mscan_selinux(8)
π mscan_selinux(8) β the mscan SELinux policy page, bestie edition
okay so this is all about mscan_selinux, the SELinux policy that keeps the mscan processes in check. that's the whole vibe. let's get into it β¨
πΈ NAME πΈ
mscan_selinux β the Security Enhanced Linux Policy for the mscan processes, no cap π
π¦ DESCRIPTION π¦
Security-Enhanced Linux secures the mscan processes via flexible mandatory access control. yes, mandatory β not the vibe where the process gets to choose. SELinux chooses for it π
The mscan processes execute with the mscan_t SELinux type. wanna check if you've got these processes running? just run the ps command with the -Z qualifier. easy.
For example:
ps -eZ | grep mscan_t
that's it, that's the check π
πͺ ENTRYPOINTS πͺ
The mscan_t SELinux type can be entered via the mscan_exec_t file type. so that's the doorway, and it's giving very exclusive-club energy π₯
The default entrypoint paths for the mscan_t domain are the following:
/usr/bin/MailScanner
one path, one icon π
π PROCESS TYPES π
SELinux defines process types (domains) for each process running on the system. every process gets its own little domain, main character energy for everyone π
You can see the context of a process using the -Z option to ps. go look, it's right there.
Policy governs the access confined processes have to files. the SELinux mscan policy is very flexible β it allows users to setup their mscan processes in as secure a method as possible. flexible and secure, we love that π«Ά
The following process types are defined for mscan:
mscan_t
Note:semanage permissive -a mscan_tcan be used to make the process typemscan_tpermissive. SELinux does not deny access to permissive process types, but the AVC (SELinux denials) messages are still generated. so likeβ¦ it lets stuff through but it's still gonna talk about it π the receipts stay.
π BOOLEANS π
SELinux policy is customizable based on least access required. the mscan policy is extremely flexible and has several booleans that allow you to manipulate the policy and run mscan with the tightest access possible. tightest access = bestie behaviour, ngl π
- if you want to dontaudit all daemons scheduling requests (
setsched,sys_nice), you must turn on thedaemons_dontaudit_schedulingboolean. enabled by default.
setsebool -P daemons_dontaudit_scheduling 1
- if you want to allow all domains to execute in
fips_mode, you must turn on thefips_modeboolean. enabled by default.
setsebool -P fips_mode 1
- if you want to allow system to run with NIS, you must turn on the
nis_enabledboolean. disabled by default.
setsebool -P nis_enabled 1
three booleans, three little switches, all documented, periodt β¨
ποΈ MANAGED FILES ποΈ
The SELinux process type mscan_t can manage files labeled with the following file types. the paths listed are the default paths for these file types. and hey β the processes UID still need to have DAC permissions, so don't get it twisted π
antivirus_var_run_t
/run/clamd.*
/run/clamav.*
/run/amavis(d)?(/.*)?
/run/amavis(d)?/clamd.pid
/run/amavisd-snmp-subagent.pid
cluster_conf_t
/etc/cluster(/.*)?
cluster_var_lib_t
/var/lib/pcsd(/.*)?
/var/lib/cluster(/.*)?
/var/lib/openais(/.*)?
/var/lib/pengine(/.*)?
/var/lib/corosync(/.*)?
/usr/lib/heartbeat(/.*)?
/var/lib/heartbeat(/.*)?
/var/lib/pacemaker(/.*)?
cluster_var_run_t
/run/crm(/.*)?
/run/cman_.*
/run/rsctmp(/.*)?
/run/aisexec.*
/run/heartbeat(/.*)?
/run/pcsd-ruby.socket
/run/corosync-qnetd(/.*)?
/run/corosync-qdevice(/.*)?
/run/pcsd.socket
/run/corosync.pid
/run/cpglockd.pid
/run/rgmanager.pid
/run/cluster/rgmanager.sk
krb5_host_rcache_t
/var/tmp/krb5_0.rcache2
/var/cache/krb5rcache(/.*)?
