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SUDO_PLUGIN(5) BSD File Formats Manual SUDO_PLUGIN(5)
NAME
sudo_plugin -- Sudo Plugin API
DESCRIPTION
Starting with version 1.8, sudo supports a plugin API for policy and session logging. Plug-
ins may be compiled as dynamic shared objects (the default on systems that support them) or
compiled statically into the sudo binary itself. By default, the sudoers plugin provides
audit, security policy and I/O logging capabilities. Via the plugin API, sudo can be con-
figured to use alternate plugins provided by third parties. The plugins to be used are
specified in the sudo.conf(5) file.
The API is versioned with a major and minor number. The minor version number is incremented
when additions are made. The major number is incremented when incompatible changes are
made. A plugin should be check the version passed to it and make sure that the major ver-
sion matches.
The plugin API is defined by the sudo_plugin.h header file.
Policy plugin API
A policy plugin must declare and populate a policy_plugin struct in the global scope. This
structure contains pointers to the functions that implement the sudo policy checks. The
name of the symbol should be specified in sudo.conf(5) along with a path to the plugin so
that sudo can load it.
struct policy_plugin {
#define SUDO_POLICY_PLUGIN 1
unsigned int type; /* always SUDO_POLICY_PLUGIN */
unsigned int version; /* always SUDO_API_VERSION */
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t plugin_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], char * const user_env[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
void (*close)(int exit_status, int error);
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
int (*check_policy)(int argc, char * const argv[],
char *env_add[], char **command_info[],
char **argv_out[], char **user_env_out[], const char **errstr);
int (*list)(int argc, char * const argv[], int verbose,
const char *list_user, const char **errstr);
int (*validate)(const char **errstr);
void (*invalidate)(int remove);
int (*init_session)(struct passwd *pwd, char **user_env[],
const char **errstr);
void (*register_hooks)(int version,
int (*register_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
void (*deregister_hooks)(int version,
int (*deregister_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
};
The policy_plugin struct has the following fields:
type The type field should always be set to SUDO_POLICY_PLUGIN.
version
The version field should be set to SUDO_API_VERSION.
This allows sudo to determine the API version the plugin was built against.
open
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t plugin_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], char * const user_env[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was
a usage error. In the latter case, sudo will print a usage message before it exits.
If an error occurs, the plugin may optionally call the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error informa-
tion to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
version
The version passed in by sudo allows the plugin to determine the major and minor
version number of the plugin API supported by sudo.
conversation
A pointer to the conversation() function that can be used by the plugin to in-
teract with the user (see Conversation API for details). Returns 0 on success
and -1 on failure.
plugin_printf
A pointer to a printf()-style function that may be used to display informational
or error messages (see Conversation API for details). Returns the number of
characters printed on success and -1 on failure.
settings
A vector of user-supplied sudo settings in the form of "name=value" strings.
The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer. These settings correspond to op-
tions the user specified when running sudo. As such, they will only be present
when the corresponding option has been specified on the command line.
When parsing settings, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
The following values may be set by sudo:
bsdauth_type=string
Authentication type, if specified by the -a option, to use on systems
where BSD authentication is supported.
closefrom=number
If specified, the user has requested via the -C option that sudo close all
files descriptors with a value of number or higher. The plugin may op-
tionally pass this, or another value, back in the command_info list.
cmnd_chroot=string
The root directory (see chroot(2)) to run the command in, as specified by
the user via the -R option. The plugin may ignore or restrict the user's
ability to specify a new root directory. Only available starting with API
version 1.16.
cmnd_cwd=string
The working directory to run the command in, as specified by the user via
the -D option. The plugin may ignore or restrict the user's ability to
specify a new working directory. Only available starting with API version
1.16.
debug_flags=string
A debug file path name followed by a space and a comma-separated list of
debug flags that correspond to the plugin's Debug entry in sudo.conf(5),
if there is one. The flags are passed to the plugin exactly as they ap-
pear in sudo.conf(5). The syntax used by sudo and the sudoers plugin is
subsystem@priority but a plugin is free to use a different format so long
as it does not include a comma (','). Prior to sudo 1.8.12, there was no
way to specify plugin-specific debug_flags so the value was always the
same as that used by the sudo front-end and did not include a path name,
only the flags themselves. As of version 1.7 of the plugin interface,
sudo will only pass debug_flags if sudo.conf(5) contains a plugin-specific
Debug entry.
ignore_ticket=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -k option along with a command, in-
dicating that the user wishes to ignore any cached authentication creden-
tials. implied_shell to true. This allows sudo with no arguments to be
used similarly to su(1). If the plugin does not to support this usage, it
may return a value of -2 from the check_policy() function, which will
cause sudo to print a usage message and exit.
implied_shell=bool
If the user does not specify a program on the command line, sudo will pass
the plugin the path to the user's shell and set
login_class=string
BSD login class to use when setting resource limits and nice value, if
specified by the -c option.
login_shell=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -i option, indicating that the user
wishes to run a login shell.
max_groups=int
The maximum number of groups a user may belong to. This will only be
present if there is a corresponding setting in sudo.conf(5).
network_addrs=list
A space-separated list of IP network addresses and netmasks in the form
"addr/netmask", e.g., "192.168.1.2/255.255.255.0". The address and net-
mask pairs may be either IPv4 or IPv6, depending on what the operating
system supports. If the address contains a colon (':'), it is an IPv6 ad-
dress, else it is IPv4.
noninteractive=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -n option, indicating that sudo
should operate in non-interactive mode. The plugin may reject a command
run in non-interactive mode if user interaction is required.
plugin_dir=string
The default plugin directory used by the sudo front-end. This is the de-
fault directory set at compile time and may not correspond to the direc-
tory the running plugin was loaded from. It may be used by a plugin to
locate support files.
plugin_path=string
The path name of plugin loaded by the sudo front-end. The path name will
be a fully-qualified unless the plugin was statically compiled into sudo.
preserve_environment=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -E option, indicating that the user
wishes to preserve the environment.
preserve_groups=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -P option, indicating that the user
wishes to preserve the group vector instead of setting it based on the
runas user.
progname=string
The command name that sudo was run as, typically "sudo" or "sudoedit".
prompt=string
The prompt to use when requesting a password, if specified via the -p op-
tion.
remote_host=string
The name of the remote host to run the command on, if specified via the -h
option. Support for running the command on a remote host is meant to be
implemented via a helper program that is executed in place of the user-
specified command. The sudo front-end is only capable of executing com-
mands on the local host. Only available starting with API version 1.4.
run_shell=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -s option, indicating that the user
wishes to run a shell.
runas_group=string
The group name or group-ID to run the command as, if specified via the -g
option.
runas_user=string
The user name or user-ID to run the command as, if specified via the -u
option.
selinux_role=string
SELinux role to use when executing the command, if specified by the -r op-
tion.
selinux_type=string
SELinux type to use when executing the command, if specified by the -t op-
tion.
set_home=bool
Set to true if the user specified the -H option. If true, set the HOME
environment variable to the target user's home directory.
sudoedit=bool
Set to true when the -e option is specified or if invoked as sudoedit.
The plugin shall substitute an editor into argv in the check_policy()
function or return -2 with a usage error if the plugin does not support
sudoedit. For more information, see the check_policy section.
timeout=string
Command timeout specified by the user via the -T option. Not all plugins
support command timeouts and the ability of the user to set a timeout may
be restricted by policy. The format of the timeout string is plugin-spe-
cific.
