Solaris Trusted Extensions is a set of security extensions incorporated in the Solaris 10

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...

, featuring a

mandatory access control In computer security, mandatory access control (MAC) refers to a type of access control by which a secured environment (e.g., an operating system or a database) constrains the ability of a ''subject'' or ''initiator'' to access or modify on an ' ...

model. It succeeds Trusted Solaris, a family of security-evaluated operating systems based on earlier versions of

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...

. Solaris 10 5/09 is

Common Criteria The Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (referred to as Common Criteria or CC) is an international standard (International Organization for Standardization, ISO/International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC 15408) for co ...

certified at

Evaluation Assurance Level The Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL1 through EAL7) of an IT product or system is a numerical grade assigned following the completion of a Common Criteria security evaluation, an international standard in effect since 1999. The increasing assurance ...

EAL4+ against the CAPP, RBACPP, and LSPP protection profiles.

Overview

Certain Trusted Solaris features, such as fine-grained privileges, are now part of the standard Solaris 10 release. Beginning with Solaris 10 11/06, Solaris now includes a component called Solaris Trusted Extensions which gives it the additional features necessary to position it as the successor to Trusted Solaris. Inclusion of these features in the mainstream Solaris release marks a significant change from Trusted Solaris, as it is no longer necessary to use a different Solaris release with a modified kernel for labeled security environments. Solaris Trusted Extensions is an

OpenSolaris OpenSolaris () is a discontinued open-source computer operating system for SPARC and x86 based systems, created by Sun Microsystems and based on Solaris. Its development began in the mid 2000s and ended in 2010. OpenSolaris was developed as ...

project. Trusted Extensions additions and enhancements include: *Accounting *

Role-Based Access Control In computer systems security, role-based access control (RBAC) or role-based security is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users, and to implementing mandatory access control (MAC) or discretionary access control, discretion ...

*Auditing *Device Allocation *Mandatory Access Control Labeling Solaris Trusted Extensions enforce a mandatory access control policy on all aspects of the operating system, including device access, file, networking, print and window management services. This is achieved by adding sensitivity labels to objects, thereby establishing explicit relationships between these objects. Only appropriate (and explicit) authorization allows applications and users read and/or write access to the objects. The component also provides labeled security features in a desktop environment. Apart from extending support for the

Common Desktop Environment The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is a desktop environment for Unix and OpenVMS, based on the Motif (software), Motif widget toolkit. It was part of the UNIX 98, UNIX 98 Workstation Product Standard, and was for a long time the Unix desktop a ...

from the Trusted Solaris 8 release, it delivers the first labeled environment based on

GNOME A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

. Solaris Trusted Extensions facilitate the access of data at multiple classification levels through a single desktop environment. Solaris Trusted Extensions also delivers labeled device access and labeled network communication (through the CIPSO standard). CIPSO is used to pass security information within and between labeled zones. Solaris Trusted Extensions complies with the

Federal Information Processing Standard The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military United Stat ...

(FIPS).

Trusted Solaris history

*1999 Trusted Solaris 7 *1996 Trusted Solaris 2.5.1 - ITSEC Certified for E3 / F-B1 *1995 Trusted Solaris 1.2 - ITSEC Certified for E3 / F-B1 *1992 SunOS Compartmented Mode Workstation 1.0 - ITSEC Certified for E3 / F-B1 *1990 SunOS Multilevel Security 1.0 - TCSEC Conformance (1985 Orange Book)

References

External links

Solaris Trusted Extensions
Official Website
OpenSolaris: Solaris Trusted Extensions project

Solaris Trusted Extensions press release
Operating system security Sun Microsystems software Proprietary operating systems {{operating-system-stub