pam_selinux 8 Linux-PAM Manual pam_selinux PAM module to set the default security context pam_selinux.so close debug open nottys verbose select_context use_current_range In a nutshell, pam_selinux sets up the default security context for the next execed shell. When an application opens a session using pam_selinux, the shell that gets executed will be run in the default security context, or if the user chooses and the pam file allows the selected security context. Also the controlling tty will have it's security context modified to match the users. Adding pam_selinux into a pam file could cause other pam modules to change their behavior if the exec another application. The close and open option help mitigate this problem. close option will only cause the close portion of the pam_selinux to execute, and open will only cause the open portion to run. You can add pam_selinux to the config file twice. Add the pam_selinux close as the executes the open pass through the modules, pam_selinux open_session will happen last. When PAM executes the close pass through the modules pam_selinux close_session will happen first. close Only execute the close_session portion of the module. debug Turns on debugging via syslog3 . open Only execute the open_session portion of the module. nottys Do not try to setup the ttys security context. verbose attempt to inform the user when security context is set. select_context Attempt to ask the user for a custom security context role. If MLS is on ask also for sensitivity level. use_current_range Use the sensitivity range of the process for the user context. This option and the select_context option are mutually exclusive. Only the session service is supported. PAM_AUTH_ERR Unable to get or set a valid context. PAM_SUCCESS The security context was set successfull. PAM_USER_UNKNOWN The user is not known to the system. auth required pam_unix.so session required pam_permit.so session optional pam_selinux.so pam.conf5 , pam.d8 , pam8 pam_selinux was written by Dan Walsh <dwalsh@redhat.com>.