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- GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING TRUSTED FACILITY MANAGEMENT
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- June 1989
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- NATIONAL COMPUTER SECURITY CENTER
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- NCSC-TG-O15
- Library No. S-231, 429
-
-
- FOREWORD
-
- The National Computer Security Center (NCSC) has established an aggresive
- program to study and implement computer security technology and to
- encourage the widespread availability to trusted computer operations. To
- provide insight into the Trusted Computer Systems Evaluation Criteria
- (TCSEC) and to assure that each feature of the TCSEC will be discussed in
- detail and provide the proper interpretation with specific guidance, the
- NCSC has established a Technical Guideline Program This Technical
- Guideline Program, and the cooperative business relationship being forged
- with the computer and telecommunication industries, will result in the
- fulfillment of our country's computer security requirement. We are
- determined to meet the challenge of identifying trusted computer
- guidelines suitable for use in processing all types and classifications of
- information.
-
- "A Guide to Understanding Trusted Facility Management" is the latest in
- the series of technical guidelines that are being published by the
- National Computer Security Center. This technical guideline has been
- written to help the computer security manufacturers, system evaluators,
- accreditors, as well as end users understand what procedures, methods, and
- processes are required for trusted facility management at B2 through A1
- classes ofthe TCSEC.
-
- As the Director, National Computer Security Center, I invite your
- recommendations for revision to this technical guideline. We plan to
- review this document periodically or when the need arises.
-
-
-
- _______________
- Patrick R. Gallagher Jr. 15 August 1989
- Director
- National Computer Security Center
-
-
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
-
- Special recognition for their contributions to this document are extended
- to Info Systems Technology, Inc., and to Dr. Virgil D. Gligor of the
- University of Maryland as primary author of this document, and to Ms.
- Valerie A. Maurer and MAJ James P. Gordon (U S Army) as Project Managers
- for the production and preparation of this guideline.
-
- Acknowledgment is given to the many computer vendor representatives, and
- members of the National Computer Security Center (NCSC) community, who
- enthusiastically gave of their time and technical expertise in reviewing
- the guideline and providing valuable comments and suggestions. Special
- thanks is given to Ms. Carol Lane, Mr. Leon Howell and Mr. Douglas Hardie
- for their invaluable assistance and guidance in this effort.
-
-
- PREFACE
-
- This guideline contains information derived from the requirements of the
- TCSEC prefaced by the word "shall", and recommendations derived from good
- practices prefaced by the word "should" when conducting trusted facility
- management. The recommendations in this document are also not to be
- construed as supplementary requirements to the TCSEC. The TCSEC is the
- only metric against which systems are to be evaluated.
-
- Throughout this guideline there will be examples, illustrations, or
- citations of administrative roles and operations that have been used in
- trusted facility management. The use of these examples, illustrations,
- and citations does not mean that they contain the only acceptable
- procedures, methods, or processes. The selection of these examples is
- based solely on their availability in the computer security literature.
- Examples in this document are not to be construed as the only
- implementations that will satisfy the TCSEC requirements or intended to
- single out any particular operating system to highlight weaknesses and
- shortfalls, but merely to provide clarification. The examples are
- suggestions of appropriate implementations.
-
-
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
-
- FOREWORD i
-
-
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
-
-
- PREFACE iii
-
-
- 1. INTRODUCTION 1
-
- 1.1. PURPOSE 1
-
- 1.2. SCOPE 2
-
- 1.3. CONTROL OBJECTIVES 3
-
-
-
- 2. SECURITY ADMINISTRATION - THE PROBLEM 4
-
-
-
- 3. TCSEC REQUIREMENTS FOR TRUSTED FACILITY MANAGEMENT 5
-
- 3.1. REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURITY CLASS B2 5
-
- 3.1.1. Security Policy 5
-
- 3.1.2. Accountability 5
-
- 3.1.3. Operational Assurance 5
-
- 3.1.3.1. System Architecture 5
-
- 3.1.3.2. Trusted Facility Management 6
-
- 3.1.4. Life-Cycle Assurance 6
-
- 3.1.4.1. Security Testing 6
-
- 3.1.4.2. Design Specification and Verification
- 6
-
- 3.1.4.3. Configuration Management 7
-
- 3.1.5. Documentation 7
-
- 3.1.5.1. Trusted Facility Manual 7
-
- 3.1.5.2. Test Documentation 8
-
- 3.1.5.3. Design Documentation 8
-
- 3.2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURITY CLASS B3 9
-
- 3.2.1. Security Policy 9
-
- 3.2.2. Accountability 9
-
- 3.2.3. Operational Assurance 9
-
- 3.2.3.1. System Architecture 9
-
- 3.2.3.2. Trusted Facility Management 9
-
- 3.2.3.3. Trusted Recovery 11
-
- 3.2.4. Life-Cycle Assurance 11
-
- 3.2.4.1. Security Testing 11
-
- 3.2.4.2. Design Specification and Verification
- 11
-
- 3.2.4.3. Configuration Management 11
-
- 3.2.5. Documentation 11
-
- 3.2.5.1. Trusted Facility Manual 11
-
- 3.2.5.2. Test Documentation 11
-
- 3.2.5.3. Design Documentation 11
-
- 3.3. REQUIREMENTS OF SECURITY CLASS A1 12
-
- 3.3.1. Additional Life-Cycle Assurance Requirements 12
-
- 3.3.1.1. Configuration Management 12
-
- 3.3.1.2. Trusted Distribution 12
-
-
-
- 4. SATISFYING THE TCSEC REQUIREMENTS 13
-
- 4.1. SEPARATION OF ADMINISTRATOR AND OPERATOR 13
-
- 4.1.1. Security-Relevant Functions of the System
- Administrator 16
-
- 4.1.2. Security-Relevant Functions of the Operator 17
-
- 4.2. SEPARATION OF SECURITY AND NONSECURITY-RELEVANT FUNCTIONS 17
-
- 4.3. IMPACT OF OTHER TCSEC REQUIREMENTS 19
-
- 5. SEPARATION OF OPERATOR'S AND ADMINISTRATOR'S ROLES 21
-
- 5.1. FUNCTIONS OF THE SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR 24
-
- 5.2. FUNCTIONS OF THE SECURE OPERATOR 30
-
- 5.3. FUNCTIONS OF THE ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR 31
-
- 5.4. FUNCTIONS OF THE AUDITOR 32
-
- 5.5. FUNCTIONS OF THE OPERATOR 36
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- 5.6. FUNCTIONS OF THE SYSTEM PROGRAMMER 37
-
- 5.7. OTHER ROLES 38
-
- 5.8. RELATIONSHIP AMONG ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES 39
-
-
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- 6. IMPACT OF OTHER TCSEC REQUIREMENTS 42
-
- 6.1. SECURITY POLICY 42
-
- 6.2. ACCOUNTABILITY 43
-
- 6.3. ASSURANCE 44
-
- 6.3.1. Operational Assurance 44
-
- 6.3.2. Life-Cycle Assurance 46
-
- 6.4. DOCUMENTATION 46
-
-
-
- GLOSSARY 47
-
-
- REFERENCES 58
-
-
-
-
- LIST OF FIGURES
-
- Figure 1. Required Class B2 Separation of Functions,
- Privileges,and Databases 16
-
- Figure 2. Required Class B2 and Class B3 Separation
- of Functions, Privileges, and Databases of
- Administrative Roles 19
-
- Figure 3. Recommended Separation of Functions, Privileges, and
- Databases of Administrative Roles 23
-
- Figure 4. Relationships Among Administrative Roles 41
-
-
-
- 1. INTRODUCTION
-
- The principal goal of the National Computer Security Center is to
- encourage the widespread availability of trusted computer systems. In
- support of that goal a metric was created, the DoD Trusted Computer System
- Evaluation Criteria (TCSEC), against which computer systems could be
- evaluated for security. The TCSEC was originally published on 15 August
- 1983 as CSC-STD-001-83. In December 1985 the DoD adopted it, with a few
- changes, as a DoD Standard, DoD 5200.28-STD. DoD Directive 5200.28,
- "Security Requirements for Automated Information Systems (AISs)", has
- been written, among other reasons, to require the Depart*ment of Defense
- Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria be used throughout the DoD.
- The TCSEC is the standard used for evaluating the effectiveness of
- security controls built into AISs. The TCSEC is divided into four
- divisions: D, C, B, and A, ordered in a hierarchical manner with the
- highest division (A) being reserved for systems providing the best
- available level of assurance. Within divisions C , B, and A, there are
- subdivisions known as classes, which are also ordered in a hierarchical
- manner to represent different levels of security.
-
- 1.1. PURPOSE
-
- An important assurance requirement of the TCSEC, which appears in
- all classes from B2 to A1, is trusted facility management. This refers to
- the administrative procedures, roles, functions (e.g., commands, programs,
- interfaces), privileges and databases that are used for secure system
- configuration, administration and operation.
-
- The objective of trusted facility management is to support
- security and accountability policies throughout a system's operation. To
- accomplish this goal, two key requirements are the separation between
- Administrator and Operator functions, in class B2, and between
- security-relevant and nonsecurity-relevant functions of System
- Administrators, in class B3. This separation of administrative and
- operator functions, and security-relevant and nonsecurity-relevant
- functions of System Administrators, also applies to class A1. These
- separations help ensure that security-adverse effects of human error,
- misdeed, and system failure do not affect administrative functions and
- data.
-
- The purpose of "A Guide to Understanding Trusted Facility
- Management" is to provide guidance to manufacturers on how to incorporate
- functions of trusted facility management into their systems; to system
- evaluators and accreditors on how to evaluate the design and
- implementation of trusted facility management functions; and to end users
- on how to use these functions effectively, e.g., on how to avoid common
- pitfalls of system management.