Additional settings may be added in the future so the plugin should silently ig-
nore settings that it does not recognize.
user_info
A vector of information about the user running the command in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing user_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
The following values may be set by sudo:
cols=int
The number of columns the user's terminal supports. If there is no termi-
nal device available, a default value of 80 is used.
cwd=string
The user's current working directory.
egid=gid_t
The effective group-ID of the user invoking sudo.
euid=uid_t
The effective user-ID of the user invoking sudo.
gid=gid_t
The real group-ID of the user invoking sudo.
groups=list
The user's supplementary group list formatted as a string of comma-sepa-
rated group-IDs.
host=string
The local machine's hostname as returned by the gethostname(2) system
call.
lines=int
The number of lines the user's terminal supports. If there is no terminal
device available, a default value of 24 is used.
pgid=int
The ID of the process group that the running sudo process is a member of.
Only available starting with API version 1.2.
pid=int
The process ID of the running sudo process. Only available starting with
API version 1.2.
ppid=int
The parent process ID of the running sudo process. Only available start-
ing with API version 1.2.
rlimit_as=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's address space may grow (in bytes),
if supported by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are sepa-
rated by a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit.
Only available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_core=soft,hard
The largest size core dump file that may be created (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates
that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_cpu=soft,hard
The maximum amount of CPU time that the process may use (in seconds). The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" in-
dicates that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version
1.16.
rlimit_data=soft,hard
The maximum size of the data segment for the process (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates
that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_fsize=soft,hard
The largest size file that the process may create (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates
that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_locks=soft,hard
The maximum number of locks that the process may establish, if supported
by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are separated by a
comma. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit. Only
available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_memlock=soft,hard
The maximum size that the process may lock in memory (in bytes), if sup-
ported by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are separated by
a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit. Only
available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_nofile=soft,hard
The maximum number of files that the process may have open. The soft and
hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" indicates
that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version 1.16.
rlimit_nproc=soft,hard
The maximum number of processes that the user may run simultaneously. The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" in-
dicates that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version
1.16.
rlimit_rss=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's resident set size may grow (in
bytes). The soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of
"infinity" indicates that there is no limit. Only available starting with
API version 1.16.
rlimit_stack=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's stack may grow (in bytes). The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. A value of "infinity" in-
dicates that there is no limit. Only available starting with API version
1.16.
sid=int
The session ID of the running sudo process or 0 if sudo is not part of a
POSIX job control session. Only available starting with API version 1.2.
tcpgid=int
The ID of the foreground process group associated with the terminal device
associated with the sudo process or 0 if there is no terminal present.
Only available starting with API version 1.2.
tty=string
The path to the user's terminal device. If the user has no terminal de-
vice associated with the session, the value will be empty, as in "tty=".
uid=uid_t
The real user-ID of the user invoking sudo.
umask=octal
The invoking user's file creation mask. Only available starting with API
version 1.10.
user=string
The name of the user invoking sudo.
user_env
The user's environment in the form of a NULL-terminated vector of "name=value"
strings.
When parsing user_env, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
plugin_options
Any (non-comment) strings immediately after the plugin path are passed as argu-
ments to the plugin. These arguments are split on a white space boundary and
are passed to the plugin in the form of a NULL-terminated array of strings. If
no arguments were specified, plugin_options will be the NULL pointer.
NOTE: the plugin_options parameter is only available starting with API version
1.2. A plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before
using plugin_options. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
errstr
If the open() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
close
void (*close)(int exit_status, int error);
The close() function is called when sudo is finished, shortly before it exits. Start-
ing with API version 1.15, close() is called regardless of whether or not a command
was actually executed. This makes it possible for plugins to perform cleanup even
when a command was not run. It is not possible to tell whether a command was run
based solely on the arguments passed to the close() function. To determine if a com-
mand was actually run, the plugin must keep track of whether or not the check_policy()
function returned successfully.
The function arguments are as follows:
exit_status
The command's exit status, as returned by the wait(2) system call, or zero if no
command was run. The value of exit_status is undefined if error is non-zero.
error
If the command could not be executed, this is set to the value of errno set by
the execve(2) system call. The plugin is responsible for displaying error in-
formation via the conversation() or plugin_printf() function. If the command
was successfully executed, the value of error is zero.
If no close() function is defined, no I/O logging plugins are loaded, and neither the
timeout not use_pty options are set in the command_info list, the sudo front-end may
execute the command directly instead of running it as a child process.
show_version
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
The show_version() function is called by sudo when the user specifies the -V option.
The plugin may display its version information to the user via the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function using SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG. If the user requests detailed ver-
sion information, the verbose flag will be set.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was
a usage error, although the return value is currently ignored.
check_policy
int (*check_policy)(int argc, char * const argv[], char *env_add[],
char **command_info[], char **argv_out[], char **user_env_out[],
const char **errstr);
The check_policy() function is called by sudo to determine whether the user is allowed
to run the specified commands.
If the sudoedit option was enabled in the settings array passed to the open() func-
tion, the user has requested sudoedit mode. sudoedit is a mechanism for editing one
or more files where an editor is run with the user's credentials instead of with ele-
vated privileges. sudo achieves this by creating user-writable temporary copies of
the files to be edited and then overwriting the originals with the temporary copies
after editing is complete. If the plugin supports sudoedit, it should choose the edi-
tor to be used, potentially from a variable in the user's environment, such as EDITOR,
and include it in argv_out (note that environment variables may include command line
options). The files to be edited should be copied from argv into argv_out, separated
from the editor and its arguments by a "--" element. The "--" will be removed by sudo
before the editor is executed. The plugin should also set sudoedit=true in the
command_info list.
The check_policy() function returns 1 if the command is allowed, 0 if not allowed, -1
for a general error, or -2 for a usage error or if sudoedit was specified but is un-
supported by the plugin. In the latter case, sudo will print a usage message before
it exits. If an error occurs, the plugin may optionally call the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error informa-
tion to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
argc The number of elements in argv, not counting the final NULL pointer.
argv The argument vector describing the command the user wishes to run, in the same
form as what would be passed to the execve(2) system call. The vector is termi-
nated by a NULL pointer.
env_add
Additional environment variables specified by the user on the command line in
the form of a NULL-terminated vector of "name=value" strings. The plugin may
reject the command if one or more variables are not allowed to be set, or it may
silently ignore such variables.
When parsing env_add, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
command_info
Information about the command being run in the form of "name=value" strings.
These values are used by sudo to set the execution environment when running a
command. The plugin is responsible for creating and populating the vector,
which must be terminated with a NULL pointer. The following values are recog-
nized by sudo:
chroot=string
The root directory to use when running the command.
closefrom=number
If specified, sudo will close all files descriptors with a value of number
or higher.
command=string
Fully qualified path to the command to be executed.
cwd=string
The current working directory to change to when executing the command. If
sudo is unable to change to the new working directory, the command will
not be run unless cwd_optional is also set (see below).
cwd_optional=bool
If enabled, sudo will treat an inability to change to the new working di-
rectory as a non-fatal error. This setting has no effect unless cwd is
also set.
exec_background=bool
By default, sudo runs a command as the foreground process as long as sudo
itself is running in the foreground. When exec_background is enabled and
the command is being run in a pseudo-terminal (due to I/O logging or the
use_pty setting), the command will be run as a background process. At-
tempts to read from the controlling terminal (or to change terminal set-
tings) will result in the command being suspended with the SIGTTIN signal
(or SIGTTOU in the case of terminal settings). If this happens when sudo
is a foreground process, the command will be granted the controlling ter-
minal and resumed in the foreground with no user intervention required.
