allowing programs to open ports

[Florian Weimer]

On 12/21/2014 05:28 PM, Björn Persson wrote:

> Alternatively, cut out the packet filter and have GlibC ask the user
> whether the call to bind or connect shall be allowed to succeed (or
> automatically allow or deny the call if so configured). This has the
> advantage that the program is informed that it's not allowed to
> communicate.

glibc is the wrong place for this, and a patch in this direction has 
absolutely zero chance of being accepted upstream.  We also ship 
applications which call system calls directly, not through glibc, so 
patching glibc would not even work at a technical level.

However, a Linux Security Module such as SELinux could audit socket 
creation, and provide the user with means to override the default 
choices.  However, this will be extremely controversial (even more so 
than the open firewall) because it will remind people of “personal 
firewalls” on Windows.

-- 
Florian Weimer / Red Hat Product Security