-
- 1.2. SCOPE
-
- The guidelines for trusted facility management presented herein
- refer to the separation of administrative functions, interfaces, and
- procedures of an important assurance requirement of classes B2 through A1
- of the TCSEC. This guideline is intended to present the issues involved
- in the design of trusted facility management.
-
- This guideline contains five.additional sections. Section 2
- contains a brief overview of the inherent vulnerabilities of
- administrative roles. Section 3 presents TCSEC requirements that affect
- the design and implementation of trusted facility management functions,
- and includes recommendations corresponding to each evaluation class.
- Section 4 reviews the major requirements of trusted facility management as
- stated in the TCSEC. Section 5 presents the separation between
- Administrator's and Operator's functions and the possible partitioning of
- the security-relevant functions of the Administrator and Operator into
- separate roles, functions and databases. Section 6 discusses the impact
- of the other TCSEC requirements on trusted facility management, including
- design and modeling alternatives for trusted facility management.
-
- Not addressed herein are personnel security measures, physical
- security of the automated information system equipment, and other
- administrative measures external to the AIS. The evaluation of these
- measures is beyond the scope of TCSEC-based evaluations [12, p.87]. These
- guidelines apply to computer systems, processing environments, and
- products built or modified with the intention of satisfying the TCSEC
- requirements. Note that this document contains suggestions and
- recommendations derived from TCSEC objectives but which are not required
- by the TCSEC. Additional recommendations are made, which are derived from
- the stated objectives of the TCSEC.
-
- 1.3. CONTROL OBJECTIVES
-
- Trusted facility management is one of the areas of operational
- assurance. As such, the trusted facility management is an aspect of the
- objective, "assurance." The assurance objective provided in the TCSEC is:
-
- "Systems that are used to process classified or other
- sensitive information must be designed to guarantee correct and accurate
- interpretation of the security policy and must not distort the intent of
- that policy. Assurance must be provided that correct implementation and
- operation of the policy exists throughout the system's life cycle."
-
- This objective affects trusted facility management in two
- important ways. First, administrative roles of the system are the key
- components that help to ensure the enforcement of the system security
- policy, and thus, their function must support the intent of that policy.
- Second, the administrative roles must satisfy the life-cycle assurance
- requirements of correct implementation and operation.
-
- 2. SECURITY ADMINISTRATION - THE PROBLEM
-
- Weaknesses of trusted facility management are role specific and common to
- all administrative roles. Careful examination of both common
- administrative roles and role-specific weaknesses is important for both
- system designers and administrators because exposure to some of these
- weaknesses can be reduced or eliminated by specific designs or by
- administrative procedure external to the system in use. The distinction
- between the two types of weaknesses is also useful for the strengthening
- of mechanisms and procedures supporting different roles selectively.
-
- The weaknesses discussed below are generic in the sense that they are not
- specific to any particular system or design. Careful analysis should be
- performed in designing and implementing specific systems to identify
- specific additional weaknesses and their required countermeasures.
- Design, implementation, and use of auto*mated tools for analyzing specific
- system weaknesses are useful, but still a research subject [1].
-
- Three types of weaknesses affect all administrative roles to various
- degrees:
-
- (1) unauthorized modification of hardware and software
- system configuration Unauthorized changes of system configuration, including
- both hardware and software changes, can take place during all phases of a
- system life-cycle.
-
- (2) penetration of a specific administrative role.
- Penetration of administrative roles by non-administrative users, or by
- unauthorized administrative users, is usually made possible by flawed, or
- weak, mechanisms for identification and authentication, TCB protection, or
- role separation.
-
- (3) misuse of administrative authority. This can
- arise from careless or deliberate misuse of administrative authority.
- Misuse of authority can cause both TCB and user security violations, and
- therefore can lead to extensive damage.
-
-
- 3. TCSEC REQUIREMENTS FOR TRUSTED FACILITY MANAGEMENT
-
- In the TCSEC, n requirements for Trusted Facility Management are for
- security classes B2 through A1. Classes C1 through B1 have no Trusted
- Facility Management requirements.
-
- 3.1. REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURITY CLASS B2
-
- 3.1.1. Security Policy
-
- No Additional Requirements.
-
- 3.1.2. Accountability
-
- All identification and authentication requirements of
- class B2, including trusted path, shall apply to the administrative users
- individually.
-
- All actions of administrative users shall be auditable in
- accordance with the B2 audit requirements.
-
- 3.1.3. Operational Assurance
-
- 3.1.3.1. System Architecture
- The TCB programs and data structures
- implementing administrative functions:
-
- * must satisfy the modularity requirements of
- class B2;
-
- * must satisfy the least privilege principle;
-
- * must use logically distinct storage objects
- with separate attributes (e.g., files, segments).
-
- The interfaces of the administrative roles
- implemented by the TCB must be completely defined, and all the elements of
-
-
- the TCB implementing the administrative roles must be identified.
-
-
- 3.1.3.2. Trusted Facility Management
-
- The TCB shall support separate Operator and
- Administrator functions. The Administrator's functions include those of:
-
- * the Security Administrator
-
- * System Programmer
-
- * the Auditor
-
- * the Account Administrator
- (whenever this role is defined to be security-relevant).
-
- These functions must be separated from those of the Secure Operator.
- While the Administrator's functions may be combined into one function, we
- recommend they be separated as described in section 5. The remaining
- functions include only the nonsecurity-relevant functions.
-
- 3.1.4. Life-Cycle Assurance
-
- 3.1.4.1. Security Testing
-
- All security testing requirements of class B2
- apply to the TCB functions and interfaces implementing administrative
- roles as stated.
-
- 3.1.4.2. Design Specification and
- Verification
-
- Recommendation:
-
- -Descriptive Top-Level
- Specifications (DTLSs) of the TCB functions and interfaces implementing
- administrative roles must be maintained that completely and accurately
- describe these functions and interfaces in terms of exceptions, error
- messages, and effects.
- -A formal security and
- integrity model of trusted facility management should be used to define the
- separation of administrative roles, functions, privileges and databases.
-
- 3.1.4.3. Configura*tion Manage*ment
-
- All configuration management requirements of
- class B2 apply to the TCB functions and interfaces implementing administrative
- roles as stated.
-
- 3.1.5. Documentation
-
- 3.1.5.1. Trusted Facility Manual
-
- A manual shall be available that provides the
- following:
-
- * be addressed to the ADP
- system administrator shall present cautions about functions and privileges
- that should be controlled when running a secure facility.
-
- * give procedures examining
- and maintaining the audit files.
-
- * give the detailed audit
- record structure for each type of audit event.
-
- * describe the operator and
- administrator functions related to security, to include changing the security
- characteristics of a user.
-
- * provide guidelines on the
- consistent and effective use of the protection features of the system.
-
- * explain how the protection
- features of the system interact.
-
- * show how to securely
- generate a new TCB.
-
- * provide guidelines on
- facility procedures, warinings, and privileges that need to be controlled in
- order to operate the facility in a secure manner.
-
- * identify the TCB modules
- that contain the reference validation mechanism.
-
- * describe the procedures
- for secure generation of a new TCB from source after modification of any
- modules in the TCB.
-
- 3.1.5.2. Test Documentation
-
- All test documentation requirements of class B2,
- except those for covert channel testing, apply to the TCB functions and
- interfaces implementing administrative roles as stated.
-
- 3.1.5.3. Design Docu*menta*tion
-
- Documentation shall be available that provides a
- description of:
-
- * Interfaces between the TCB modules
- implementing functions of the administrative roles;
-
- * Specific TCB protection mechanisms used for
- the separation of administrative roles;
-
- * Descriptions of the TCB modules
- implementing functions and interfaces of the administrative roles;
-
- * How the least privilege principle is
- supported by the functions and interfaces of the TCB implementing
- administrative roles;
-
- * How the actions of the administrative
- roles are audited.
-
- Recommendation:
-
- -A formal description of the security and integrity policy model
- used to define the separation of administrative roles should be available
- and proven to be sufficient to enforce the claimed separation.
- 3.2. REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURITY CLASS B3
-
- All the requirements of Class B2 are included at this level. The
- additional class B3 requirements are listed below.
-
- 3.2.1. Security Policy
-
- No Additional Requirements.
-
- 3.2.2. Accountability
-
- The trusted-path requirements of class B3 apply to
- administrative users.
-
- The additional audit requirements of class B3 apply to the
- administrative users.
-
- 3.2.3. Operational Assurance
-
- 3.2.3.1. System Architecture
-
- The additional TCB structuring requirements of
- class B3 (i.e., significant use of abstraction, information hiding, and
- layering) apply to the functions and interfaces of the TCB implementing
- administrative roles.
-
- 3.2.3.2. Trusted Facility Management
-
- The security-relevant administrative functions
- (i.e., those of the Security Administrator, System Programmer, Auditor and
- the Secure Operator's roles defined above) must be separated from the
- nonsecurity-relevant administrative functions.
-
- The security-relevant administrative functions
- must be limited to those that are essential to performing the security
- roles effectively.
-
- All actions of security personnel (Secure
- Administrator and Secure Operator) must be audited.
-
-
-
- Recommendations:
-
- - The functions of security administration and
- personnel should distinguish among
-
- * System
- Programmer, Security Administrator, Auditor, and Secure Operator
-
- * their privileges
-
- * their databases.
-
- - Different levels of trust should be
- established for the following roles in accordance with the power and
- vulnerability of each role:
-
- * System Programmer (maintenance and
- diagnostics mode);
-
- * Security Administrator;
-
- * Auditor;
-
- * Secure Operator;
-
- * Account Administrator;
-
- * Operator.