The advantage of initially running the command in the background is that
sudo need not read from the terminal unless the command explicitly re-
quests it. Otherwise, any terminal input must be passed to the command,
whether it has required it or not (the kernel buffers terminals so it is
not possible to tell whether the command really wants the input). This is
different from historic sudo behavior or when the command is not being run
in a pseudo-terminal.
For this to work seamlessly, the operating system must support the auto-
matic restarting of system calls. Unfortunately, not all operating sys-
tems do this by default, and even those that do may have bugs. For exam-
ple, macOS fails to restart the tcgetattr() and tcsetattr() system calls
(this is a bug in macOS). Furthermore, because this behavior depends on
the command stopping with the SIGTTIN or SIGTTOU signals, programs that
catch these signals and suspend themselves with a different signal (usu-
ally SIGTOP) will not be automatically foregrounded. Some versions of the
linux su(1) command behave this way. Because of this, a plugin should not
set exec_background unless it is explicitly enabled by the administrator
and there should be a way to enabled or disable it on a per-command basis.
This setting has no effect unless I/O logging is enabled or use_pty is en-
abled.
execfd=number
If specified, sudo will use the fexecve(2) system call to execute the com-
mand instead of execve(2). The specified number must refer to an open
file descriptor.
iolog_compress=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should compress the log
data. This is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore
it.
iolog_group=string
The group that will own newly created I/O log files and directories. This
is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore it.
iolog_mode=octal
The file permission mode to use when creating I/O log files and directo-
ries. This is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore
it.
iolog_user=string
The user that will own newly created I/O log files and directories. This
is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore it.
iolog_path=string
Fully qualified path to the file or directory in which I/O log is to be
stored. This is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ig-
nore it. If no I/O logging plugin is loaded, this setting has no effect.
iolog_stdin=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should log the standard
input if it is not connected to a terminal device. This is a hint to the
I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore it.
iolog_stdout=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should log the standard
output if it is not connected to a terminal device. This is a hint to the
I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore it.
iolog_stderr=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should log the standard
error if it is not connected to a terminal device. This is a hint to the
I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore it.
iolog_ttyin=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should log all terminal
input. This only includes input typed by the user and not from a pipe or
redirected from a file. This is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which
may choose to ignore it.
iolog_ttyout=bool
Set to true if the I/O logging plugins, if any, should log all terminal
output. This only includes output to the screen, not output to a pipe or
file. This is a hint to the I/O logging plugin which may choose to ignore
it.
login_class=string
BSD login class to use when setting resource limits and nice value (op-
tional). This option is only set on systems that support login classes.
nice=int
Nice value (priority) to use when executing the command. The nice value,
if specified, overrides the priority associated with the login_class on
BSD systems.
noexec=bool
If set, prevent the command from executing other programs.
preserve_fds=list
A comma-separated list of file descriptors that should be preserved, re-
gardless of the value of the closefrom setting. Only available starting
with API version 1.5.
preserve_groups=bool
If set, sudo will preserve the user's group vector instead of initializing
the group vector based on runas_user.
rlimit_as=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's address space may grow (in bytes),
if supported by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are sepa-
rated by a comma. If only a single value is specified, both the hard and
soft limits are set. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no
limit. A value of "user" will cause the invoking user's resource limit to
be preserved. A value of "default" will cause the target user's default
resource limit to be used on systems that allow per-user resource limits
to be configured. Only available starting with API version 1.17.
rlimit_core=soft,hard
The largest size core dump file that may be created (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is spec-
ified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity" indi-
cates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invoking
user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will cause
the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that allow
per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting with
API version 1.17.
rlimit_cpu=soft,hard
The maximum amount of CPU time that the process may use (in seconds). The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is
specified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity"
indicates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invok-
ing user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will
cause the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that
allow per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting
with API version 1.17.
rlimit_data=soft,hard
The maximum size of the data segment for the process (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is spec-
ified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity" indi-
cates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invoking
user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will cause
the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that allow
per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting with
API version 1.17.
rlimit_fsize=soft,hard
The largest size file that the process may create (in bytes). The soft
and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is spec-
ified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity" indi-
cates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invoking
user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will cause
the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that allow
per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting with
API version 1.17.
rlimit_locks=soft,hard
The maximum number of locks that the process may establish, if supported
by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are separated by a
comma. If only a single value is specified, both the hard and soft limits
are set. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit. A value
of "user" will cause the invoking user's resource limit to be preserved.
A value of "default" will cause the target user's default resource limit
to be used on systems that allow per-user resource limits to be config-
ured. Only available starting with API version 1.17.
rlimit_memlock=soft,hard
The maximum size that the process may lock in memory (in bytes), if sup-
ported by the operating system. The soft and hard limits are separated by
a comma. If only a single value is specified, both the hard and soft lim-
its are set. A value of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit. A
value of "user" will cause the invoking user's resource limit to be pre-
served. A value of "default" will cause the target user's default re-
source limit to be used on systems that allow per-user resource limits to
be configured. Only available starting with API version 1.17.
rlimit_nofile=soft,hard
The maximum number of files that the process may have open. The soft and
hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is speci-
fied, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity" indi-
cates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invoking
user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will cause
the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that allow
per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting with
API version 1.17.
rlimit_nproc=soft,hard
The maximum number of processes that the user may run simultaneously. The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is
specified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity"
indicates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invok-
ing user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will
cause the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that
allow per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting
with API version 1.17.
rlimit_rss=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's resident set size may grow (in
bytes). The soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a
single value is specified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value
of "infinity" indicates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will
cause the invoking user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of
"default" will cause the target user's default resource limit to be used
on systems that allow per-user resource limits to be configured. Only
available starting with API version 1.17.
rlimit_stack=soft,hard
The maximum size to which the process's stack may grow (in bytes). The
soft and hard limits are separated by a comma. If only a single value is
specified, both the hard and soft limits are set. A value of "infinity"
indicates that there is no limit. A value of "user" will cause the invok-
ing user's resource limit to be preserved. A value of "default" will
cause the target user's default resource limit to be used on systems that
allow per-user resource limits to be configured. Only available starting
with API version 1.17.
runas_egid=gid
Effective group-ID to run the command as. If not specified, the value of
runas_gid is used.
runas_euid=uid
Effective user-ID to run the command as. If not specified, the value of
runas_uid is used.
runas_gid=gid
Group-ID to run the command as.
runas_group=string
The name of the group the command will run as, if it is different from the
runas_user's default group. This value is provided for auditing purposes
only, the sudo front-end uses runas_egid and runas_gid when executing the
command.
runas_groups=list
The supplementary group vector to use for the command in the form of a
comma-separated list of group-IDs. If preserve_groups is set, this option
is ignored.
runas_uid=uid
User-ID to run the command as.
runas_user=string
The name of the user the command will run as, which should correspond to
runas_euid (or runas_uid if runas_euid is not set). This value is pro-
vided for auditing purposes only, the sudo front-end uses runas_euid and
runas_uid when executing the command.
selinux_role=string
SELinux role to use when executing the command.
selinux_type=string
SELinux type to use when executing the command.
set_utmp=bool
Create a utmp (or utmpx) entry when a pseudo-terminal is allocated. By
default, the new entry will be a copy of the user's existing utmp entry
(if any), with the tty, time, type, and pid fields updated.
sudoedit=bool
Set to true when in sudoedit mode. The plugin may enable sudoedit mode
even if sudo was not invoked as sudoedit. This allows the plugin to per-
form command substitution and transparently enable sudoedit when the user
attempts to run an editor.
sudoedit_checkdir=bool
Set to false to disable directory writability checks in sudoedit. By de-
fault, sudoedit 1.8.16 and higher will check all directory components of
the path to be edited for writability by the invoking user. Symbolic
links will not be followed in writable directories and sudoedit will
refuse to edit a file located in a writable directory. These restrictions
are not enforced when sudoedit is run by root. The sudoedit_follow option
can be set to false to disable this check. Only available starting with
API version 1.8.
sudoedit_follow=bool
Set to true to allow sudoedit to edit files that are symbolic links. By
default, sudoedit 1.8.15 and higher will refuse to open a symbolic link.
