I've read a dozen articles about SE Linux permissive and enforcing. I do know now that permissive allows everything and logs denials and enforcing blocks access denials.
But I wanted to know what kind of an impact it really does on Android especially on Marshmallow? What would be serious threats if it is permissive? Does it really matter?
Currently I want to use a kernel for my phone that works perfectly but does not allow enforcing as it resets to permissive. Now I'm not quite sure if I should stick to it when in my opinion enforcing is far more safe. However, I do not really know which is why I'm asking this right now.
Thanks in advance!
Macusercom said:
I've read a dozen articles about SE Linux permissive and enforcing. I do know now that permissive allows everything and logs denials and enforcing blocks access denials.
But I wanted to know what kind of an impact it really does on Android especially on Marshmallow? What would be serious threats if it is permissive? Does it really matter?
Currently I want to use a kernel for my phone that works perfectly but does not allow enforcing as it resets to permissive. Now I'm not quite sure if I should stick to it when in my opinion enforcing is far more safe. However, I do not really know which is why I'm asking this right now.
Thanks in advance!
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can't impact alot and no it won't be serious (if) u knew what u are installing from apps ...if ur apps are basically from known deves or from google play nothing will happen to u and everything will run ok and safe for u ... almost all apps will behave as if the selinux is enabled when in permissive ....the true danger when u have ur kernel SE linux fully disabled
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Hey xda I'm looking for a kernel for PAC Man ROM that is selinux permissive to enable touch screen compatibility with my appradio 3. I've tried the selinux mode changer but it doesn't seem to do any thing except set a notification that it set selinux to permissive.
Abby suggestions it there?
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JakaraRuus said:
Hey xda I'm looking for a kernel for PAC Man ROM that is selinux permissive to enable touch screen compatibility with my appradio 3. I've tried the selinux mode changer but it doesn't seem to do any thing except set a notification that it set selinux to permissive.
Abby suggestions it there?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Have you made sure that it doesn't change anything, you can check the selinux status under Settings>About Phone. I personally have never had this problem. also can you tell me why you need to change it to permissive.
SeLinux Permissive
Mtsprite said:
Have you made sure that it doesn't change anything, you can check the selinux status under Settings>About Phone. I personally have never had this problem. also can you tell me why you need to change it to permissive.
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Thanks for your reply. What I mean about nothing changes is when I check the status in settings>about phone after setting permissive mode with the selinux mode changer app and rebooting like it requests it still says enforceing. as to why I want to change it, I said before I am trying to get the touch interface to work on my pioneer appradio 3 head unit. I can mirror but touch doesn't work on the head unit. I have read in the appradio forum that you have to set SeLinux to permissive in order to accomplish this. I was hoping that some one with knowledge of custom kernels would be able to shed some light on this since it seems that Pac Man is set to enforcing by default. Also I have read that other kernels for other devices had the permissive mode set. I am so close to having this functionality it is getting frustrating, but I like the features that pac man brings to the table so I don't really want to switch. at this point.
JakaraRuus said:
Thanks for your reply. What I mean about nothing changes is when I check the status in settings>about phone after setting permissive mode with the selinux mode changer app and rebooting like it requests it still says enforceing. as to why I want to change it, I said before I am trying to get the touch interface to work on my pioneer appradio 3 head unit. I can mirror but touch doesn't work on the head unit. I have read in the appradio forum that you have to set SeLinux to permissive in order to accomplish this. I was hoping that some one with knowledge of custom kernels would be able to shed some light on this since it seems that Pac Man is set to enforcing by default. Also I have read that other kernels for other devices had the permissive mode set. I am so close to having this functionality it is getting frustrating, but I like the features that pac man brings to the table so I don't really want to switch. at this point.
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Ok well when i needed to do this i would always use the app described here. also its not that PAC ROM does this intentionally, in fact it was google who made 4.4.2 selinux set to enforcing, and its because of this that most if not all kernels for 4.4.2 have selinux set to enforcing.
I wanna know that can we make selinux mod to permissive for specific app through terminal or my using any other method I read about selinux in wiki but didn't got much details to do some tweaks and I am also not developer so that I don't know all codes used for this and that processes also I wanna set that specific permissive mod for "viper4android" app I want to use that app and also don't want to break out all doors of security by setting mod on permissive for all apps can anyone help me here plz !?
ChintanVyas said:
I wanna know that can we make selinux mod to permissive for specific app through terminal or my using any other method I read about selinux in wiki but didn't got much details to do some tweaks and I am also not developer so that I don't know all codes used for this and that processes also I wanna set that specific permissive mod for "viper4android" app
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Sorry, you cannot do it for specific app..
SE Linux Enforcement has to be disabled universally throughout the system..
ChintanVyas said:
I want to use that app and also I don't want to break out all doors of security by setting mod on permissive for all apps can anyone help me here plz !?
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Once your phone is rooted, it means it is vulnerable to all risks..
It just takes a single command (setenforce 0) for a malware app to set SE Linux to 'Permissive' if granted root permission.
So, it's just in your hands to select the right trustable apps.
Go ahead, and set it to 'Permissive'.
Nothing will happen..
Basically, a lot of ROMs I've downloaded come without the ability to switch SElinux to enforcing.
Which, apart from losing the ability to use Android Pay, is extremely unsafe from my understanding.