-
- (Note: The distinction between the System
- Administrators, Operators, and System Security Officers is explicitly made
- in the audit requirements of the TCSEC [11, p. 16]. These roles
- correspond to the Account Administrator, Secure/Normal Operator, and
- Security Administrator/Auditor roles above. Also note that these
- distinctions do not require the separation of security-relevant and
- nonsecurity-relevant functions as they are made in the audit -- not
- trusted facility management -- requirement area).
-
- 3.2.3.3. Trusted Recovery
-
- The trusted recovery requirement of class B3
- applies to the functions and interfaces of the TCB implementing
- administrative roles.
-
- 3.2.4. Life-Cycle Assurance
-
- 3.2.4.1. Security Testing
-
- All additional security testing requirements of
- class B3 apply to the functions and interfaces of the TCB implementing
- administrative roles.
-
- 3.2.4.2. Design Specification and
- Verification
-
- Recommendation:
-
- - The additional design
- specification and verification requirements of class B3 should be applied to
- the functions and interfaces of the TCB implementing administrative roles.
-
- 3.2.4.3. Configuration Management
-
- No Additional Requirements.
-
- 3.2.5. Documentation
-
- 3.2.5.1. Trusted Facility Manual
-
- The additional requirements shall include
- procedures to ensure that the system is initially started in a secure
- state and procedures to resume secure system operation after any lapse in
- system operation.
-
- 3.2.5.2. Test Documentation
-
- No Additional Requirements.
-
- 3.2.5.3. Design Docu*menta*tion
-
- No Additional Requirements.
-
- 3.3. REQUIREMENTS OF SECURITY CLASS A1
-
- All requirements of the security class B3 are included here. The
- only additional requirements are in the following "Life-Cycle Assurance"
- areas:
-
- 3.3.1. Additional Life-Cycle Assurance Requirements
-
-
- 3.3.1.1. Configuration Management
-
- All additional configuration management
- requirements of class A1 apply to the TCB functions and interfaces
- implementing administrative roles.
-
- 3.3.1.2. Trusted Distribu*tion
-
- All trusted distribution requirements of class
- A1 apply to the TCB functions and interfaces implementing administrative
- roles.
-
- 4. SATISFYING THE TCSEC REQUIREMENTS
-
- The principal requirements of trusted facility management are:
-
- * the separation of Operator and Administrator
- functions;
-
- * the logical (or physical) separation of the
- database information corresponding to those functions; and
-
- * the implementation of least privilege such
- that functions have only the minimum necessary privileges to the databases.
-
-
- 4.1. SEPARATION OF ADMINISTRATOR AND OPERATOR FUNCTIONS
-
- The separation of Administrator and Operator functions is a
- requirement of TCSEC class B2, which states:
-
- "The TCB shall support separate Operator and Administrator
- functions."
-
- The primary purpose behind the separation of the Operator and
- Administrator functions is to limit the potential damage that untrusted,
- or errant, code can inflict on the information the TCB uses to enforce the
- security policy. Any code executed with Operator or Administrator
- privileges has the ability to change the TCB data structures, thus
- affecting the enforcement of policy. Through the application of the
- principal of least privilege and the separation of Operator and
- Administrator functions so that they are prevented from executing
- untrusted code, the TCB data structures can be protected. The principle
- of least privilege requires that each subject be granted the most
- restrictive set of privileges needed for the specific task. In the case
- of the operator and administrator functions, the privileges need to be
- established at a low level of granularity so that the proceses that
- implement those functions do not have unnecessary privileges. This low
- level of granularity provides several important protections:
-
- * limits the effects of errors on the part of
- the administrator;
-
- * limits the effects of incorrect code which
- implements the administrator functions;
-
- * provides some protection against malicious
- administrators, in that damage that can be done is strictly contained to the
- provileges defined for that role. Some additional protection is afforded by
- the auditing of administrator actions. (This argument can be extended to
- malicious code which is inserted in the administrator functions.)
-
- The TCSEC recognizes the need to separate the operator and
- adminstrator functions from the normal user abilities to execute code.
- There are several ways to implement such separation. One way is to
- enforce those restrictions on the Administrator and Operator functions.
- They can only execute trusted code that has been shown to preserve the TCB
- data structures properly. This requires that the people who perform those
- functions also have a separate account that allows them to be a normal
- user. That separate account would not have any Operator or Administrator
- capabilities. Whatever approach to separation is selected, it must be
- shown to restrict the Operator or Administrators from executing untrusted
- code.
-
- The separation of Operator and Administrator functions, namely
- between the commands, programs, and interfaces implementing those
- functions, is important because these functions are used with different
- privileges, on different system data. Should these functions not be
- separated, Operators could use commands that include Administrators'
- privileges and databases. This would mean that all Operators would need
- to be trusted to the same degree as that needed for Administrators. It
- would also mean that the principles of least privilege and separa*tion of
- privilege, which are two of the most important security principles (see
- reference [18] for a further explanation of these principles), are
- violated, overexposing the system to error, failure, and misdeed.
- Furthermore, lack of functional separation would fail to confine the
- effects of any function penetration, leaving the entire system in a
- vulnerable state.
-
- In addition to the separation of Administrator and Operator
- functions, trusted facility management should also separate internal
- system databases which the Operator and Administrator manipulate. Checks
- and balances are necessary to avoid trusting too many all-powerful
- Administrators. The identification of the security-relevant, internal
- system databases and the correlation between each function and the
- corresponding database shall be carefully performed and documented. The
- separation of Operator's and Administrator's functions shall also lead to
- the separation of accessible objects and of access privileges to shared
- databases. This is an essential design requirement for the enforcement of
- the least privilege principle within the TCB because it helps identify and
- eliminate unnecessary Operator access to administrator data. For example,
- the Administrator has full access to system databases that need not be
- fully accessible to the Operator; i.e., the Administrator has Read/Write
- privileges to some (shared) databases, such as the system security
- profile, for which the Operator only needs Read privileges. Thus, the
- Write privilege of the Operator to these databases would be eliminated.
- Also, because these databases are separate, consistency checks may be
- derived from the security-relevant databases of the Administrator and
- applied to the security-relevant functions of the Operator. This would
- increase the robustness of the administrative functions of the system and,
- implicitly, its usefulness.
-
- Figure 1 illustrates both the separation of function and of
- privileges/databases for class B2. Note, although the functions of the
- Operator and Administrator are completely separated, the Administrator's
- privileges include those of the Operator in the sense that the
- Administrator can always get access to all Operator functions, databases,
- and privileges. For example, an Administrator can always log in as an
- Operator and perform Operator functions. In contrast, the Operator cannot
- get access to functions, databases, and privileges that are exclusively
- the Administrator's. Note, this hierarchical relationship of roles is a
- functional hierarchy. The system could provide a "flat" set of roles,
- functions and privileges, and the hierarchy could be managed
- administratively.
-
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-
-
- 4.1.1. Security-Relevant Functions of the System
- Administrator
-
- The security-relevant functions of the System
- Administrator include those that:
-
- * Define and change the user security
- characteristics and those of the system security data (e.g., user identifier,
- user's group identifiers, user/group maximum security level; and the
- maximum/minimum security level of the system data, the maximum/minimum
- security level of each file system).
-
- * Define and change the system's security
- characteristics (e.g., security level limits of multilevel channels, I/O
- processors, communication lines, and devices; all possible level changes of
- single level devices).
-
- * Perform system programming functions; (e.g.,
- trusted system configuration in accordance with the configuration management
- policy, system distribution, system installation, TCB code maintenance that
- may affect system configuration, distribution and installation).
-
- * Perform audit functions (e.g., determine what
- events should be audited, manage the audit trail, analyze the audit trail,
- produce audit reports).
-
- 4.1.2. Security-Relevant Functions of the Operator
-
- The security-relevant functions of the Operator include
- those that:
-
- * Enable and disable peripheral
- devices, make changes to the device security characteristics within the limits
- defined by the Administrator (e.g., the Operator sets the level of a
- single-level device within the range defined by the Administrator).
-
- * Control the mounting of file systems
- and load labeled disk packs and tape reels on appropriate drives.
-
- * Recover user files following system
- crashes.
-
- * Handle printed output.
-
- * Perform maintenance operations on
- user databases and routine maintenance of TCB databases.
-
- * Boot up and shut down the system.
-
-
- 4.2. SEPARATION OF SECURITY AND NONSECURITY-RELEVANT FUNCTIONS
-
-
- The second requirement of the trusted facility management is to
- identify, audit, and separate the security-relevant functions of the
- Administrator from the nonsecurity-relevant functions. The purpose of
- this requirement is to prevent an Operator or Administrator from executing
- untrusted code using their special privileges that would enable that code
- to corrupt the policy enforcement data or mechanisms. This requirement is
- introduced in class B3, and is stated in the TCSEC as follows:
-
- "The functions performed in the role of a
- Security Administrator shall be identified. The AIS administrative personnel
- shall only be able to perform Security Administrator functions after taking a
- distinct auditable action to assume the Security Administrator role on the
- AIS. Nonsecurity functions that can be performed in the Security
- Administrator role shall be limited strictly to those essential to performing
- the security role effectively."
-
- Both the Administrator and the Operator roles include
- security-relevant functions. Security-relevant functions include all
- administrative functions that are used to implement the security and
- accountability policies supported by a system. Nonsecurity-relevant
- functions are those that cannot affect the implementation of security and
- accountability policies supported by a system. The separation of
- security-relevant and nonsecurity-relevant functions is important because
- nonsecurity-relevant functions need to be trusted to a degree lower than
- that of the security-relevant ones. A higher degree of trust implies that
- the operational and life-cycle assurance tasks are more extensive than
- those necessary for functions of a lower level of trust. Although some
- nonsecurity-relevant functions of the Administrator may be functionally a
- part of the TCB in class B2, flaws in these functions should lead only to
- potential denial-of-service instances, but not to security or integrity
- violations. In class B3, essentially where the nonsecurity-relevant
- functions of the Administrator shall be removed from the TCB. The TCSEC
- does permit the inclusion of nonsecurity relevant functions that are
- essential to performing the security role. While the separation of
- administrative functions is not required below class B2, the benefits and
- protection it provides should be seriously considered.
