apparmor_intro.xml

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 <title>Introducing &aa;</title>
 <info>
      <meta name="description" its:translate="yes">Configure applications with AppArmor using security profiles that control access to files and operations, ensuring secure operation</meta>
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    <revhistory xml:id="rh-cha-apparmor-intro">
   <revision>
     <date>2026-03-31</date>
     <revdescription>
       <para/>
     </revdescription>
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    <para>
  Many security vulnerabilities result from bugs in
  <emphasis>trusted</emphasis> programs. A trusted program runs with
  privileges that attackers want to possess. The program fails to keep that
  trust if there is a bug in the program that allows the attacker to acquire
  said privilege.
 </para>
 <para>
  &aareg; is an application security solution designed specifically to
  apply privilege confinement to suspect programs. &aa; allows the
  administrator to specify the domain of activities the program can perform
  by developing a security <emphasis>profile</emphasis>.  A security profile
  is a listing of files that the program may access and the operations the
  program may perform. &aa; secures applications by enforcing good
  application behavior without relying on attack signatures, so it can
  prevent attacks even if previously unknown vulnerabilities are being
  exploited.
 </para>
 <sect1>
  <title>&aa; components</title>
 <para>
  &aa; consists of:
 </para>
 <itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="normal">
  <listitem>
   <para>
    A library of &aa; profiles for common Linux* applications, describing
    what files the program needs to access.
   </para>
  </listitem>
  <listitem>
   <para>
    A library of &aa; profile foundation classes (profile building
    blocks) needed for common application activities, such as DNS lookup and
    user authentication.
   </para>
  </listitem>
  <listitem>
   <para>
    A tool suite for developing and enhancing &aa; profiles, so that you
    can change the existing profiles to suit your needs and create new
    profiles for your own local and custom applications.
   </para>
  </listitem>
  <listitem>
   <para>
    Several specially modified applications that are &aa; enabled to
    provide enhanced security in the form of unique subprocess confinement
    (including Apache).
   </para>
  </listitem>
  <listitem>
   <para>
    The &aa;-related kernel code and associated control scripts to
    enforce &aa; policies on your &productnamereg; system.
   </para>
  </listitem>
 </itemizedlist>
 </sect1>
 <sect1 xml:id="sec-apparmor-intro-background">
  <title>Background information on &aa; profiling</title>

  <para>
   For more information about the science and security of &aa;, refer to
   the following papers:
  </para>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><citetitle>SubDomain: Parsimonious Server Security</citetitle> by
     Crispin Cowan, Steve Beattie, Greg Kroah-Hartman, Calton Pu, Perry Wagle,
     and Virgil Gligor</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Describes the initial design and implementation of &aa;. Published
      in the proceedings of the USENIX LISA Conference, December 2000, New
      Orleans, LA. This paper is now out of date, describing syntax and
      features that are different from the current &aa; product. This
      paper should be used only for background, and not for technical
      documentation.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><citetitle>Defcon Capture the Flag: Defending Vulnerable Code from Intense Attack</citetitle>
     by Crispin Cowan, Seth Arnold, Steve Beattie, Chris Wright, and John Viega</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      A good guide to strategic and tactical use of &aa; to solve severe
      security problems in a short period of time. Published in the
      Proceedings of the DARPA Information Survivability Conference and Expo
      (DISCEX III), April 2003, Washington, DC.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><citetitle>AppArmor for Geeks</citetitle> by Seth Arnold</term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This document tries to convey a better understanding of the technical
      details of &aa;. It is available at
      <link xlink:href="https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:AppArmor_geeks"/>.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>
 </sect1>
</chapter>