The sudoedit_follow option can be used to restore the older behavior and
allow sudoedit to open symbolic links. Only available starting with API
version 1.8.
timeout=int
Command timeout. If non-zero then when the timeout expires the command
will be killed.
umask=octal
The file creation mask to use when executing the command. This value may
be overridden by PAM or login.conf on some systems unless the
umask_override option is also set.
umask_override=bool
Force the value specified by the umask option to override any umask set by
PAM or login.conf.
use_pty=bool
Allocate a pseudo-terminal to run the command in, regardless of whether or
not I/O logging is in use. By default, sudo will only run the command in
a pseudo-terminal when an I/O log plugin is loaded.
utmp_user=string
User name to use when constructing a new utmp (or utmpx) entry when
set_utmp is enabled. This option can be used to set the user field in the
utmp entry to the user the command runs as rather than the invoking user.
If not set, sudo will base the new entry on the invoking user's existing
entry.
Unsupported values will be ignored.
argv_out
The NULL-terminated argument vector to pass to the execve(2) system call when
executing the command. The plugin is responsible for allocating and populating
the vector.
user_env_out
The NULL-terminated environment vector to use when executing the command. The
plugin is responsible for allocating and populating the vector.
errstr
If the check_policy() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may
store a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end
will then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
list
int (*list)(int argc, char * const argv[], int verbose,
const char *list_user, const char **errstr);
List available privileges for the invoking user. Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure,
and -1 on error. On error, the plugin may optionally call the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error informa-
tion to the user.
Privileges should be output via the conversation() or plugin_printf() function using
SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG.
The function arguments are as follows:
argc The number of elements in argv, not counting the final NULL pointer.
argv If non-NULL, an argument vector describing a command the user wishes to check
against the policy in the same form as what would be passed to the execve(2)
system call. If the command is permitted by the policy, the fully-qualified
path to the command should be displayed along with any command line arguments.
verbose
Flag indicating whether to list in verbose mode or not.
list_user
The name of a different user to list privileges for if the policy allows it. If
NULL, the plugin should list the privileges of the invoking user.
errstr
If the list() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
validate
int (*validate)(const char **errstr);
The validate() function is called when sudo is run with the -v option. For policy
plugins such as sudoers that cache authentication credentials, this function will val-
idate and cache the credentials.
The validate() function should be NULL if the plugin does not support credential
caching.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, and -1 on error. On error, the plugin may option-
ally call the conversation() or plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to
present additional error information to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
errstr
If the validate() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
invalidate
void (*invalidate)(int remove);
The invalidate() function is called when sudo is run with the -k or -K option. For
policy plugins such as sudoers that cache authentication credentials, this function
will invalidate the credentials. If the remove flag is set, the plugin may remove the
credentials instead of simply invalidating them.
The invalidate() function should be NULL if the plugin does not support credential
caching.
init_session
int (*init_session)(struct passwd *pwd, char **user_env_out[]);
The init_session() function is called before sudo sets up the execution environment
for the command. It is run in the parent sudo process and before any user-ID or
group-ID changes. This can be used to perform session setup that is not supported by
command_info, such as opening the PAM session. The close() function can be used to
tear down the session that was opened by init_session.
The pwd argument points to a passwd struct for the user the command will be run as if
the user-ID the command will run as was found in the password database, otherwise it
will be NULL.
The user_env_out argument points to the environment the command will run in, in the
form of a NULL-terminated vector of "name=value" strings. This is the same string
passed back to the front-end via the Policy Plugin's user_env_out parameter. If the
init_session() function needs to modify the user environment, it should update the
pointer stored in user_env_out. The expected use case is to merge the contents of the
PAM environment (if any) with the contents of user_env_out. NOTE: the user_env_out
parameter is only available starting with API version 1.2. A plugin must check the
API version specified by the sudo front-end before using user_env_out. Failure to do
so may result in a crash.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, and -1 on error. On error, the plugin may option-
ally call the conversation() or plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to
present additional error information to the user.
register_hooks
void (*register_hooks)(int version,
int (*register_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
The register_hooks() function is called by the sudo front-end to register any hooks
the plugin needs. If the plugin does not support hooks, register_hooks should be set
to the NULL pointer.
The version argument describes the version of the hooks API supported by the sudo
front-end.
The register_hook() function should be used to register any supported hooks the plugin
needs. It returns 0 on success, 1 if the hook type is not supported, and -1 if the
major version in struct hook does not match the front-end's major hook API version.
See the Hook function API section below for more information about hooks.
NOTE: the register_hooks() function is only available starting with API version 1.2.
If the sudo front-end doesn't support API version 1.2 or higher, register_hooks will
not be called.
deregister_hooks
void (*deregister_hooks)(int version,
int (*deregister_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
The deregister_hooks() function is called by the sudo front-end to deregister any
hooks the plugin has registered. If the plugin does not support hooks,
deregister_hooks should be set to the NULL pointer.
The version argument describes the version of the hooks API supported by the sudo
front-end.
The deregister_hook() function should be used to deregister any hooks that were put in
place by the register_hook() function. If the plugin tries to deregister a hook that
the front-end does not support, deregister_hook will return an error.
See the Hook function API section below for more information about hooks.
NOTE: the deregister_hooks() function is only available starting with API version 1.2.
If the sudo front-end doesn't support API version 1.2 or higher, deregister_hooks will
not be called.
event_alloc
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
The event_alloc() function is used to allocate a struct sudo_plugin_event which pro-
vides access to the main sudo event loop. Unlike the other fields, the event_alloc()
pointer is filled in by the sudo front-end, not by the plugin.
See the Event API section below for more information about events.
NOTE: the event_alloc() function is only available starting with API version 1.15. If
the sudo front-end doesn't support API version 1.15 or higher, event_alloc() will not
be set.
errstr
If the init_session() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then pass
this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr must remain
valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A plugin
must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using errstr. Fail-
ure to do so may result in a crash.