-
- Figure 2 illustrates both the separation of function and of
- privileges/databases for classes B2 and B3. Note, although the functions
- of the Operator and Security Administrator (i.e., the nonsecurity-relevant
- role of the Administrator) are completely separated.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- (Alternative administrative procedures for systems that do not
- support any separation of roles have been suggested [5]. These procedures
- may be useful for systems in TCSEC classes C1 through B1.)
-
- 4.3. IMPACT OF OTHER TCSEC REQUIREMENTS ON TRUSTED FACILITY
- MANAGEMENT
-
- The third important requirement of trusted facility management is
- the integration of functions and programs that implement administrative
- roles within the TCB in such a way that the security policy,
- accountability, assurance, and documentation requirements of specific
- TCSEC classes are satisfied. For example, in a B3 or above system, the
- design of each function supporting a specific role must ensure that the
- programs executing that function operate with the fewest privileges
- necessary and that they are designed to satisfy the abstraction,
- information hiding, and layering requirements. Furthermore, in a class B3
- or above system, the nonsecurity-relevant functions of Administrators
- shall be removed from the TCB because "significant system engineering
- shall be directed towards minimizing the complexity of the TCB and
- excluding from the TCB modules that are not protection critical" [11].
- Some work environments require the system to support multiple work shifts.
- Such a system design, allowing multiple individuals to belong to the same
- role, shall ensure that these individuals are not forced to share a role
- password, such that accountability on an individual basis is lost.
-
- Most documentation requirements of the TCSEC apply to trusted
- facility management as stated in each evaluation class. However, some
- requirements such as those that state the need for a Security Features
- Users' Guide (SFUG) and for covert channel analysis are obviously not
- applicable. The SFUG is relevant for all users, whereas the Trusted
- Facility Manual and Management are relevant only for administrative users.
- Also, since most administrative users have multilevel access to system
- and user data, they must be trusted to maintain the secrecy and
- classification of the data. Thus, administrative users must be cleared to
- the highest level of data classification. Furthermore, all code
- implementing functions of administrative roles should be scrutinized to
- ensure, to the largest extent possible, that it does not contain any
- Trojan horses or trap doors. Additional requirements imposed by the TCSEC
- oftrusted facility management are discussed in the section entitled,
- "TCSEC Requirements For Trusted Facility Management."
-
-
-
- 5. SEPARATION OF OPERATOR'S AND ADMINISTRATOR'S ROLES
-
- An important aspect of trusted facility management is that of
- partitioning the security-relevant duties of the Administrators and
- Operators into separate roles. For example, this partitioning could
- distinguish the security-relevant roles of Security Administrator, System
- Programmer, and Auditor -- in addition to the non-security-relevant role
- of Accounts Administrator; and also could distinguish between the
- security-relevant functions of the Operator (the Secure Operator role) and
- the nonsecurity-relevant ones (the Operator role). Although this further
- partitioning of the Administrator's duties is not required by the TCSEC,
- it is suggested:
-
- (1) by the need to differentiate between the
- skills required by different security-relevant functions of the
- Administrator and Operator,
-
- (2) by the need to divide the power (e.g.,
- privileges) of the all-encompassing Administrator duty into multiple roles
- that incorporate different levels of trust,
-
- (3) by the need to avoid entrusting all
- security-relevant functions to a single role or individual. In this
- partitioning of the Administrator's duties, the Security Administrator
- role retains the functions of defining and changing the users' and the
- system security profiles.
-
- The System Programmer's functions differ from those of the
- Security Administrator, Auditor, Account Administrator and Operators. The
- System Programmer's functions, privileges, and databases include those of
- the other roles, as the System Programmer is the most privileged
- administrative user defined in any system. In contrast with the other
- roles, some of the System Programmer's actions may not be auditable. This
- is the case because some of the System Programmer's actions take place
- before the Auditor's programs and databases are configured and loaded.
- Furthermore, the System Programmer's maintenance activities may refer to
- the maintenance/repair of the TCB, including the other roles' interfaces
- (e.g., commands, programs), databases, and privileges. Whenever possible,
- the System Programmer functions should be relegated to system maintenance
- mode only and monitored by administrative procedure. Whenever possible,
- work on TCB code should be done on a developmental system rather than on a
- system in current use. The developmental system may be a physically
- separate system or a system from which user data, and in particular
- classified data, have been removed (e.g., by changing disk packs or
- overwriting memory) prior to performing TCB maintenance. Note that any
- modification of the TCB code, even by authorized users in the System
- Programmer role, may invalidate the system's rating. The above measures
- allow the design of a system whose mode of operation does not include an
- all-powerful role.
-
- The Auditor's functions, databases, and access privileges differ
- significantly from those of the other administrative roles (e.g., Security
- Administrator, Account Administrator, Operators). The separation of the
- Auditor's functions, databases, and access privileges from those of the
- Security Administrator, Account Administrator, and Operators is an
- important application of the separation of privilege and least privilege
- principles. Should such separation not be performed, and should the
- Security Administrator be allowed to undertake Auditor functions or
- vice-versa, the entire security function would become the responsibility
- of a single, unaccountable individual or role in normal mode of system
- operation. For example, a Security Administrator may take actions that
- represent misuse of authority and then use Auditor functions to erase any
- evidence of his actions. Although this is obviously undesirable, the
- TCSEC does not require the separation of Security Administrator and
- Auditor functions (and neither does it require the separation between
- Secure Operator and Operator functions).
-
- Figure 3 illustrates both the fine-grained separation of roles and
- of databases/privileges. The relationships between the different roles
- defined here are explained in Section 5.8.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The design of each administrative role should include explicitly the set
- of commands, privileges, and databases specific to that role. In
- contrast, the assignment of individuals to the roles is best left to the
- management of the installations familiar with the skill, interests, and
- trust that can be assigned to the individuals. Furthermore, this guide
- does not distinguish between the role of the System Programmer of a
- specific installation and that assigned to a manufacturer's programmer.
- Such distinctions depend on the operational environment and administrative
- procedures enforced in that environment. In small system environments the
- two roles become indistinguishable, whereas in large system environments
- the two roles are different. In some environments, the System Programmer
- has the right to examine, modify, recompile, and rebuild the TCB, whereas
- in others the System Programmer can only install a given object code
- version of it. For example, it is not uncommon that System Programmers at
- a given installation site add device drivers to a TCB for new multilevel
- devices supported in the systems, and then rebuild the TCB. Whenever the
- System Programmer is allowed to modify, recompile, and rebuild the TCB,
- strict configuration management procedures should be followed at the
- installation site and evidence be gathered to demonstrate to the
- Accreditor that the system rating is maintained properly. Again, it
- should be noted that any modification to the evaluated TCB code or
- configuration may invalidate the system's rating.
-
- The distinction between various Operator's and Administrator's functions
- are established by:
-
- (1) who performs the system configuration,
- distribution, installation and maintenance,
-
- (2) who defines the user and the system security
- characteristics,
-
- (3) who performs systems operations such as
- routine maintenance and response to user requests. This section
- recommends a more structured separation of roles that provides more
- effective management of the computer resources and accountability for
- those personnel.
-
-
- 5.1. FUNCTIONS OF THE SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR
-
- The security-relevant functions of the Security Administrator can
- operate at more than one security level, and invoke processes or programs
- that operate with some system privileges. Thus, these functions must be
- trusted to a high degree. These functions include identification and
- authentication functions, mandatory access control functions, and
- discretionary access control functions.
-
- 1. The identifica*tion and authentica*tion functions of the
- Security Administrator may include:
-
- The setting of the parameters of the login/out mechanism,
- such as:
-
- * timeout period (maximum amount of time the system waits
- for the next command or for the completion of the current command);
-
- * maximum login time (maximum amount of time the user may
- remain logged in to a system);
-
- * limit of successive, unsuccessful tries to log in from a
- specific terminal before Administrators are notified;
-
- * limit of successive, unsuccessful tries to log in to an
- account, regardless of the terminal location, before Administrators are
- notified;
-
- * terminal lockout establishment and resetting;
-
- * multiple (simultaneous) login attributes;
-
- * whether a specific user's login needs to trigger an
- administrative warning (to the Administrator or to the Operator's console).
-
- The setting of the authentication parameters; the Security
- Administrator functions may include those that carry out the following
- decisions:
-
- * if the authentication mechanism is password-based, the
- Security Administrator determines the password characteristics (whether the
- user's password choice is user-generated or system-generated, the setting of
- the minimum and maximum password age, the password complexity parameters,
- etc.);
-
- * if the mechanism is dialogue-based, the Administrator
- installs the dialogue programs on a per-user basis;
-
- * the Administrator defines and manages the distribution
- of special passwords for the trusted processes that are started by passwords
- (i.e., the TCB repair and maintenance processes, such as security-label
- repair, etc.).
-
- [Note: The above
- decisions are made when the system is installed for a particular organization,
- and the system Security Administrator carries out the installation decisions
- made by that organization.]
- The definition of user account and registration profile;
- this definition may include:
-
- * user identifier (this should be unique for the lifetime
- of the system); initial user password; change of user password;
-
- * user's full name, address, and affiliation;
-
- * user's group identifiers (these should also be unique
- for the lifetime of the system);
-
- * user's default group.
