Administrative and Security Precedents and Policies

Administrative and Security Best Practice and Policy Overview

A list of Precedents and Policies for administrative/security related CLIs/functions has been available in the SAC logs for some time. This is a summary:

Precedents.

	PSARC/1999/555 Getting with the Freeware Program

		* Established an initial set of non-ON/AT&T/UCB
		  CLIs and supporting libraries to be shipped
		  with/supported with Solaris.
		  The risks pointed out included keeping up to date.
		  These all shipped in /usr/{bin,lib}/ and didn't have
		  name conflicts with existing Solaris CLIs/libraries

	PSARC/2000/488 Solaris/Linux Commands Compatibility

		* Established the "External" interface taxonomy.
		* Set aside the ``Sun Application Binary Guarantee''
		  for these CLIs.
		* Established a residence (/usr/sfw) outside the
		  default Solaris paths so customers wouldn't treat
		  as under Sun ABI Guarantee/Support.
		* Added a number of CLIs, some with 'g' prefixes.
		* Established the following Security concerns/policies
		  guidelines/requirements for suid or otherwise privilege
		  programs:
		  - All authentication is to be performed through PAM
		    (See PAM policy below).
		  - Interaction with the Solaris auditing framework
		    is "highly desirable".  N.B. a later SAC policy
		    (see below) establishes that appropriate audit
		    is required using the Solaris Audit framework.

	PSARC/2001/799 Taxonomy Modification to 1999/555

		* Clarified the taxonomy of the PSARC/1999/555 interfaces
		  from Standard to Evolving (Committed in the PSARC/2005/220
		  taxonomy) and External (Volatile in the PSARC/2005/220
		  taxonomy).  To align with PSARC/2000/488 expectations.

	PSARC/2005/185 Enabling serendipitous discovery

		* Notes that "External" taxonomy is largely misapplied.
		* Breaks the requirement for a separate residence
		  for "External" interface taxonomy interfaces to
		  reside in /usr/sfw.
		* Reinforces that FOSS still comes under the process
		  review rules.
		* Suggests a migration out of /usr/sfw into /usr.

	PSARC/2005/220  New Public Taxonomy 

		* Does away with the misapplied "External" taxonomy.
		* Establishes interface taxonomies based on how Sun
		  will support the interfaces rather than the perceived
		  tie in with the source of the interface:
		  - Committed ~-- can be used with confidence that binaries
		    will continue to run without change across patches and
		    minor releases.  Encompasses formal (and de facto)
		    standards.
		  - Uncommitted ~-- can be used with less confidence that
		    binaries will continue to run without change across
		    minor releases.  Not a license for gratuitous change,
		    but a more wiggle room.
		  - Volatile ~-- interface can change at any time for any
		    reason.  Use at your own risk.  Often appropriate
		    for functionality over which Sun values change over
		    stability.
		  - Not-an-Interface ~-- just that, don't even think of
		    programming to this.  Normally meant for such things
		    as human readable output or icon placement or menu
		    contents.

	PSARC/2007/048  Include GNU coreutils 6.7

		* Established a bunch "GNU" commands considered core
		  in /usr hierarchy.
		* Establishes a "/usr/gnu" hierarchy for commands the
		  conflict with existing Solaris commands.
		* Reinforces the use PAM and Solaris Audit requirements
		  from 2000/488

Policies.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/shared-sharable/
		Packaging rules for system extensions

		* Establishes the packaging rules such as components
		  may only be delivered from one package.  This is
		  the famous PSARC/1991/061 case.
		* Gives some implementation guidance.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/libraries/
		Library and Shared Object Requirements

		* Establishes rules for shared library naming and
		  versioning.
		* Gives some implementation guidance.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/SMF-policy/
		Service Management Facility (SMF) usage

		* Established the use of SMF for all Solaris services.
		* Gives requirements and details for meeting the
		  "Secure by Default" (SBD) and "Role Based Access
		  Control" (RBAC) project policies.
		* Gives advice on how to correctly configure services.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/NITS-policy/
		Network Install-Time Security

		* Security SWG policy for security during and as the
		  result of installation.
		* Defines security requirements for inbound and outbound
		  network communications

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/PAM/
		 PAM (Plugable Authentication Modules) usage requirements

		* Establishes the use of PAM for all authentication
		  and reauthentication.
		* Includes details and guides for use.
		* Associated with auditing and points to the Solaris Audit
		  Policy

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/policies/audit-policy/
		  Solaris Auditing Policy

		* Pretty much defines what needs to be audited.
		* Includes details on what makes up an audit record.
		* Points to the Audit project team for advice 
		* Gives some broad implementation guides.

Best Practices.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/bestpractices/rbac-intro/
		When to use setuid -vs- RBAC roles and profiles

		* Discusses when to use setuid (forced privileges) and
		  introduces the use or RBAC and its interactions with
		  Solaris.
		* Historic with historic references.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/bestpractices/rbac-auths/
		Adding RBAC Authorizations

		* How to guide for adding Authorizations to Solaris.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/bestpractices/rbac-profiles/
		Building RBAC Rights Profiles

		* How to guide for adding Rights Profiles to Solaris.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/bestpractices/passwords-cli/
		Reusable Passwords In Command Line Arguments and Environment
		Variables

		* From the Security SWG
		* Security concerns and guide lines prohibiting exposure
		  of reusable passwords.

	http://opensolaris.org/os/community/arc/bestpractices/passwords-files/
		Storing Reusable Passwords on a Filesystem

		* From the Security SWG
		* Security concerns and requirements for protection if/when
		  reusable passwords are stored in the Filesystem.