Policy Plugin Version Macros
/* Plugin API version major/minor. */
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_MAJOR 1
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_MINOR 13
#define SUDO_API_MKVERSION(x, y) ((x << 16) | y)
#define SUDO_API_VERSION SUDO_API_MKVERSION(SUDO_API_VERSION_MAJOR,\
SUDO_API_VERSION_MINOR)
/* Getters and setters for API version */
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_GET_MAJOR(v) ((v) >> 16)
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_GET_MINOR(v) ((v) & 0xffff)
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_SET_MAJOR(vp, n) do { \
*(vp) = (*(vp) & 0x0000ffff) | ((n) << 16); \
} while(0)
#define SUDO_API_VERSION_SET_MINOR(vp, n) do { \
*(vp) = (*(vp) & 0xffff0000) | (n); \
} while(0)
I/O plugin API
struct io_plugin {
#define SUDO_IO_PLUGIN 2
unsigned int type; /* always SUDO_IO_PLUGIN */
unsigned int version; /* always SUDO_API_VERSION */
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t plugin_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], char * const command_info[],
int argc, char * const argv[], char * const user_env[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
void (*close)(int exit_status, int error); /* wait status or error */
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
int (*log_ttyin)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
int (*log_ttyout)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
int (*log_stdin)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
int (*log_stdout)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
int (*log_stderr)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
void (*register_hooks)(int version,
int (*register_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
void (*deregister_hooks)(int version,
int (*deregister_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
int (*change_winsize)(unsigned int lines, unsigned int cols,
const char **errstr);
int (*log_suspend)(int signo, const char **errstr);
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
};
When an I/O plugin is loaded, sudo runs the command in a pseudo-terminal. This makes it
possible to log the input and output from the user's session. If any of the standard input,
standard output, or standard error do not correspond to a tty, sudo will open a pipe to cap-
ture the I/O for logging before passing it on.
The log_ttyin function receives the raw user input from the terminal device (note that this
will include input even when echo is disabled, such as when a password is read). The
log_ttyout function receives output from the pseudo-terminal that is suitable for replaying
the user's session at a later time. The log_stdin(), log_stdout(), and log_stderr() func-
tions are only called if the standard input, standard output, or standard error respectively
correspond to something other than a tty.
Any of the logging functions may be set to the NULL pointer if no logging is to be per-
formed. If the open function returns 0, no I/O will be sent to the plugin.
If a logging function returns an error (-1), the running command will be terminated and all
of the plugin's logging functions will be disabled. Other I/O logging plugins will still
receive any remaining input or output that has not yet been processed.
If an input logging function rejects the data by returning 0, the command will be terminated
and the data will not be passed to the command, though it will still be sent to any other
I/O logging plugins. If an output logging function rejects the data by returning 0, the
command will be terminated and the data will not be written to the terminal, though it will
still be sent to any other I/O logging plugins.
The audit_plugin struct has the following fields:
type The type field should always be set to SUDO_IO_PLUGIN.
version
The version field should be set to SUDO_API_VERSION.
This allows sudo to determine the API version the plugin was built against.
open
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t plugin_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], char * const command_info[],
int argc, char * const argv[], char * const user_env[],
char * const plugin_options[]);
The open() function is run before the log_ttyin(), log_ttyout(), log_stdin(),
log_stdout(), log_stderr(), log_suspend(), change_winsize(), or show_version() func-
tions are called. It is only called if the version is being requested or if the pol-
icy plugin's check_policy() function has returned successfully. It returns 1 on suc-
cess, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was a usage error.
In the latter case, sudo will print a usage message before it exits. If an error oc-
curs, the plugin may optionally call the conversation() or plugin_printf() function
with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error information to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
version
The version passed in by sudo allows the plugin to determine the major and minor
version number of the plugin API supported by sudo.
conversation
A pointer to the conversation() function that may be used by the show_version()
function to display version information (see show_version() below). The
conversation() function may also be used to display additional error message to
the user. The conversation() function returns 0 on success and -1 on failure.
plugin_printf
A pointer to a printf()-style function that may be used by the show_version()
function to display version information (see show_version below). The
plugin_printf() function may also be used to display additional error message to
the user. The plugin_printf() function returns number of characters printed on
success and -1 on failure.
settings
A vector of user-supplied sudo settings in the form of "name=value" strings.
The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer. These settings correspond to op-
tions the user specified when running sudo. As such, they will only be present
when the corresponding option has been specified on the command line.
When parsing settings, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible settings.
user_info
A vector of information about the user running the command in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing user_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
command_info
A vector of information describing the command being run in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing command_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
argc The number of elements in argv, not counting the final NULL pointer. It can be
zero, when sudo is called with -V.
argv If non-NULL, an argument vector describing a command the user wishes to run in
the same form as what would be passed to the execve(2) system call.
user_env
The user's environment in the form of a NULL-terminated vector of "name=value"
strings.
When parsing user_env, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
plugin_options
Any (non-comment) strings immediately after the plugin path are treated as argu-
ments to the plugin. These arguments are split on a white space boundary and
are passed to the plugin in the form of a NULL-terminated array of strings. If
no arguments were specified, plugin_options will be the NULL pointer.
NOTE: the plugin_options parameter is only available starting with API version
1.2. A plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before
using plugin_options. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
errstr
If the open() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
close
void (*close)(int exit_status, int error);
The close() function is called when sudo is finished, shortly before it exits.
The function arguments are as follows:
exit_status
The command's exit status, as returned by the wait(2) system call, or zero if no
command was run. The value of exit_status is undefined if error is non-zero.
error
If the command could not be executed, this is set to the value of errno set by
the execve(2) system call. If the command was successfully executed, the value
of error is zero.
show_version
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
The show_version() function is called by sudo when the user specifies the -V option.
The plugin may display its version information to the user via the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function using SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was
a usage error, although the return value is currently ignored.
log_ttyin
int (*log_ttyin)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
The log_ttyin() function is called whenever data can be read from the user but before
it is passed to the running command. This allows the plugin to reject data if it
chooses to (for instance if the input contains banned content). Returns 1 if the data
should be passed to the command, 0 if the data is rejected (which will terminate the
running command), or -1 if an error occurred.
The function arguments are as follows:
buf The buffer containing user input.
len The length of buf in bytes.
errstr
If the log_ttyin() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
log_ttyout
int (*log_ttyout)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
The log_ttyout() function is called whenever data can be read from the command but be-
fore it is written to the user's terminal. This allows the plugin to reject data if
it chooses to (for instance if the output contains banned content). Returns 1 if the
data should be passed to the user, 0 if the data is rejected (which will terminate the
running command), or -1 if an error occurred.
The function arguments are as follows:
buf The buffer containing command output.
len The length of buf in bytes.
errstr
If the log_ttyout() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store
a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will
then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
log_stdin
int (*log_stdin)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
The log_stdin() function is only used if the standard input does not correspond to a
tty device. It is called whenever data can be read from the standard input but before
it is passed to the running command. This allows the plugin to reject data if it
chooses to (for instance if the input contains banned content). Returns 1 if the data
should be passed to the command, 0 if the data is rejected (which will terminate the
running command), or -1 if an error occurred.
The function arguments are as follows:
buf The buffer containing user input.
len The length of buf in bytes.
errstr
If the log_stdin() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
log_stdout
int (*log_stdout)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
The log_stdout() function is only used if the standard output does not correspond to a
tty device. It is called whenever data can be read from the command but before it is
written to the standard output. This allows the plugin to reject data if it chooses
to (for instance if the output contains banned content). Returns 1 if the data should
be passed to the user, 0 if the data is rejected (which will terminate the running
command), or -1 if an error occurred.
The function arguments are as follows:
buf The buffer containing command output.
len The length of buf in bytes.
errstr
If the log_stdout() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store
a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will
then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
log_stderr
int (*log_stderr)(const char *buf, unsigned int len,
const char **errstr);
The log_stderr() function is only used if the standard error does not correspond to a
tty device. It is called whenever data can be read from the command but before it is
written to the standard error. This allows the plugin to reject data if it chooses to
(for instance if the output contains banned content). Returns 1 if the data should be
passed to the user, 0 if the data is rejected (which will terminate the running com-
mand), or -1 if an error occurred.