-
- The definition of group accounts and
- registration profile; this definition may include:
-
- * user group id (this should be unique for the system's
- lifetime);
-
- * group title, group administrator identifier, name and
- address;
-
- * group disk quota;
-
- * group statistics.
-
- [Note: In some
- environments, the user and the group identifiers of registered users may not
- be disclosed to other users. Note also that, whenever the TCB does not
- automatically create unique identifiers for users and for groups, the system
- Security Administrator does not reuse user/group names until he is certain
- that name conflicts do not occur.]
-
- 2. The mandatory access control functions of the Security
- Administrator may include the following:
-
- Definition and maintenance of the security label map; this
- includes functions such as the mapping between internal representations and
- human-readable representations of security lables.
-
- Setting of the security-level limits and the default
- security levels for: the system, the users, the user groups, the system
- devices, and the file systems.
-
- Labeling of imported unlabeled data, and unlabeled media
- such as disk packs.
-
- Reclassification of objects; this includes:
-
- * object upgrade or downgrade;
-
- * label overrides on user output;
-
- * restoration of damaged labels (whenever this function is
- not provided by the System Programmer role).
-
- 3. The discretionary access control functions of the Security
- Administrator may include the following:
-
- Initialization of the discretionary access privileges for
- group administrators to group directories and group devices; also,
- initialization of storage quotas for user groups.
-
- Definition and maintenance of group membership (whenever
- special group administrators are not supported).
-
- [Note: Since any change in group
- membership affects all discretionary access control decisions made by
- individual users, such changes should not take place without prior
- consultation with the users who may be affected by this decision.]
-
- Setting of discretionary privileges on file systems.
-
- Changes of object ownership in systems that support the
- notion of ownership; also, changes of discretionary privileges on objects
- whose privileges are accidentally deleted by the object's creators or owners.
-
- Discretionary distribution, review, and revocation of
- privileges on behalf of object creators/owners in systems that do not allow
- individual users to distribute, review, and revoke privileges directly (i.e.,
- where the control of object sharing is centralized [9]).
-
- 4. Additional functions of the Security Administrator are listed
- below. Specifically, the Security Administrator may:
-
- Perform consistency checks to verify that:
-
- * the database of user and system security profiles
- satisfies the system security requirements and is in a consistent state;
-
- * the TCB is installed properly (e.g., displays and checks
- installation tables);
-
- * the TCB does not contain extraneous programs (e.g.,
- programs that are privileged but are not part of the TCB configuration).
-
- Determine that the current system configuration is within
- the constraints established by configuration management and the System
- Programmer. This includes the verification of:
-
- * device and terminal registration;
-
- * maximum storage size;
-
- * file (device) system name table and file (device) mount
- tables;
-
- * device and terminal connection database.
-
- Cut off user/group accounts (whenever the Account
- Administrator is not defined as a separate role).
-
- Delete user/group accounts.
-
- Display and update constants of various system tables.
-
- Initiate and analyze the system integrity tests.
-
- Supervise the maintenance procedures (hardware, etc.).
-
- Respond to real-time alarm messages (B3 and higher).
-
- Destruction of errant processes.
-
- Definition of the site identifier, logo, and the site
- authentication protocols within a network.
-
- Set up and access the following four
- types of databases:
-
- * The database of the user and system
- security profiles;
-
- * The security label map;
-
- * The file system hierarchy;
-
- * The system configuration database
- [this includes the current hardware configuration and the security-level
- limits of the various devices, terminal connections, the file-system name and
- mount database, etc.].
-
- All the modifications to these databases are performed by the
- Security Administrator using the commands of a trusted database editor and
- the system's trusted path. Although the trusted path mechanism is not
- required for these modifications in class B2 systems, the trusted editor
- commands are part of the administrative interface commands that must be
- supported by all trusted systems. All actions of the Security
- Administrators are audited.
-
- 5.2. FUNCTIONS OF THE SECURE OPERATOR
-
- The security-relevant functions of the Operator role can operate
- across more than one security level and sometimes invoke processes that
- require system privileges. Thus, these functions require a high degree of
- trust. An Operator who executes security-relevant operations is called
- the Secure Op*er*a*tor. These functions of the Secure Operator may
- include the following:
-
- 1. Booting and shutting down the system; setting the system's
- clocks; also, setting the security level of individual system devices within
- the range of levels allowed by the Security Administrator's database.
-
- [Note: Shutting down the system requires that the
- Operator ensure that appropriate physical and administrative security
- features be in place to protect the information while the system is not
- running. For example, shutting down for maintenance might require that
- the date be removed and the system cleared.]
-
- 2. Locating damaged user files and volumes. The "salvager" process
- identifies damaged labels (e.g., labels inconsistent with those of containing
- directories and files) and deletes all access to the corresponding objects
- until repair is finished by the System Programmer and Security Administrator.
-
- 3. Performing routine maintenance of TCB databases.
-
- The Operator performs the following routine maintenance
- operations:
-
- * audit file backup (whenever this is not
- included in the Auditor's role);
-
- * security-level changes for some devices (these
- are within the limits set by the system Security Administrator);
-
- * user database backup;
-
- * security-map backup;
-
- * TCB tables backup.
-
- It must be noted that the Operator should not have the privilege
- to modify file contents for file backup.
-
- 4. Performing on-line terminal and device tests (including
- authentication tests).
-
- 5. Responding to user's requests.
-
- The Operator should be able to respond to the
- following user requests:
-
- * mount/unmount physically (externally) labeled
- removable media (e.g., tape reels and disk packs);
-
- * import/export other physically (externally)
- labeled data into/from the system.
-
- It must be noted that all Operator's actions must be auditable.
- Mounting unlabeled storage devices is not recommended. The TCB needs the
- Label information in order to correct access control decisions. If the
- Operator is not provided the label, the system will not be able to enforce
- the policy correctly.
-
-
- 5.3. FUNCTIONS OF THE ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATOR
-
- The security-relevant functions of the Administrator role may not
- need the special privileges to operate properly, but in most installations
- they will be trusted processes However, all output generated by the
- Account Administrator will be marked with the highest security level.
- Otherwise, leakage of classified information may take place (e.g., encoded
- in the user bills). The nonsecurity-relevant role of the Security
- Administrator is called the Account Administrator.
-
- The (nonsecurity-relevant) functions of the Account Administrator
- are listed below. Specifically, the Account Administrator:
-
- 1. Installs and maintains accounting files.
-
- 2. Turns system accounting on and off.
-
- 3. Runs accounting tools and produces
- accounting reports/bills.
-
- 4. Enables and disables accounts at users'
- requests (whenever this function is not provided by the Security
- Administrator); however, the Account Administrator does not have the privilege
- to define or change the users' security profiles.
-
- 5. Establishes the billing rates, prices and
- policies.
-
- 6. On a regular basis, collects system
- statistics such as:
-
- * system availability;
-
- * system configuration;
-
- * disk/CPU/memory statistics.
-
- 7. Publishes revenue/cost reports.
-
- 5.4. FUNCTIONS OF THE AUDITOR
-
- The Auditor role invokes processes that operate with system
- privileges. Thus, all functions of the Auditor require a high degree of
- trust. These functions include those that enable the audit selectivity
- mechanism (e.g., audit-event setup and change), the management of audit
- trails, the setting of the covert-channel delays and randomization
- variables, audit data compression and postprocessing analysis [7]. Data
- generated by the Auditor must be classified at the System High level since
- they may contain information generated at all security levels defined in
- the system. System High is defined as the security label that dominates
- all other security labels in the system. In a sense, it is the highest
- possible label. It would be beneficial, and possibly necessary, to create
- the System High level such that it is hierarchically higher than all the
- data levels used in the system. This approach has the benefit that the
- mandatory access controls provide additional protections for the audit
- data since only the Auditor would have authorization for this level.
-
- 1. The Auditor functions that define the events recorded in the
- audit log (or trail) may include:
-
- Functions that turn on and off events that should be recorded in
- the audit trail to ensure the consistency of subsequent events selected by
- the Auditor. These events ensure that the postprocessing tools function
- properly. For example, in systems where object-unique names are
- represented by file system pathnames, any change to the working directory
- relative to which pathnames are interpreted, should be audited. (An
- object-unique name is the unique name that identifies and distinguishes a
- particular object from all other objects in a system. In a hierarchical
- file system, the object-unique name includes the associated directory
- names so users can use the same name for objects in different
- directories). Otherwise, audit analysis tools that read audit events
- recorded after a directory change cannot identify objects unambiguously.
- For similar reasons, all events that record process creation or
- destruction and identification or authentication actions should be
- selected whenever the audit is on.
-
- Functions that display all security-relevant events which can be
- audited.
-
- (The determination of the security-relevant events in a system is
- done at design time, and is based on the interpretation of the chosen
- security policy and accountability models in the system. Any event, such
- as those provided by a user invocation of a TCB or trusted process call,
- is security-relevant if it causes a state transition or if it denies a
- state transition in the model's interpretation. For example, the
- introduction of an object in an address space of a process is
- security-relevant in a system designed to support the Bell-LaPadula model
- because it causes a state transition in the interpretation of the
- current-access-set component of that model's interpretation [2].
- Similarly, distribution and revocation of access privileges cause a state
- transition because they modify the access-matrix component of the model;
- whereas a change in security level of an object/subject causes a state
- transition because it modifies the security-function component of the
- model. Other state transitions, which should also be audited, may modify
- multiple components of a system state; e.g., the creation/destruction of
- objects that modify both the object hierarchy and the access matrix.
- Additional security-relevant events may be derived from the interpretation
- of the trusted facility management model whenever such a model is not
- included in the security policy model. Also, additional security-relevant
- events may be derived from the covert-channel handling requirements of the
- TCSEC).
-
- Functions that turn on or off audit events selectively on a
- per-user, per-process, per-security-level or per-object basis are also
- included here. These events may be signaled by the processors, TCB, or
- trusted processes. Selection of auditor-determined subsets of these
- events should also be possible.
-
- Functions that turn on or off events representing accumulations of
- other auditable events (e.g., multiple successive unsuccessful logins) and
- alarms are also included here.
-
- 2. Auditor functions that help manage the audit files may include:
-
- Creation and destruction of audit logs and postprocessing audit
- files.
-
- Change of audit-log size and of warning points. The warning
- points may be expressed as a specific number, or percentage, of bytes
- available in the audit log. When these warning points are crossed by the
- event recording mechanism, an auditor warning may be given by the system.
- If the audit log becomes full and the audit mechanism is on, then the
- system may stop and delay further activity until the Auditor takes
- corrective action [7].
-
- Functions used to empty full audit files.
-
- Functions that format and compress events in the audit log and
- postprocessing audit files. The formatting functions may convert binary
- audit data into text format, and combine partial event records into the
- required record format. The storing of formatted postprocessing files may
- require the use of compression techniques to improve storage utilization.
-
- Functions that display the audit log and postprocessing audit
- files in various formats.
-
- Consistency checking functions which operate on the entire auditor
- database for use after system crashes.
-
- 3. Functions that set the delays or the randomization values for
- covert channel handling should also be included in the Auditor's role.
- The reason for this is that the covert channel handling guideline of the
- TCSEC correlates the covert-channel audit requirement with specific
- covert-channel bandwidth values and, therefore, with delay values and
- randomization ranges. For example, depending upon the values set for the
- audit delays, specific channels may, or may not, need to be audited.
- Thus, the specification of the delay values and randomization ranges
- becomes the duty of the Auditor. These functions may include:
-
- The setting of the default and current values of the delays for
- single covert channels or for groups of covert channels.
-
- The setting of the default and current values of the randomization
- ranges for covert channels arising from the dynamic allocation or
- deallocation of indices in TCB tables.
-
- 4. Functions that perform the postprocessing of the audit data are
- necessary for any audit log analysis and, therefore, should be included in any
- trusted system. Although some of these functions are independent of the
- required audit analysis, such as the functions that retrieve various fields of
- the audit logs, most of these functions are specific to the postprocessing
- analysis required by specific applications.
-
- In summary, the functions of the Auditor role may set up, access
- and modify the following types of databases:
-
- * audit log files containing full or partial
- records of audit events in binary or text formats;
-
- * audit event file containing the definition of
- all auditable events in the system;
-
- * selected-event file containing the definitions
- of all events selected on a per-user, per-process, per-security-level,
- per-object basis;
-
- * formatted or compressed audit files containing
- the input to the postprocessing phase;
-
- * audit report files.
-
- Access to the audit databases may be performed only by individuals
- who can assume the Auditor role, using the commands defined for that role.
- Use of Auditor commands must be audited. For class B3 and above systems,
- the use of Auditor commands must be through the trusted path mechanism.
-
-
-
- 5.5. FUNCTIONS OF THE OPERATOR
-
- The security-relevant functions of the Operator role do not need
- all the system privileges to operate properly. However, the Operator
- should be able to change the authorization of his processes between System
- Low and System High because he may need to operate at different security
- levels. System Low is the security label that is dominated by all other
- security labels in the system. In a sense, it is the lowest possible
- label.
-
- The (security-relevant) functions of the Operator are defined
- below. Specifically, the Operator:
-
- 1. Performs user volume backup. This includes:
-
- * complete volume dumps;
-
- * complete volume retrievals.
- 2. Performs system performance metering.
-
- 3. Responds to various other user requests
- (request for the installation of user-level software packages, etc.).
-
- 4. Adjusts resource quotas for user-visible
- resources.
-
- 5.6. FUNCTIONS OF THE SYSTEM PROGRAMMER
-
- The functions of the System Programmer role are the most
- security-sensitive functions of the system. They may affect the TCB
- configuration, distribution and maintenance. These functions are not
- necessarily audited and, thus, any error, omission, or malicious act,
- which affects the security of the entire system, may remain undetected.
- (However, some form of auditing, possibly off-line, is still necessary in
- some environments. Multiple Systems Programmers checking each others'
- actions may also be required in some environments for the execution of the
- System Programmer functions. Furthermore, a two-person rule may be
- instituted or built into the login procedure requiring that a System
- Programmer may not log in successfully unless another System Programmer is
- also logging in). Thus, the System Programmer functions should have the
- highest degree of trust in the system. The System Programmer functions
- may include the following:
-
- 1. Trusted system distribution; for example,
- this includes the generation and handling of the site's system master copy.
-
- 2. Setting of system configuration parameters
- (as specified by the site's configuration management policy); for example,
- this includes:
-
- * generic system configuration;
-
- * initialization of the TCB data
- structures (before any security profiles or audit characteristics are
- defined);
-
- * loading of the TCB.
-
-
- 3. Nonroutine TCB maintenance; for example,
- this includes:
-
- * analysis of dumps;
-
- * installation of "patches" to the TCB
- code and data (for this the Operator should be able to recompile TCB code from
- modified source code and should use a trusted loader to reload the system);
-
- * trusted recovery actions after
- system crashes; for example the Operator performs consistency checks on the
- file system structure, on individual TCB files, directories and tables,
- repairs damaged labels;
-
- * repairs damaged security labels
- whenever this function is not provided by the Security Administrator role
- (damaged labels identified by Secure Operators or Users).
-
- The databases of the System Programmer include:
-
- * all TCB files (e.g., TCB code, security-map,
- auditor files);
-
- * all TCB tables (e.g., interrupt vectors, trap
- tables, gates).
-
-
-
- 5.7. OTHER ROLES
-
- Other administrative roles can be defined in a secure system. For
- example, in certain environments the role of the Analyst can be defined.
- An Analyst may be an otherwise unprivileged user who is trusted to label
- imported data from various system inputs, to create new files and label
- them as he sees fit. The Analyst cannot label any data file with a
- security level higher than his maximum clearance. All the Analyst's
- actions are audited as are those of a normal user.
-
- When a system is tied into a network, additional roles may be
- necessary to ensure consistency and accuracy of the network policy
- enforcement. Such roles could involve additional security-relevant
- databases.
-
-
- 5.8. RELATIONSHIP AMONG ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES
-
- The fine-grained separation of administrative roles defined above
- permits the establishment of a hierarchical relationship among
- administrative roles based on a notion of "role dominance" (not to be
- confused with the notion of dominance among security or integrity levels).
- This notion signifies the ability of an administrative user in a certain
- role to change the attributes of objects and security profiles of users in
- other roles and, if necessary, to log in and take actions in that role.
-
- Object attributes include:
-
- * access privileges;
-
- * size;
-
- * security and integrity levels; and
-
- * ownership.
-
- Profile attributes include:
-
- * user and group identifiers;
-
- * passwords;
-
- * group membership; and
-
- * time restrictions on user activity.
-
- The above notion of role dominance can be useful because it
- provides both a measure of necessary trust (based on skills, on checking
- administrative users' background and interests, etc.) that should be
- invested in a role and a measure of vulnerability associated with that
- role. The most privileged role is that of the System Programmer. It
- dominates all other roles in the system and, consequently, it exhibits the
- highest degree of vulnerability. The Auditor role should be strictly
- separated from all other remaining roles defined in the system because it
- maintains sensitive information describing the behavior of all users,
- including the administrative ones. The Security Administrator dominates
- the Secure Operator, Account Administrator, Analyst, and user roles;
- however, the dominated roles are separated from each other. It must be
- noted that users in the same role do not dominate each other. Although
- they share most functions, privileges, and databases of the common role,
- their security profiles are disjoint to allow individual accountability.
- This helps distinguish the activities of individual users in the same
- role. Figure 4 illustrates the relationship among the administrative
- roles defined above. The system could provide a "flat" set of roles,
- functions and privileges, and the role relationships that could be managed
- administratively. Implementations of hierarchical relationships among
- administrative roles can benefit from the use of mandatory security and,
- especially, integrity models. Mandatory integrity models, such as the
- Biba model [4] and the Clark-Wilson model [8], could be used to guide the
- design of the above-mentioned roles and hierarchical relationships, as
- discussed below.
-
- 6. IMPACT OF OTHER TCSEC REQUIREMENTS ON TRUSTED FACILITY MANAGEMENT
-
- The major areas of the TCSEC requirements (security policy,
- accountability, assurance and documentation) impact on trusted facility
- management. The design and implementation of the functions of various
- administrative roles may use some of the security mechanisms and policies
- of the underlying system to implement some of their special protection
- requirements or may choose to implement new protection mechanisms and
- policies. For example, the implementors of Security Administrator
- functions may use the discretionary access control mechanisms or may
- choose to implement to protect the Security Administrator databases from
- other administrative users and from normal users. This section examines
- the relationship of other TCSEC requirements to trusted facility
- management.
-
- 6.1. SECURITY POLICY
-
- To support the system's security policies, the functions of
- trusted facility management must control access to, and sharing of,
- administrative data. Trusted processes implementing the security
- functions of the Administrator's and Operator's role share files of the
- administrative database in a variety of ways. Some files are private to
- each role and are never shared with other roles, with other users of the
- same role, or with nonadministrative trusted processes. For example, the
- security label map file is private to the Security Administrator role, the
- audit log and the postprocessing audit files are private to the Auditor
- role, and the accounting files are private to the Account Administrator
- role. All such files are shared among all users of the same role. Other
- files, such as those containing the user and group registration, may be
- shared between processes of different roles. These files may be read and
- written by Security Administrator processes, and are read by Auditor,
- Secure Operator and Account Administrator processes. Account
- Administrators and Operators may perform special tasks, such as the
- collection of user and system statistics and performance metering, for
- which they would create and maintain private files (those not shared with
- others in the same role). Furthermore, other files are shared between
- processes of an administrative role and nonadministrative trusted
- processes. For example, the user password file is read and written by the
- Security Administrator role, read by the "login" trusted process, and read
- and written by the "change-password" trusted process, which can be invoked
- by any user.
