Re: [ANN] SE-PostgreSQL 8.2.3-1.0 alpha release

[KaiGai Kohei <kaigai@kaigai.gr.jp>]

Joshua Brindle wrote:
> Casey Schaufler wrote:
>> --- KaiGai Kohei <kaigai@kaigai.gr.jp> wrote:
>>
>>  
>>  
>>> I think unique identification for all tuples are
>>> difficult, because we can
>>> create a table without Oid (object id) or primary
>>> key to identify a tuple
>>> from outside of the table...
>>>
>>> BTW, the string representations of security contexts
>>> are stored in a separate
>>> table named as 'pg_selinux', defined with Oid (which
>>> have 4-byte length).
>>> In SE-PostgreSQL, any tuples have Oid of pg_selinux
>>> as a security context.
>>> Thus, storage consumption is limited.
>>>     
>>
>> How does this method compare to the schemes
>> used in the Oracle evaluated MLS DBMS?
>>
>>   
> IIRC Oracle basically has polyinstanciated tables (using views) to 
> implement MLS, which gives far less granularity and doesn't allow for 
> labeled rows or columns. KaiGai's work leverages all the security models 
> SELinux can use to allow for flexible policies. The technical decision 
> to use another table to store the oid of the context seems appropriate, 
> since that is how rdbms's operate in general.

I think the biggest difference is whether RDBMS utilizes the security
functionalities of operating system, or not.

For example, SE-PostgreSQL obtains the security context of the client via
getpeercon(), and makes a decision with the security policy.
It enables to ensure a process with lower clearance cannot access secret
data, even if it is stored in database.

In my understanding, Oracle pay no attention for the peer's clearance.

Thanks,
-- 
KaiGai Kohei <kaigai@kaigai.gr.jp>

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