The function arguments are as follows:
buf The buffer containing command output.
len The length of buf in bytes.
errstr
If the log_stderr() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store
a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will
then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
register_hooks
See the Policy plugin API section for a description of register_hooks.
deregister_hooks
See the Policy plugin API section for a description of deregister_hooks.
change_winsize
int (*change_winsize)(unsigned int lines, unsigned int cols,
const char **errstr);
The change_winsize() function is called whenever the window size of the terminal
changes from the initial values specified in the user_info list. Returns -1 if an er-
ror occurred, in which case no further calls to change_winsize() will be made,
The function arguments are as follows:
lines
The number of lines (rows) in the re-sized terminal.
cols The number of columns in the re-sized terminal.
errstr
If the change_winsize() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may
store a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end
will then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
log_suspend
int (*log_suspend)(int signo, const char **errstr);
The log_suspend() function is called whenever a command is suspended or resumed. Log-
ging this information makes it possible to skip the period of time when the command
was suspended during playback of a session. Returns -1 if an error occurred, in which
case no further calls to log_suspend() will be made,
The function arguments are as follows:
signo
The signal that caused the command to be suspended, or SIGCONT if the command
was resumed.
errstr
If the log_suspend() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store
a message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will
then pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in
errstr must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
NOTE: the errstr parameter is only available starting with API version 1.15. A
plugin must check the API version specified by the sudo front-end before using
errstr. Failure to do so may result in a crash.
event_alloc
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
The event_alloc() function is used to allocate a struct sudo_plugin_event which
provides access to the main sudo event loop. Unlike the other fields, the
event_alloc() pointer is filled in by the sudo front-end, not by the plugin.
See the Event API section below for more information about events.
NOTE: the event_alloc() function is only available starting with API version
1.15. If the sudo front-end doesn't support API version 1.15 or higher,
event_alloc() will not be set.
I/O Plugin Version Macros
Same as for the Policy plugin API.
Audit plugin API
/* Audit plugin close function status types. */
#define SUDO_PLUGIN_NO_STATUS 0
#define SUDO_PLUGIN_WAIT_STATUS 1
#define SUDO_PLUGIN_EXEC_ERROR 2
#define SUDO_PLUGIN_SUDO_ERROR 3
#define SUDO_AUDIT_PLUGIN 3
struct audit_plugin {
unsigned int type; /* always SUDO_AUDIT_PLUGIN */
unsigned int version; /* always SUDO_API_VERSION */
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t sudo_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], int submit_optind,
char * const submit_argv[], char * const submit_envp[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
void (*close)(int status_type, int status);
int (*accept)(const char *plugin_name,
unsigned int plugin_type, char * const command_info[],
char * const run_argv[], char * const run_envp[],
const char **errstr);
int (*reject)(const char *plugin_name, unsigned int plugin_type,
const char *audit_msg, char * const command_info[],
const char **errstr);
int (*error)(const char *plugin_name, unsigned int plugin_type,
const char *audit_msg, char * const command_info[],
const char **errstr);
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
void (*register_hooks)(int version,
int (*register_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
void (*deregister_hooks)(int version,
int (*deregister_hook)(struct sudo_hook *hook));
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
}
An audit plugin can be used to log successful and unsuccessful attempts to run sudo indepen-
dent of the policy or any I/O plugins. Multiple audit plugins may be specified in
sudo.conf(5).
The audit_plugin struct has the following fields:
type The type field should always be set to SUDO_AUDIT_PLUGIN.
version
The version field should be set to SUDO_API_VERSION.
This allows sudo to determine the API version the plugin was built against.
open
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t sudo_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], int submit_optind,
char * const submit_argv[], char * const submit_envp[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
The audit open() function is run before any other sudo plugin API functions. This
makes it possible to audit failures in the other plugins. It returns 1 on success, 0
on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was a usage error. In the
latter case, sudo will print a usage message before it exits. If an error occurs, the
plugin may optionally call the conversation() or plugin_printf() function with
SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error information to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
version
The version passed in by sudo allows the plugin to determine the major and minor
version number of the plugin API supported by sudo.
conversation
A pointer to the conversation() function that may be used by the show_version()
function to display version information (see show_version() below). The
conversation() function may also be used to display additional error message to
the user. The conversation() function returns 0 on success, and -1 on failure.
plugin_printf
A pointer to a printf()-style function that may be used by the show_version()
function to display version information (see show_version below). The
plugin_printf() function may also be used to display additional error message to
the user. The plugin_printf() function returns number of characters printed on
success and -1 on failure.
settings
A vector of user-supplied sudo settings in the form of "name=value" strings.
The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer. These settings correspond to op-
tions the user specified when running sudo. As such, they will only be present
when the corresponding option has been specified on the command line.
When parsing settings, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible settings.
user_info
A vector of information about the user running the command in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing user_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
submit_optind
The index into submit_argv that corresponds to the first entry that is not a
command line option. If submit_argv only consists of options, which may be the
case with the -l or -v options, submit_argv[submit_optind] will evaluate to the
NULL pointer.
submit_argv
The argument vector sudo was invoked with, including all command line options.
The submit_optind argument can be used to determine the end of the command line
options.
submit_envp
The invoking user's environment in the form of a NULL-terminated vector of
"name=value" strings.
When parsing submit_envp, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
plugin_options
Any (non-comment) strings immediately after the plugin path are treated as argu-
ments to the plugin. These arguments are split on a white space boundary and
are passed to the plugin in the form of a NULL-terminated array of strings. If
no arguments were specified, plugin_options will be the NULL pointer.
errstr
If the open() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
close
void (*close)(int status_type, int status);
The close() function is called when sudo is finished, shortly before it exits.
The function arguments are as follows:
status_type
The type of status being passed. One of SUDO_PLUGIN_NO_STATUS,
SUDO_PLUGIN_WAIT_STATUS, SUDO_PLUGIN_EXEC_ERROR or SUDO_PLUGIN_SUDO_ERROR.
status
Depending on the value of status_type, this value is either ignored, the com-
mand's exit status as returned by the wait(2) system call, the value of errno
set by the execve(2) system call, or the value of errno resulting from an error
in the sudo front-end.
accept
int (*accept)(const char *plugin_name, unsigned int plugin_type,
char * const command_info[], char * const run_argv[],
char * const run_envp[], const char **errstr);
The accept() function is called when a command or action is accepted by a policy or
approval plugin. The function arguments are as follows:
plugin_name
The name of the plugin that accepted the command or "sudo" for the sudo front-
end.
plugin_type
The type of plugin that accepted the command, currently either
SUDO_POLICY_PLUGIN, SUDO_POLICY_APPROVAL, or SUDO_FRONT_END. The accept() func-
tion is called multiple times--once for each policy or approval plugin that suc-
ceeds and once for the sudo front-end. When called on behalf of the sudo front-
end, command_info may include information from an I/O logging plugin as well.
Typically, an audit plugin is interested in either the accept status from the
sudo front-end or from the various policy and approval plugins, but not both.