My question is why? Why does the device crash if you try to manually change it to enforcing? Why don't these devs release the ROM with SElinux on by default? Thanks
Dear XDA Community,
Sorry, this is a newbie question, but when I was asking for suggestions for a custom and also secure ROM, I was suggested Pixel Experience and I have also been told to set SELinux to permissive. What is the purpose of SELinux? Is there a guide on how to adjust it to the appropriate settings? Does it not come enabled as default? Thank you in advance.
jason.mix said:
Dear XDA Community,
Sorry, this is a newbie question, but when I was asking for suggestions for a custom and also secure ROM, I was suggested Pixel Experience and I have also been told to set SELinux to permissive. What is the purpose of SELinux? Is there a guide on how to adjust it to the appropriate settings? Does it not come enabled as default? Thank you in advance.
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SELinux policy is a security feature built into your kernel. Android is set to "enforcing" by default, you have to manually switch to permissive. A lot of custom mods and root enabled apps require your device to be in permissive mode in order to work. A classic example that I've used many times is a mod called Viper4Android, it requires permissive mode in order for it to function. This is not the only example, there are many other apps and mods that require permissive mode. Your device must be rooted in order to use permissive mode.
There is nothing special about enabling this, you just need to look for a custom kernel for your specific model number that has permissive mode built into the kernel then install the kernel or you can find an app such as SELinux Switch/SELinux Toggle, but, I'm not sure if that app is supported any more, the developer that built it hasn't been active here in quite some time.
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Droidriven said:
SELinux policy is a security feature built into your kernel. Android is set to "enforcing" by default, you have to manually switch to permissive.
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Thank you for your response. Just to clarify, should I just leave it as it comes or should I always double check after flashing the custom ROM? And is there a guide on how to adjust this option appropriately or does it depend on the ROM? I came across this thread and it states that Pixel Experience is set to permissive automatically. What should I do? And do you have any other advice for what other precautions I should take in order to have that extra security when using a custom ROM? Once again, thank you.
jason.mix said:
Thank you for your response. Just to clarify, should I just leave it as it comes or should I always double check after flashing the custom ROM? And is there a guide on how to adjust this option appropriately or does it depend on the ROM? I came across this thread and it states that Pixel Experience is set to permissive automatically. What should I do? And do you have any other advice for what other precautions I should take in order to have that extra security when using a custom ROM? Once again, thank you.
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If you are concerned with being secure, you need to leave the device in enforcing mode, not permissive. I'm not sure exactly how you would switch the Pixel ROM from permissive to enforcing, the ROM may have a setting or you may have to use the Kernel Auditor app to switch to enforcing mode.
If you are not going to be doing any kind of modification to the system partition, you won't need to worry with permissive mode.
If the Pixel ROM is permissive by default, you won't need to change anything.
I'm not sure you understand exactly how the "switch" between enforcing/permissive is achieved. It not simply a "setting" that you enable/disable.
Here are a few ways to enable permissive mode that I know of:
1) if your stock kernel does not support permissive mode, you have to flash a kernel that has permissive support.
2) if your stock kernel does support permissive mode but doesn't have permissive mode enabled, you have to use something like the "SELinux Switch" or "SELinux Toggle" apps, these apps force the stock kernel into permissive mode and can be set to automatically enable permissive mode whenever the device boots and persist from one reboot to the next.
3) it can be enabled via adb commands or adb shell commands via PC or, if you are rooted, you can use a terminal emulator app or the terminal emulator that is built into TWRP to issue commands to enable enforcing/permissive, whichever you need.
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Droidriven said:
If you are concerned with being secure, you need to leave the device in enforcing mode, not permissive. I'm not sure exactly how you would switch the Pixel ROM from permissive to enforcing, the ROM may have a setting or you may have to use the Kernel Auditor app to switch to enforcing mode.
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I am not planning on rooting or modifying my system in any way, but is there a way to check whether I am running in enforcing mode? I am still running MIUI for now and if it helps, my kernel version is 4.9 186-perf-g1e22c7b and if you need any more details then just let me know. Thank you for helping me out.
jason.mix said:
I am not planning on rooting or modifying my system in any way, but is there a way to check whether I am running in enforcing mode? I am still running MIUI for now and if it helps, my kernel version is 4.9 186-perf-g1e22c7b and if you need any more details then just let me know. Thank you for helping me out.
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To check whether your device is set to enforcing/permissive, you should be able to look in system settings>about phone>SELinux Status
Or
system settings>about phone>software info>SELinux Status
Or something similar, the exact location of the info is different for different devices/android versions.
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Hello, I've been looking to flash a custom rom on my phone, but all the roms available are on SELinux Permissive.
From what I do understand, running permissive allows any apps to obtain root - without asking for your permission.
In theory, that sounds pretty dangerous. But how does it works in practice? Is it as dangerous as it sounds?
Should I continue to avoid these permissive roms due to the theortical security risk or just go for it?
Setting Android's SELinux mode to permissive by default is the most idiotic action you can perform on Android devices, IMO
its fine as long as you use the phone only for rooting and gaming
Guan Yu said:
its fine as long as you use the phone only for rooting and gaming
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in what scenarios would it be considered not safe to leave it on permissive?
xXx yYy said:
Setting Android's SELinux mode to permissive by default is the most idiotic action you can perform on Android devices, IMO
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I had that assumption too, but I think that I don't know enough to make that judgement