/var/tmp/nfs_0
/var/tmp/DNS_25
/var/tmp/host_0
/var/tmp/imap_0
/var/tmp/HTTP_23
/var/tmp/HTTP_48
/var/tmp/ldap_55
/var/tmp/ldap_487
/var/tmp/ldapmap1_0
mqueue_spool_t
/var/spool/(client)?mqueue(/.*)?
/var/spool/mqueue.in(/.*)?
mscan_spool_t
/var/spool/MailScanner(/.*)?
mscan_tmp_t
(no default paths listed here β it's a mystery, an enigma, a vibe π but it's on the list!)
mscan_var_run_t
/run/MailScanner.pid
root_t
/sysroot/.aleph-version.json
/sysroot/ostree/deploy/.*-atomic/deploy(/.*)?
/
/initrd
/var/lib/ntp
that's the whole list, ten file types, zero skipped π
π§ FILE CONTEXTS π§
SELinux requires files to have an extended attribute to define the file type. it's not just a name situation, it's an attribute situation.
You can see the context of a file using the -Z option to ls. same -Z energy as before, but for files this time.
Policy governs the access confined processes have to these files. the SELinux mscan policy is very flexible β it allows users to setup their mscan processes in as secure a method as possible. (yes I said that already, it's still true π)
β STANDARD FILE CONTEXT β
SELinux defines the file context types for the mscan, so if you wanted to store files with these types in a different paths, you need to execute the semanage command to specify alternate labeling and then use restorecon to put the labels on disk. two steps, both required, don't skip the second one π―
semanage fcontext -a -t mscan_exec_t '/srv/mscan/content(/.*)?'
restorecon -R -v /srv/mymscan_content
Note: SELinux often uses regular expressions to specify labels that match multiple files. regex girlies stay winning π
The following file types are defined for mscan:
mscan_etc_t
- Set files with the
mscan_etc_ttype, if you want to storemscanfiles in the/etcdirectories.
Paths:
/etc/MailScanner(/.*)?
/etc/sysconfig/MailScanner
/etc/sysconfig/update_spamassassin
mscan_exec_t
- Set files with the
mscan_exec_ttype, if you want to transition an executable to themscan_tdomain.
mscan_initrc_exec_t
- Set files with the
mscan_initrc_exec_ttype, if you want to transition an executable to themscan_initrc_tdomain.
mscan_spool_t
- Set files with the
mscan_spool_ttype, if you want to store themscanfiles under the/var/spooldirectory.
mscan_tmp_t
- Set files with the
mscan_tmp_ttype, if you want to storemscantemporary files in the/tmpdirectories.
mscan_var_run_t
- Set files with the
mscan_var_run_ttype, if you want to store themscanfiles under the/runor/var/rundirectory.
Note: File context can be temporarily modified with thechconcommand. If you want to permanently change the file context you need to use thesemanage fcontextcommand. This will modify the SELinux labeling database. You will need to userestoreconto apply the labels. sochcon= temporary little experiment,semanage fcontext+restorecon= the real, permanent commitment π«Ά
π» COMMANDS π»
a few more tools that do related things, all iconic in their own right:
semanage fcontextcan also be used to manipulate default file context mappings.semanage permissivecan also be used to manipulate whether or not a process type is permissive.semanage modulecan also be used to enable/disable/install/remove policy modules.semanage booleancan also be used to manipulate the booleans.system-config-selinuxis a GUI tool available to customize SELinux policy settings. a whole GUI, for the visual learners π¨
π AUTHOR π
This manual page was auto-generated using sepolicy manpage. a bot wrote it, and honestly? it ate. π€β¨
π¦ SEE ALSO π¦
selinux(8), mscan(8), semanage(8), restorecon(8), chcon(1), sepolicy(8), setsebool(8)
go read those too, iykyk π
and that's the whole page bestie!! π this was mscan page, dated 26-10-06, living in section mscan_selinux(8) β go forth and label responsibly, mwah π
π
π¦ where this page comes from
- opensuse-leap 16.0: selinux-policy-doc 20250627+git412.dbf877ab7-160000.1.1 Β· GPL-2.0-or-later
- π girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms