Re: Internet has vuln.

[Tracy Reed <treed () ultraviolet org>]

On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 05:57:55PM PDT, Steve Wray spake thusly:
> In some cases it could be quite difficult to disengage from NSA-influenced
> projects, eg selinux. So far as I can tell this is pretty much everywhere
> now. Redhat embraced it ages ago, its been integrated in the kernel since
> 2.6, so how do we opt out of selinux?

Now you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. SELinux is FOSS and very
auditable. 

> Are instructions like "you just need to edit the kernel boot line, usually
> in /boot/grub/grub.conf, if you're using the GRUB boot loader. On the
> kernel line, add selinux=0 at the end." just laughable? The code is in the
> kernel therefore the kernel is (potentially) compromised, right?

Sure, potentially compromised by pretty much anyone in the world since anyone
can contribute to it. But all of the contributions happen out in the open so
the code can be reviewed for trickery. 

> Are there any kernels available after 2.6 with no selinux? How easy or
> difficult would it be to strip it out? Hardware devices that are running
> Linux kernels, do they have the selinux code in them?

There would be no point in doing so.

> I'm pretty sure that a lot of people are going to throw their hands up in
> despair at this kind of thing and say "but its open source, its been
> verified and checked by people around the world, surely it can be trusted."

Despair? No. More like relief.

-- 
Tracy Reed, RHCE     Digital signature attached for your safety.
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