Security-Enhanced Linux

SELinux
Original author(s)NSA and Red Hat
Developer(s)Red Hat
Initial releaseDecember 22, 2000; 23 years ago (2000-12-22)[1]
Stable release
3.6 / 13 December 2023; 9 months ago (2023-12-13)[2]
Repository
Written inC
Operating systemLinux
TypeSecurity, Linux Security Modules (LSM)
LicenseGNU GPL
Websiteselinuxproject.org, https://www.nsa.gov/what-we-do/research/selinux/

Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) is a Linux kernel security module that provides a mechanism for supporting access control security policies, including mandatory access controls (MAC).

SELinux is a set of kernel modifications and user-space tools that have been added to various Linux distributions. Its architecture strives to separate enforcement of security decisions from the security policy, and streamlines the amount of software involved with security policy enforcement.[3][4] The key concepts underlying SELinux can be traced to several earlier projects by the United States National Security Agency (NSA).

  1. ^ "Security-enhanced Linux available at NSA site - MARC". MARC. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  2. ^ "SELinux userspace release 3.6". SELinux Project. 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  3. ^ "SELinux Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - NSA/CSS". National Security Agency. Archived from the original on 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  4. ^ Loscocco, Peter; Smalley, Stephen (February 2001). "Integrating Flexible Support for Security Policies into the Linux Operating System" (PDF).