SELINUXpermissive

SELINUXpermissive refers to a mode of operation for SELinux, which stands for Security-Enhanced Linux. SELinux is a mandatory access control (MAC) security mechanism that enhances the security of Linux operating systems. When SELinux is in permissive mode, it does not enforce its security policies. Instead, it logs any actions that would have been denied by the policy if it were in enforcing mode. This logging feature makes permissive mode very useful for troubleshooting SELinux policy issues. Administrators can run their system in permissive mode, observe the audit logs for any AVC (Access Vector Cache) denials, and then use this information to create or modify SELinux policies to allow the legitimate actions.

The primary purpose of permissive mode is to facilitate the development and debugging of SELinux policies without completely disabling SELinux, which would leave the system vulnerable. By seeing what actions are being flagged, administrators can understand what needs to be adjusted in the policy to achieve the desired security configuration. Once the policies are refined and tested in permissive mode, SELinux can be switched to enforcing mode, where it actively prevents any actions that violate the defined security policy. This gradual approach helps in implementing SELinux effectively and minimizes the risk of unintended system disruptions caused by overly strict or incorrect policies.