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<title>ProFTPD module mod_cap</title>
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<h2><b>ProFTPD module <code>mod_cap</code></b></h2>
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<hr><br>
<p>
Linux capabilities is a project aimed at providing the POSIX.1e security
model under Linux. Documentation for this project can be found here:
<pre>
<a href="ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/security/linux-privs">ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/security/linux-privs</a>
</pre>
Without going into gory detail, POSIX.1e basically specifies an interface to
such goodies as capabilities, capability sets, access control lists, mandatory
access control and much, much more. The end result of this security model
allows compliant systems and daemons to have <b>very</b> fine-grained control
over what operations are allowed by which services on the system.
<p>
The best part of the whole story is that Linux kernels (since 2.1)
already have two important facets of the security model in place, namely
capabilities and capability sets. Using these features allows a userland
program to specifically drop capabilities (which can be thought of as
"privileges") which it does not need. Once such capabilities are
completely dropped, neither the userland program <b>nor</b> any binary it
should spawn will be allowed to perform privileged operations, <i>regardless</i>
of whether the program is running as root or not. Essentially, this limits
the power of root to only those specific functions that are necessary, with
the end effect of making the program much more secure.
<p>
A contributed module has been added in the <code>proftpd</code> distribution,
named <code>mod_cap</code>. It can be found in the <code>modules/</code>
directory.
<p>
The <code>libcap</code> library provides the interface between
<code>mod_cap</code> and the capability syscalls present in Linux kernels.
(Note that this library can be found at
<a href="http://www.kernel.org">www.kernel.org</a> or <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-privs">sourceforge.net/projects/linux-privs</a>).
<p>
When <code>proftpd</code> runs with <code>mod_cap</code> installed, its
operation changes slightly:
<ul>
<li>The master <code>proftpd</code> process runs as normal, with full
capabilities.
</li>
<p>
<li>
The child <code>proftpd</code> processes, the ones that handle FTP sessions,
drop <b>all</b> capabilities-except for <code>CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE</code>
(which allows a process to bind to port less than 1024) and
<code>CAP_CHOWN</code> (which allows a process to change a file's
ownership)-<i>immediately</i> after a client has authenticated.
<p>
Additionally, switching back and forth between root privileges and the
authenticated user's privileges is no longer possible.
</li>
</ul>
Installation instructions for <code>mod_cap</code> can be found
<a href="#Installation">here</a>.
<p>
The most current version of <code>mod_cap</code> can be found in the
ProFTPD source distribution:
<pre>
<a href="http://www.proftpd.org/">http://www.proftpd.org/</a>
</pre>
<h2>Directives</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#CapabilitiesEngine">CapabilitiesEngine</a>
<li><a href="#CapabilitiesSet">CapabilitiesSet</a>
</ul>
<hr>
<h2><a name="CapabilitiesEngine">CapabilitiesEngine</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> CapabilitiesEngine <em>on|off</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> on<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> server config, <code><VirtualHost></code>, <code><Global></code><br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_cap<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.2.8rc2 and later
<p>
The <code>CapabilitesEngine</code> directive enables or disables the module's
runtime capabilities engine. If it is set to <em>off</em> this module does no
runtime capabilities processing at all. Use this directive to disable the
module.
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="CapabilitiesSet">CapabilitiesSet</a></h2>
<strong>Syntax:</strong> CapabilitiesSet <em>[+|- cap] ...</em><br>
<strong>Default:</strong> None<br>
<strong>Context:</strong> server config, <code><VirtualHost></code>, <code><Global></code><br>
<strong>Module:</strong> mod_cap<br>
<strong>Compatibility:</strong> 1.2.8rc2 and later
<p>
The <code>CapabilitiesSet</code> directive is used to manipulate the set of
capabilities that <code>mod_cap</code> grants.
<p>
By default, <code>mod_cap</code> removes all but a few capabilities
from the session-handling process: <code>CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE</code>, for
binding to ports lower than 1024 (required for active data transfers), and
<code>CAP_CHOWN</code>, for allowing a process to change a file's ownership
to a different user. The <code>CAP_CHOWN</code> capability is only strictly
necessary if the <code>UserOwner</code> configuration directive is in use; if
not being used, the <code>CAP_CHOWN</code> capability is best removed.
Additionally, <code>CAP_AUDIT_WRITE</code> is retained if
the <code>mod_auth_pam</code> module is present, as this capability is needed
for some PAM modules such as <code>pam_loginuid</code>.
<p>
To remove a capability, prefix the name with a '-'; to enable a capability,
use '+'. This directive supports the following capabilities:
<ul>
<li><code>CAP_CHOWN</code>
<li><code>CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE</code> (override all directory access controls)
<li><code>CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH</code> (allow read and search directory access)
<li><code>CAP_FOWNER</code>
</ul>
<p>
Example:
<pre>
<IfModule mod_cap.c>
CapabilitiesEngine on
CapabilitiesSet -CAP_CHOWN +CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH +CAP_FOWNER
</IfModule>
</pre>
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="Installation">Installation</a></h2>
The <code>mod_cap</code> module is automatically included when
<code>proftpd</code> is built on a Linux system that supports capabilities; to
disable this automatic inclusion, use the <code>--disable-cap</code> configure
option.
<p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="FAQ">FAQ</a></h2>
<p>
<font color=red>Question</font>: Why do I see the following in my system logs?
<pre>
warning: `proftpd' uses 32-bit capabilities (legacy support in use)
</pre>
<font color=blue>Answer</font>: This warning is coming from the use of the
libcap library. A newer version of the libcap library (called the
"libcap2" or "libcap2-dev" package on some Linux distributions) is now
available.
<p>
To remove the above warning, you will need to update/install the newer libcap2
or libcap2-dev package on your system, and re-build proftpd (using version
1.3.2rc1 or later) in order to compile and link against the newer libcap
library.
<p>
<font color=red>Question</font>: What does the following mean?
<pre>
chown() as root failed: Operation not permitted
</pre>
<font color=blue>Answer</font>: The purpose of the <code>mod_cap</code>
module is to restrict the capabilities of the all-powerful <code>root</code>
user. Thus when <code>mod_cap</code> is in effect, operations like
<code>chown()</code> are restricted.
<p>
The message above usually happens when your configuration uses the
<code>UserOwner</code> or <code>GroupOwner</code> configuration directives.
To enable those directives to function and still use <code>mod_cap</code>,
you will need to use a configuration such as:
<pre>
<IfModule mod_cap.c>
# Allow root to use chown(2)
CapabilitiesSet -CAP_CHOWN
</IfModule>
</pre>
<p>
<hr><br>
Author: <i>$Author: castaglia $</i><br>
Last Updated: <i>$Date: 2009/11/04 23:02:10 $</i><br>
<br><hr>
<font size=2><b><i>
© Copyright 2000-2009 TJ Saunders<br>
All Rights Reserved<br>
</i></b></font>
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