-
- To control access to administrative data and to implement the
- above-mentioned sharing relationships among processes of the
- administrative roles, the design and implementation of trusted facility
- management may, or may not, rely on discretionary and mandatory access
- controls of the underlying system. If they do, some processes
- implementing role functions, which need to read and write files at all
- security levels (e.g., Accounting, Auditor, and Secure Operator
- processes), would need to bypass the mandatory access controls at least
- occasionally. Some other processes will operate at the highest level in
- the system (e.g., accounting and audit processes) and maintain data files
- at this level (e.g., audit log and postprocessing files, accounting files).
-
- Whenever the sharing relationships among programs and processes of
- the administrative roles cannot be supported by existing mechanisms, new
- mechanisms have to be introduced. For example, the association of
- specific programs implementing administrative functions with roles may
- require the implementation of restricted command processors, of restricted
- groups that cannot be modified by the Security Administrator, or of other
- more complex integrity mechanisms (discussed below). In all such cases,
- the design and implementation of trusted facility management functions
- should follow existing guidelines (see example,[9]).
-
- 6.2. ACCOUNTABILITY
-
- The accountability requirements of the TCSEC impose several
- constraints on the implementation of trusted facility management, in
- addition to the separation of roles. First, the identification and
- authentication of all administrative users must be unambiguous, and must
- be done on an individual basis, not on a per-role basis. For example, if
- all users of a role share the same password, accountability will be lost
- since any user can take the identity of other users of the same role and
- commit acts of intrusion attributable to those users.
-
- Second, the trusted-path mechanism for classes B3 and above must
- ensure that the administrative users are connected to the commands or
- processes that belong to their role, and that no other users or processes
- can interpose themselves into the path connecting any combination of the
- administrative users, their commands, and their processes. This can be
- accomplished by providing administrative consoles recognized and separated
- by the TCB hardware or software from the rest of the terminals, or by the
- design of a full (i.e., B3-A1) trusted-path mechanism.
-
- Third, use of all administrative functions, other than those used
- by System Programmers in maintenance mode, must be audited. This implies
- that trusted programs and processes implementing these commands should be
- able to request the writing of audit records during the execution of those
- commands. In all areas of accountability, the design and implementation
- of trusted facility management functions should follow existing guidelines
- (see example, [7]).
-
- 6.3. ASSURANCE
-
- The assurance requirements of the TCSEC have a significant impact
- on trusted facility management both in the operational and in the
- life-cycle areas. These requirements affect both the design and the
- implementation of the trusted facility management functions.
-
- 6.3.1. Operational Assurance
-
- The only relevant areas of operational assurance are the
- system architecture and the trusted recovery areas. The covert channel
- analysis area is not relevant here because (1) all users in
- security-relevant administrative roles have been screened for this
- position of trust and are therefore expected not to disclose information
- in an unauthorized way, and (2) all code implementing administrative
- functions is reviewed to ensure, to the largest possible extent, that no
- Trojan horses are present. The system integrity requirements of the TCSEC
- are also irrelevant here as they deal only with the test of proper
- hardware and firmware operation.
-
- The system architecture requirements impose major
- constraints on the design of trusted facility management. Because all the
- security-relevant and accountability functions of the administrative roles
- are part of a system's TCB, all requirements of TCB interface definition
- apply to the administrative interfaces. Similarly, all requirements of
- internal TCB structuring, such as those of modularity, abstraction,
- information hiding, and layering apply to the design and implementation
- code of the programs and processes of trusted facility management.
- Careful analysis and documentation of this design and implementation area,
- as well as careful scrutiny by evaluators, is expected in this area.
-
- The application of the least privilege principle to the
- design of trusted processes is also required of the administrative
- processes of the TCB. Several specific design requirements should be
- observed here. First, the protection of the administrative databases
- should be performed at the granularity of individual files (or segments)
- and individual privileges. (The term file is used here in a generic sense
- to represent a logically small structure such that the structure does not
- include information unrelated to the specific function). Second, programs
- and processes of the administrative roles should have access only to the
- TCB and user files, and to the privileged TCB calls, that are necessary
- for implementing those roles, but to no other files or calls. Several
- design alternatives are available in this area. For example, certain
- files should be associated only with certain processes. Privileged TCB
- calls, which can be represented by ring-gate descriptors [15,19],
- domain-entry capabilities [13], or per-process privilege vectors
- corresponding to specific calls [16,14], should be associated with
- processes only on an "as needed" basis. These associations can be
- controlled by careful application of nondiscretionary labels and
- authorizations at system configuration or installation time.
-
- The only specific requirement of trusted recovery imposed
- on the design and implementation of trusted facility management is that
- the consistency of the administrative databases be maintained after system
- crashes. This requirement can be satisfied by ensuring that :
-
- * these databases are stored
- on nonvolatile storage that survives system crashes;
-
- * that updates to such
- storage are atomic ;
-
- * that at least one of the
- administrative roles is equipped with commands for checking the consistency of
- the administrative file contents. Note that this could be a fully automated
- mechanism not requiring administrator interaction.
-
-
- 6.3.2. Life-Cycle Assurance
-
- Most life-cycle assurance requirements apply to the
- processes and interfaces of trusted facility management as stated. For
- example, security testing, configuration management, and trusted
- distribution requirements of the TCB apply to trusted facility management
- to the degree of rigor commensurate with the chosen evaluation class.
- This is the case because the TCB code and interfaces include the
- security-relevant code and interfaces of trusted facility management.
-
- In contrast, only some of the requirements of the design
- specification and verification area apply to the trusted facility
- management directly. For example, the need for accurate DTLSs for the TCB
- interfaces applies as stated. However, the requirements for a formal
- model, for an interpretation of this model in the DTLSs of the trusted
- facility management part of the TCB, and for a convincing argument that
- the DTLSs are consistent with the model are not directly applicable here.
- The reason for this is that no generally acceptable formal model of the
- trusted facility management area exists to date. Should a generally
- acceptable formal model become available, then all requirements of the
- design specification and verification area would apply to trusted facility
- management directly.
-
- 6.4. DOCUMENTATION
-
- The documentation requirements of the TCSEC relevant to the
- trusted facility management area are the trusted facility manual
- requirements in section 3, the test documentation requirements, and some
- of the design documentation [8]. In the design documentation area, only
- the requirements referring to the DTLSs, TCB internal structuring, and
- enforcement of the least privilege principle are relevant.
-
-
-
- GLOSSARY
-
- Access
- A specific type of interaction between a subject and an
- object that results in the flow of information from one to the other.
-
- Account Administrator
- An administrative role or user assigned to maintain
- accounting files, tools, user accounts, and system statistics.
-
- Administrative User
- A user assigned to supervise all or a portion of an AIS.
-
- Administrator
- See Administrative User.
-
- Approval/Accreditation
- The official authorization that is granted to an AIS to
- process sensitive information in its operational environment, based upon
- comprehensive security evaluation of the system's hardware, firmware, and
- software security design, configuration, and implementation and of the
- other system procedural, administrative, physical, TEMPEST, personnel, and
- communications security controls.
-
- Audit
- To conduct the independent review and examination of
- system records and activities.
-
- Audit Event Selection
- Selection, by authorized personnel, of the auditable
- events that are to be recorded on the audit trail.
-
- Audit Mechanism
- The processes used to collect, review, and/or examine
- system activities.
-
- Audit Postprocessing
- Processing, under the control of authorized personnel, of
- specified events that had been recorded on the audit trail.
-
- Audit Trail
- A chronological record of system activities that is
- sufficient to enable the reconstruction, reviewing, and examination of the
- sequence of environments and activities surrounding or leading to an
- operation, a procedure, or an event in a transaction from its inception to
- final results.
-
- Auditable Event
- Any event that can be selected for inclusion in the audit
- trail. These events should include, in addition to security-relevant
- events, actions taken to recover the system after failure and any events
- that might prove to be security-relevant at a later time.
-
- Auditor
- An authorized individual, or role, with administrative
- duties, which include selecting the events to be audited on the system,
- setting up the audit parameters which enable the recording of those
- events, and analyzing the trail of audit events.
-
- Authenticate
- (1) To verify the identity of a user, device, or other
- entity in a computer system, often as a prerequisite to allowing access to
- resources in a system.
-
- (2) To verify the integrity of data that have been stored,
- transmitted, or otherwise exposed to possible unauthorized modification.
-
- Authenticated User
- A user who has accessed an AIS with a valid identifier and
- authentication combination.
-
- Auto*mated Informa*tion System (AIS)
- An assembly of computer hardware, software and/or firmware
- configured to collect, create, communicate, compute, disseminate, process,
- store, and/or control data or information.
-
- Bandwidth
- A characteristic of a communication channel that is the
- amount of information that can be passed through it in a given amount of
- time, usually expressed in bits per second.
-
- Category
- A restrictive label that has been applied to classified or
- unclassified data as a means of increasing the protection of the data and
- further restricting access to the data.
-
- Channel
- An information transfer path within a system. May also
- refer to the mechanism by which the path is effected.
-
- Covert Channel
- A communication channel that allows a process to transfer
- information in a manner that violates the system's security policy. See
- also: Covert Storage Channel, Covert Timing Channel.