It is possible for the policy plugin to accept a command that is later rejected
by an approval plugin, in which case the audit plugin's accept() and reject()
functions will both be called.
command_info
An optional vector of information describing the command being run in the form
of "name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing command_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
run_argv
A NULL-terminated argument vector describing a command that will be run in the
same form as what would be passed to the execve(2) system call.
run_envp
The environment the command will be run with in the form of a NULL-terminated
vector of "name=value" strings.
When parsing run_envp, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
errstr
If the accept() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
reject
int (*reject)(const char *plugin_name, unsigned int plugin_type,
const char *audit_msg, char * const command_info[],
const char **errstr);
The reject() function is called when a command or action is rejected by a plugin. The
function arguments are as follows:
plugin_name
The name of the plugin that rejected the command.
plugin_type
The type of plugin that rejected the command, currently either
SUDO_POLICY_PLUGIN, SUDO_APPROVAL_PLUGIN, or SUDO_IO_PLUGIN.
Unlike the accept() function, the reject() function is not called on behalf of
the sudo front-end.
audit_msg
An optional string describing the reason the command was rejected by the plugin.
If the plugin did not provide a reason, audit_msg will be the NULL pointer.
command_info
An optional vector of information describing the command being run in the form
of "name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing command_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
errstr
If the reject() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
error
int (*error)(const char *plugin_name, unsigned int plugin_type,
const char *audit_msg, char * const command_info[],
const char **errstr);
The error() function is called when a plugin or the sudo front-end returns an error.
The function arguments are as follows:
plugin_name
The name of the plugin that generated the error or "sudo" for the sudo front-
end.
plugin_type
The type of plugin that generated the error, or SUDO_FRONT_END for the sudo
front-end.
audit_msg
An optional string describing the plugin error. If the plugin did not provide a
description, audit_msg will be the NULL pointer.
command_info
An optional vector of information describing the command being run in the form
of "name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing command_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
errstr
If the error() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a
message describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
show_version
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
The show_version() function is called by sudo when the user specifies the -V option.
The plugin may display its version information to the user via the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function using SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG. If the user requests detailed ver-
sion information, the verbose flag will be set.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was
a usage error, although the return value is currently ignored.
register_hooks
See the Policy plugin API section for a description of register_hooks.
deregister_hooks
See the Policy plugin API section for a description of deregister_hooks.
event_alloc
struct sudo_plugin_event * (*event_alloc)(void);
The event_alloc() function is used to allocate a struct sudo_plugin_event which pro-
vides access to the main sudo event loop. Unlike the other fields, the event_alloc()
pointer is filled in by the sudo front-end, not by the plugin.
See the Event API section below for more information about events.
NOTE: the event_alloc() function is only available starting with API version 1.17. If
the sudo front-end doesn't support API version 1.17 or higher, event_alloc() will not
be set.
Approval plugin API
struct approval_plugin {
#define SUDO_APPROVAL_PLUGIN 4
unsigned int type; /* always SUDO_APPROVAL_PLUGIN */
unsigned int version; /* always SUDO_API_VERSION */
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t sudo_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], int submit_optind,
char * const submit_argv[], char * const submit_envp[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
void (*close)(void);
int (*check)(char * const command_info[], char * const run_argv[],
char * const run_envp[], const char **errstr);
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
};
An approval plugin can be used to apply extra constraints after a command has been accepted
by the policy plugin. Unlike the other plugin types, it does not remain open until the com-
mand completes. The plugin is opened before a call to check() or show_version() and closed
shortly thereafter (audit plugin functions must be called before the plugin is closed).
Multiple approval plugins may be specified in sudo.conf(5).
The approval_plugin struct has the following fields:
type The type field should always be set to SUDO_APPROVAL_PLUGIN.
version
The version field should be set to SUDO_API_VERSION.
This allows sudo to determine the API version the plugin was built against.
open
int (*open)(unsigned int version, sudo_conv_t conversation,
sudo_printf_t sudo_printf, char * const settings[],
char * const user_info[], int submit_optind,
char * const submit_argv[], char * const submit_envp[],
char * const plugin_options[], const char **errstr);
The approval open() function is run immediately before a call to the plugin's check()
or show_version() functions. It is only called if the version is being requested or
if the policy plugin's check_policy() function has returned successfully. It returns
1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was a usage
error. In the latter case, sudo will print a usage message before it exits. If an
error occurs, the plugin may optionally call the conversation() or plugin_printf()
function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error information to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
version
The version passed in by sudo allows the plugin to determine the major and minor
version number of the plugin API supported by sudo.
conversation
A pointer to the conversation() function that can be used by the plugin to in-
teract with the user (see Conversation API for details). Returns 0 on success
and -1 on failure.
plugin_printf
A pointer to a printf()-style function that may be used to display informational
or error messages (see Conversation API for details). Returns the number of
characters printed on success and -1 on failure.
settings
A vector of user-supplied sudo settings in the form of "name=value" strings.
The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer. These settings correspond to op-
tions the user specified when running sudo. As such, they will only be present
when the corresponding option has been specified on the command line.
When parsing settings, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible settings.
user_info
A vector of information about the user running the command in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing user_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
submit_optind
The index into submit_argv that corresponds to the first entry that is not a
command line option. If submit_argv only consists of options, which may be the
case with the -l or -v options, submit_argv[submit_optind] will evaluate to the
NULL pointer.
submit_argv
The argument vector sudo was invoked with, including all command line options.
The submit_optind argument can be used to determine the end of the command line
options.
submit_envp
The invoking user's environment in the form of a NULL-terminated vector of
"name=value" strings.
When parsing submit_envp, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
plugin_options
Any (non-comment) strings immediately after the plugin path are treated as argu-
ments to the plugin. These arguments are split on a white space boundary and
are passed to the plugin in the form of a NULL-terminated array of strings. If
no arguments were specified, plugin_options will be the NULL pointer.
errstr
If the open() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
close
void (*close)(void);
The close() function is called after the approval plugin's check() or show_version()
functions have been called. It takes no arguments. The close() function is typically
used to perform plugin-specific cleanup, such as the freeing of memory objects allo-
cated by the plugin. If the plugin does not need to perform any cleanup, close() may
be set to the NULL pointer.
check
int (*check)(char * const command_info[], char * const run_argv[],
char * const run_envp[], const char **errstr);
The approval check() function is run after the policy plugin check_policy() function
and before any I/O logging plugins. If multiple approval plugins are loaded, they
must all succeed for the command to be allowed. It returns 1 on success, 0 on fail-
ure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was a usage error. In the latter
case, sudo will print a usage message before it exits. If an error occurs, the plugin
may optionally call the conversation() or plugin_printf() function with
SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error information to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
command_info
A vector of information describing the command being run in the form of
"name=value" strings. The vector is terminated by a NULL pointer.
When parsing command_info, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
See the Policy plugin API section for a list of all possible strings.
run_argv
A NULL-terminated argument vector describing a command that will be run in the
same form as what would be passed to the execve(2) system call.
run_envp
The environment the command will be run with in the form of a NULL-terminated
vector of "name=value" strings.
When parsing run_envp, the plugin should split on the first equal sign ('=')
since the name field will never include one itself but the value might.
errstr
If the open() function returns a value other than 1, the plugin may store a mes-
sage describing the failure or error in errstr. The sudo front-end will then
pass this value to any registered audit plugins. The string stored in errstr
must remain valid until the plugin's close() function is called.
show_version
int (*show_version)(int verbose);
The show_version() function is called by sudo when the user specifies the -V option.
