All of lore.kernel.org
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: Lincoln Wallace <locnnil0@gmail.com>
To: paul@paul-moore.com, corbet@lwn.net
Cc: skhan@linuxfoundation.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org,
	penguin-kernel@I-love.SAKURA.ne.jp, rdunlap@infradead.org,
	Lincoln Wallace <locnnil0@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] doc: LSM: describe CONFIG_LSM and lsm= as the selection mechanism
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 22:38:31 -0300	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260714013832.977443-2-locnnil0@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260714013832.977443-1-locnnil0@gmail.com>

The LSM usage document states that security modules are selectable at
build time via CONFIG_DEFAULT_SECURITY and can be overridden at boot
time via the "security=..." kernel command line argument.

CONFIG_DEFAULT_SECURITY no longer exists: LSMs are enabled via
CONFIG_LSM, an ordered list of the LSMs to initialize, which can be
overridden at boot time with the "lsm=" parameter. The "security="
parameter remains as a deprecated way to choose a legacy "major"
security module, and is ignored when "lsm=" is specified; see commit
89a9684ea158 ("LSM: Ignore "security=" when "lsm=" is specified").

A previous attempt replaced "security=" with "lsm=" in place [1],
which was rejected because the parameters are not equivalent:
"security=" selects a single major module while the built-in
CONFIG_LSM list otherwise remains active, whereas "lsm=" must list
every LSM to enable.

Update the paragraph to describe CONFIG_LSM and "lsm=" as the current
selection mechanism, keeping "security=" documented as the deprecated
legacy option, matching the wording in kernel-parameters.txt.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20250114225156.10458-1-rdunlap@infradead.org [1]

Signed-off-by: Lincoln Wallace <locnnil0@gmail.com>
---
 Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/index.rst | 8 +++++---
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/index.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/index.rst
index b44ef68f6e4d..c24310c709dc 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/LSM/index.rst
@@ -6,9 +6,11 @@ The Linux Security Module (LSM) framework provides a mechanism for
 various security checks to be hooked by new kernel extensions. The name
 "module" is a bit of a misnomer since these extensions are not actually
 loadable kernel modules. Instead, they are selectable at build-time via
-CONFIG_DEFAULT_SECURITY and can be overridden at boot-time via the
-``"security=..."`` kernel command line argument, in the case where multiple
-LSMs were built into a given kernel.
+CONFIG_LSM, an ordered list of the LSMs to enable, and can be
+overridden at boot-time via the ``"lsm=..."`` kernel command line
+argument. The ``"security=..."`` kernel command line argument remains
+available to choose a legacy "major" security module, but has been
+deprecated by the ``"lsm=..."`` parameter.
 
 The primary users of the LSM interface are Mandatory Access Control
 (MAC) extensions which provide a comprehensive security policy. Examples
-- 
2.53.0


  reply	other threads:[~2026-07-14  1:43 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 5+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-07-14  1:38 [PATCH 0/2] doc: LSM: update usage document for current LSM stacking Lincoln Wallace
2026-07-14  1:38 ` Lincoln Wallace [this message]
2026-07-14  1:38 ` [PATCH 2/2] doc: LSM: fix module ordering description for /sys/kernel/security/lsm Lincoln Wallace
2026-07-23 17:47 ` [PATCH 0/2] doc: LSM: update usage document for current LSM stacking Casey Schaufler
2026-07-24  0:24   ` Lincoln Wallace

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=20260714013832.977443-2-locnnil0@gmail.com \
    --to=locnnil0@gmail.com \
    --cc=corbet@lwn.net \
    --cc=linux-doc@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=paul@paul-moore.com \
    --cc=penguin-kernel@I-love.SAKURA.ne.jp \
    --cc=rdunlap@infradead.org \
    --cc=skhan@linuxfoundation.org \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is an external index of several public inboxes,
see mirroring instructions on how to clone and mirror
all data and code used by this external index.