-
- Covert Storage Channel
- A covert channel that involves the direct or indirect
- writing of a storage location by one process and the direct or indirect
- reading of the storage location by another process. Covert storage
- channels typically involve a finite resource (e.g., sectors on a disk)
- that is shared by two subjects at different security levels.
-
- Covert Timing Channel
- A covert channel in which one process signals information
- to another by modulating its own use of system resources (e.g., CPU time)
- in such a way that this manipulation affects the real response time
- observed by the second process.
-
- Data
- Information with a specific physical representation.
-
- Data Integrity
- The property that data meet an a priori expectation of
- quality.
-
- Descriptive Top-Level Specification (DTLS)
- A top-level specification that is written in a natural
- language (e.g., English), an informal program design notation, or a
- combination of the two.
-
- Discretionary Access Control
- A means of restricting access to objects based on the
- identity and need-to-know of the user, process and/or groups to which they
- belong. The controls are discretionary in the sense that a subject with a
- certain access permission is capable of passing that permission (perhaps
- indirectly) on to any other subject.
-
- Formal Security Policy Model
- A mathematically precise statement of a security policy.
- To be adequately precise, such a model must represent the initial state of
- a system, the way in which the system progresses from one state to
- another, and a definition of a "secure" state of the system. To be
- acceptable as a basis for a TCB, the model must be supported by a formal
- proof that if the initial state of the system satisfies the definition of
- a "secure" state and if all assumptions required by the model hold, then
- all future states of the system will be secure. Some formal modeling
- techniques include: state transition models, temporal logic models,
- denotational semantics models, and algebraic specification models.
-
- Formal Top-Level Specification (FTLS)
- A Top-Level Specification that is written in a formal
- mathematical language to allow theorems showing the correspondence of the
- system specification to its formal requirements to be hypothesized and
- formally proven.
-
- Functional Testing
- The segment of security testing in which the advertised
- features of a system are tested, under operational conditions, for correct
- operation.
-
- Least Privilege
- The principle that requires that each subject be granted
- the most restrictive set of privileges needed for the performance of
- authorized tasks. The application of this principle limits the damage
- that can result from accident, error, or unauthorized use.
-
- Mandatory Access Control
- A means of restricting access to objects based on the
- sensitivity (as represented by a label) of the information contained in
- the objects and the formal authorization (i.e., clearance) of subjects to
- access information of such sensitivity.
-
- Multilevel Device
- A device that is used in a manner that permits it to
- process data simultaneously of two or more security levels without risk of
- compromise. To accomplish this, sensitivity labels are normally stored on
- the same physical medium and in the same form (i.e., machine-readable or
- human-readable) as the data being processed.
-
- Multilevel Secure
- A class of system containing information with different
- sensitivities that simultaneously permits access by users with different
- security clearances and needs-to-know, but prevents users from obtaining
- access to information for which they lack authorization.
-
- Object
- A passive entity that contains or receives information.
- Access to an object potentially implies access to the information it
- contains. Examples of objects are: records, blocks, pages, segments,
- files, directories, directory trees, and programs, as well as bits, bytes,
- words, fields, processors, video displays, keyboards, clocks, printers,
- network nodes, etc.
-
- Object-Unique Names
- The unique name that identifies and distinguishes a
- particular object from all other objects in a system. In a hierarchical
- file system, the object-unique name includes the associated directory
- names so users can use the same name for objects in different directories.
-
- Operator
- An administrative role or user assigned to perform routine
- maintenance operations of the AIS and to respond to routine user requests.
-
- Output
- Information that has been exported by a TCB.
-
- Password
- A protected/private character string that is used to
- authenticate an identity.
-
- Process
- A program in execution. It is completely characterized by
- a single current execution point (represented by the machine state) and
- address space.
-
- Read
- A fundamental operation that results only in the flow of
- information from an object to a subject.
-
- Read Access (Read Privilege)
- Permission to read information.
-
- Secure Operator
- An administrative role (or user) assigned to perform those
- aspects of the Operator role that can affect the security relevant data
- used by the TCB to enforce its policy (e.g., notifying the TCB of the
- security label of a newly mount ed tape).
-
- Security Administrator
- An administrative role (or user) responsible for the
- security of an Automated Information System and having the authority to
- enforce the security safeguards on all others who have access to the
- Automated Information System (with the possible exception of the Auditor).
- Also called System Ad*min*is*tra*tor.
-
- Security Label Map
- A map defining the correspondence between the binary and
- ASCII formats of security levels (e.g., between binary format of security
- levels and sensitivity labels).
-
- Security Level
- The combination of a hierarchical classification and a set
- of nonhierarchical categories that represents the sensitivity of
- information.
-
- Security Policy
- The set of laws, rules, and practices that regulate how an
- organization manages, protects, and distributes sensitive information.
-
- Security Policy Model
- A formal presentation of the security policy enforced by
- the system. It must identify the set of rules and practices that regulate
- how a system manages, protects, and distributes sensitive information.
-
- Security-Relevant Event
- Any event that attempts to change the security state of
- the system, (e.g., change discretionary access controls, change the
- security level of the subject, change user password, etc.). Also, any
- event that attempts to violate the security policy of the system (e.g.,
- too many attempts to login, attempts to violate the mandatory access
- control limits of a device, attempts to downgrade a file, etc.).
-
- Security Testing
- A process used to determine that the security features of
- a system are implemented as designed. This includes hands-on functional
- testing, penetration testing, and verification.
-
-
- Sensitive Information
- Information that, as determined by a competent authority,
- must be protected because its unauthorized disclosure, alteration, loss,
- or destruction will at least cause perceivable damage to someone or
- something.
-
- Sensitivity Label
- A piece of information that represents the security level
- of an object and that describes the sensitivity (e.g., classification) of
- the data in the object. Sensitivity labels are used by the TCB as the
- basis for mandatory access control decisions.
-
- Separation of Privilege
- The separation of functions, namely between the commands,
- programs, and interfaces implementing those functions, such that malicious
- or erroneous code in one function is prevented from affecting the code or
- data of another function.
-
- Spoofing
- An attempt to gain access to a system by posing as an
- authorized user. Also called masquerad*ing or mimick*ing.
-
- Subject
- An active entity, generally in the form of a person,
- process, or device that causes information to flow among objects or
- changes the system state. Technically, a process/domain pair.
-
- Subject Security Level
- A subject's security level is equal to the security level
- of the objects to which it has both Read and Write access. A subject's
- security level must always be dominated by the clearance of its associated
- user.
-
- System Administrator
- See Security Administrator.
-
- System High
- The security label that dominates all other security
- labels in the system. In a sense, it is the highest possible label.
-
- System Low
- The lowest security level supported by a system at a
- particular time or in a particular environment.
-
- System Programmer
- An administrative role (or user) responsible for trusted
- system distribution, configuration, installation, and nonroutine
- maintenance.
-
- Top-Level Specification (TLS)
- A nonprocedural description of system behavior at the most
- abstract level; typically, a functional specification that omits all
- implementation details.
-
- Trap Door
- A hidden software or hardware mechanism that can be
- triggered to permit system protection mechanisms to be circumvented. It
- is activated in some innocent-appearing manner; e.g., a special "random"
- key sequence at a terminal. Software developers often introduce trap
- doors in their code to enable them to reenter the system and perform
- certain functions. Synonymous with back door.
-
- Trojan Horse
- A computer program with an apparently or actually useful
- function that contains additional (hidden) functions that surreptitiously
- exploit the legitimate authorizations of the invoking process to the
- detriment of security or integrity.
-
- Trusted Computer System
- A system that employs sufficient hardware and software
- assurance measures to allow its use for processing simultaneously a range
- of sensitive or classified information.
-
- Trusted Computing Base (TCB)
- The totality of protection mechanisms within a computer
- system -- including hardware, firmware, and software -- the combination of
- which is responsible for enforcing a security policy. A TCB consists of
- one or more components that together enforce a unified security policy
- over a product or system. The ability of a TCB to enforce correctly a
- unified security policy depends solely on the mechanisms within the TCB
- and on the correct input by system administrative personnel of parameters
- (e.g., a user's clearance level) related to the security policy.
-
- Trusted Path
- A mechanism by which a person at a terminal can
- communicate directly with the Trusted Computing Base. This mechanism can
- only be activated by the person or the Trusted Computing Base and cannot
- be imitated by untrusted software.
-
- User
- Person or process accessing an AIS either by direct
- connections (i.e., via terminals), or indirect connections (i.e., prepare
- input data or receive output that is not reviewed for content or
- classification by a responsible individual).
-
- Verification
- The process of comparing two levels of system
- specification for proper correspondence (e.g., security policy model with
- top-level specification, top-level specification with source code, or
- source code with object code). This process may or may not be automated.
-
- Virus
- A self-propagating Trojan horse, composed of a mission
- component, a trigger component, and a self-propagating component.
-
- Vulnerability
- A weakness in system security procedures, system design,
- implementation, internal controls, etc., that could be exploited to
- violate system security policy.
-
- Write
- A fundamental operation that results only in the flow of
- information from a subject to an object.
-
- Write Access (Write Privilege)
- Permission to write an object.
-
-
-
- REFERENCES
-
-
- 1. Baldwin, R. W., "Rule-Based Analysis of Computer Security,"
- Technical Report MIT/LCS/TR-401, March 1988.
-
- 2. Bell, D.E., and L. J. LaPadula, "Secure Computer System: Unified
- Exposition and Multics Interpretation," MITRE Corp., Rep. No. MTR-2997,
- 1976 (available as NTIS AD-A023588).
-
- 3. Biba, K.J., "Integrity Considerations for Secure Computer
- Systems," Mitre Corp., MTR-3153, Bedford, Mass., June 1975.
-
- 4. Bishop, M., "How to Write a Setuid Program"; login, vol. 12, no.
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