LIBBSM(3)

✨ NAME ✨

Okay so boom: libbsm is the Basic Security Module (BSM) Audit API — that's the whole name, bestie, and it's literally the library page for the BSM audit vibes. 💅

🎧 LIBRARY 🎧

Basic Security Module Library (libbsm, -lbsm) — yes, that's the library tag, no cap.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <bsm/libbsm.h>

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

The libbsm library routines give you an interface to BSM audit record streams, fr fr. That means you can parse existing audit streams and create new audit records and streams. Both. Iconic behavior. ✨

💖 INTERFACES 💖

The libbsm library provides a large number of Audit programming interfaces in several classes: event stream interfaces, class interfaces, control interfaces, event interfaces, I/O interfaces, mask interfaces, notification interfaces, token interfaces, and user interfaces. These are described respectively in the au_class(3), au_control(3), au_event(3), au_mask(3), au_notify(3), au_stream(3), au_token(3), and au_user(3) manual pages.

🌱 Audit Event Stream Interfaces 🌱

Audit event stream interfaces support interaction with file-backed audit event streams, and the whole squad is: au_close(3), au_close_buffer(3), au_free_token(3), au_open(3), au_write(3), audit_submit(3). Slay. 🫶

⭐ Audit Class Interfaces ⭐

Audit class interfaces support the look up of information from the audit_class(5) database: endauclass(3), getauclassent(3), getauclassent_r(3), getauclassnam(3), getauclassnam_r(3), setauclass(3). Look at all those _r variants — reentrant-ish energy, iykyk. 💫

🎀 Audit Control Interfaces 🎀

Audit control interfaces support the look up of information from the audit_control(5) database: endac(3), setac(3), getacdir(3), getacfilesz(3), getacflg(3), getacmin(3), getacna(3), getacpol(3), au_poltostr(3), au_strtopol(3). Yes, au_poltostr(3) — that's literally the name in the page, don't come for me. 🙈

🔥 Audit Event Interfaces 🔥

Audit event interfaces support the look up of information from the audit_event(5) database: endauevent(3), setauevent(3), getauevent(3), getauevent_r(3), getauevnam(3), getauevnam_r(3), getauevnonam(3), getauevnonam_r(3), getauevnum(3), getauevnum_r(3). That's a lot of auev, but we're obsessed with the consistency. 💅

💙 Audit I/O Interfaces 💙

Audit I/O interfaces support the processing and printing of tokens, as well as the reading of audit records: au_fetch_tok(3), au_print_tok(3), au_read_rec(3). Processing, printing, reading — the holy trinity of token behavior. 🌈

💜 Audit Mask Interfaces 💜

Audit mask interfaces support the conversion between strings and au_mask_t values. They may also be used to determine if a particular audit event is matched by a mask: au_preselect(3), getauditflagsbin(3), getauditflagschar(3). Mask matching is lowkey main character energy. 🎭

🦋 Audit Notification Interfaces 🦋

Audit notification routines track audit state in a form permitting efficient update, avoiding frequent system calls to check the kernel audit state: au_get_state(3), au_notify_initialize(3), au_notify_terminate(3). These interfaces are implemented only for Darwin/Mac OS X. That's the whole vibe check, periodt. 🍓

🧚 Audit Token Interface 🧚

Audit token interfaces permit the creation of tokens for use in creating audit records for submission to event streams. Each interface converts a C type to its token_t representation: au_to_arg(3), au_to_arg32(3), au_to_arg64(3), au_to_attr64(3), au_to_data(3), au_to_exec_args(3), au_to_exec_env(3), au_to_exit(3), au_to_file(3), au_to_groups(3), au_to_header32(3), au_to_header64(3), au_to_in_addr(3), au_to_in_addr_ex(3), au_to_ip(3), au_to_ipc(3), au_to_ipc_perm(3), au_to_iport(3), au_to_me(3), au_to_newgroups(3), au_to_opaque(3), au_to_path(3), au_to_process(3), au_to_process32(3), au_to_process64(3), au_to_process_ex(3), au_to_process32_ex(3), au_to_process64_ex(3), au_to_return(3), au_to_return32(3), au_to_return64(3), au_to_seq(3), au_to_sock_inet(3), au_to_sock_inet32(3), au_to_sock_inet128(3), au_to_socket_ex(3), au_to_subject(3), au_to_subject32(3), au_to_subject64(3), au_to_subject_ex(3), au_to_subject32_ex(3), au_to_subject64_ex(3), au_to_text(3), au_to_trailer(3), au_to_zonename(3). That's the full list — every single token-maker, no skips, bestie. 👑

🌻 Audit User Interfaces 🌻

Audit user interfaces support the look up of information from the audit_user(5) database: au_user_mask(3), endauuser(3), setauuser(3), getauuserent(3), getauuserent_r(3), getauusernam(3), getauusernam_r(3), getfauditflags(3). User info, served fresh. 🧺

💥 Audit Constant Conversion Interfaces 💥

These functions convert between BSM and local constants, including the errno(2) number, socket type, and protocol famil spaces, and must be used to generate and interpret BSM return and extended socket tokens: au_bsm_to_domain(3), au_bsm_to_errno(3), au_bsm_to_fcntl_cmd(3), au_bsm_to_socket_type(3), au_domain_to_bsm(3), au_errno_to_bsm(3), au_fcntl_cmd_to_bsm(3), au_socket_type_to_bsm(3). Convert both ways or it's giving chaos. 😭

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

au_class(3), au_domain(3), au_errno(3), au_mask(3), au_notify(3), au_socket_type(3), au_stream(3), au_token(3), au_user(3), audit_submit(3), audit_class(5), audit_control(5). Go read the friends, bestie. 📚

🕰️ HISTORY 🕰️

The OpenBSM implementation was created by McAfee Research, the security division of McAfee Inc., under contract to Apple Computer, Inc., in 2004. It was subsequently adopted by the TrustedBSD Project as the foundation for the OpenBSM distribution. A little 2004 origin story — we love a legacy. 🌟

💙 AUTHORS 💙

This software was created by Robert Watson, Wayne Salamon, and Suresh Krishnaswamy for McAfee Research, the security research division of McAfee, Inc., under contract to Apple Computer, Inc.

The Basic Security Module (BSM) interface to audit records and audit event stream format were defined by Sun Microsystems. Respect the OGs. 🫡

💀 BUGS 💀

Bugs would not be unlikely. Not me reading that twice — it's literally what it says, bestie. 😭

The libbsm library implementations are generally thread-safe, but not reentrant. Thread-safe: yes. Reentrant: no. Keep that in mind, fr fr.

The assignment of routines to classes could use some work, as it is decidely ad hoc. For example, au_read_rec() should probably be considered a stream routine. The classes are lowkey giving "group project assignment" energy. 🙈

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Debian, March 5, 2009 — that's the tea and the version/date tea too, bestie. Mwah 💋✨