerability." When you say "unless an additional exploit or two are also found in the limited area that the browser can actually access" you're saying that there exist exploit binaries on disk which the browser process is allowed by SELinux to access and execute. In which case, I didn't miss anything at all and it's you who doesn't understand the meaning of "arbitrary code execution."

Now, if you *meant* to say that "unless there is an additional vulnerability or two in the code-paths of the kernel that a large and complex binary like a browser can reach," then we'd be in agreement.

-Brad