The plugin may display its version information to the user via the conversation() or
plugin_printf() function using SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG. If the user requests detailed ver-
sion information, the verbose flag will be set.
Returns 1 on success, 0 on failure, -1 if a general error occurred, or -2 if there was
a usage error, although the return value is currently ignored.
Signal handlers
The sudo front-end installs default signal handlers to trap common signals while the plugin
functions are run. The following signals are trapped by default before the command is exe-
cuted:
o SIGALRM
o SIGHUP
o SIGINT
o SIGPIPE
o SIGQUIT
o SIGTERM
o SIGTSTP
o SIGUSR1
o SIGUSR2
If a fatal signal is received before the command is executed, sudo will call the plugin's
close() function with an exit status of 128 plus the value of the signal that was received.
This allows for consistent logging of commands killed by a signal for plugins that log such
information in their close() function. An exception to this is SIGPIPE, which is ignored
until the command is executed.
A plugin may temporarily install its own signal handlers but must restore the original han-
dler before the plugin function returns.
Hook function API
Beginning with plugin API version 1.2, it is possible to install hooks for certain functions
called by the sudo front-end.
Currently, the only supported hooks relate to the handling of environment variables. Hooks
can be used to intercept attempts to get, set, or remove environment variables so that these
changes can be reflected in the version of the environment that is used to execute a com-
mand. A future version of the API will support hooking internal sudo front-end functions as
well.
Hook structure
Hooks in sudo are described by the following structure:
typedef int (*sudo_hook_fn_t)();
struct sudo_hook {
unsigned int hook_version;
unsigned int hook_type;
sudo_hook_fn_t hook_fn;
void *closure;
};
The sudo_hook structure has the following fields:
hook_version
The hook_version field should be set to SUDO_HOOK_VERSION.
hook_type
The hook_type field may be one of the following supported hook types:
SUDO_HOOK_SETENV
The C library setenv(3) function. Any registered hooks will run before the C
library implementation. The hook_fn field should be a function that matches the
following typedef:
typedef int (*sudo_hook_fn_setenv_t)(const char *name,
const char *value, int overwrite, void *closure);
If the registered hook does not match the typedef the results are unspecified.
SUDO_HOOK_UNSETENV
The C library unsetenv(3) function. Any registered hooks will run before the C
library implementation. The hook_fn field should be a function that matches the
following typedef:
typedef int (*sudo_hook_fn_unsetenv_t)(const char *name,
void *closure);
SUDO_HOOK_GETENV
The C library getenv(3) function. Any registered hooks will run before the C
library implementation. The hook_fn field should be a function that matches the
following typedef:
typedef int (*sudo_hook_fn_getenv_t)(const char *name,
char **value, void *closure);
If the registered hook does not match the typedef the results are unspecified.
SUDO_HOOK_PUTENV
The C library putenv(3) function. Any registered hooks will run before the C
library implementation. The hook_fn field should be a function that matches the
following typedef:
typedef int (*sudo_hook_fn_putenv_t)(char *string,
void *closure);
If the registered hook does not match the typedef the results are unspecified.
hook_fn
sudo_hook_fn_t hook_fn;
The hook_fn field should be set to the plugin's hook implementation. The actual func-
tion arguments will vary depending on the hook_type (see hook_type above). In all
cases, the closure field of struct sudo_hook is passed as the last function parameter.
This can be used to pass arbitrary data to the plugin's hook implementation.
The function return value may be one of the following:
SUDO_HOOK_RET_ERROR
The hook function encountered an error.
SUDO_HOOK_RET_NEXT
The hook completed without error, go on to the next hook (including the system
implementation if applicable). For example, a getenv(3) hook might return
SUDO_HOOK_RET_NEXT if the specified variable was not found in the private copy
of the environment.
SUDO_HOOK_RET_STOP
The hook completed without error, stop processing hooks for this invocation.
This can be used to replace the system implementation. For example, a setenv
hook that operates on a private copy of the environment but leaves environ un-
changed.
Note that it is very easy to create an infinite loop when hooking C library functions. For
example, a getenv(3) hook that calls the snprintf(3) function may create a loop if the
snprintf(3) implementation calls getenv(3) to check the locale. To prevent this, you may
wish to use a static variable in the hook function to guard against nested calls. For exam-
ple:
static int in_progress = 0; /* avoid recursion */
if (in_progress)
return SUDO_HOOK_RET_NEXT;
in_progress = 1;
...
in_progress = 0;
return SUDO_HOOK_RET_STOP;
Hook API Version Macros
/* Hook API version major/minor */
#define SUDO_HOOK_VERSION_MAJOR 1
#define SUDO_HOOK_VERSION_MINOR 0
#define SUDO_HOOK_VERSION SUDO_API_MKVERSION(SUDO_HOOK_VERSION_MAJOR,\
SUDO_HOOK_VERSION_MINOR)
For getters and setters see the Policy plugin API.
Event API
When sudo runs a command, it uses an event loop to service signals and I/O. Events may be
triggered based on time, a file or socket descriptor becoming ready, or due to receipt of a
signal. Starting with API version 1.15, it is possible for a plugin to participate in this
event loop by calling the event_alloc() function.
Event structure
Events are described by the following structure:
typedef void (*sudo_plugin_ev_callback_t)(int fd, int what, void *closure);
struct sudo_plugin_event {
int (*set)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, int fd, int events,
sudo_plugin_ev_callback_t callback, void *closure);
int (*add)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, struct timespec *timeout);
int (*del)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
int (*pending)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, int events,
struct timespec *ts);
int (*fd)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
void (*setbase)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, void *base);
void (*loopbreak)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
void (*free)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
};
The sudo_plugin_event struct contains the following function pointers:
set()
int (*set)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, int fd, int events,
sudo_plugin_ev_callback_t callback, void *closure);
The set() function takes the following arguments:
struct sudo_plugin_event *pev
A pointer to the struct sudo_plugin_event itself.
fd The file or socket descriptor for I/O-based events or the signal number for sig-
nal events. For time-based events, fd must be -1.
events
The following values determine what will trigger the event callback:
SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_TIMEOUT
callback is run after the specified timeout expires
SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_READ
callback is run when the file descriptor is readable
SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_WRITE
callback is run when the file descriptor is writable
SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_PERSIST
event is persistent and remains enabled until explicitly deleted
SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_SIGNAL
callback is run when the specified signal is received
The SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_PERSIST flag may be ORed with any of the event types. It is
also possible to OR SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_READ and SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_WRITE together to run
the callback when a descriptor is ready to be either read from or written to.
All other event values are mutually exclusive.
sudo_plugin_ev_callback_t callback
typedef void (*sudo_plugin_ev_callback_t)(int fd, int what,
void *closure);
The function to call when an event is triggered. The callback() function is run
with the following arguments:
fd The file or socket descriptor for I/O-based events or the signal number
for signal events.
what The event type that triggered that callback. For events that have multi-
ple event types (for example SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_READ and SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_WRITE)
or have an associated timeout, what can be used to determine why the call-
back was run.
closure
The generic pointer that was specified in the set() function.
closure
A generic pointer that will be passed to the callback function.
The set() function returns 1 on success, and -1 if a error occurred.
add()
int (*add)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, struct timespec *timeout);
The add() function adds the event pev to sudo's event loop. The event must have pre-
viously been initialized via the set() function. If the timeout argument is not NULL,
it should specify a (relative) timeout after which the event will be triggered if the
main event criteria has not been met. This is often used to implement an I/O timeout
where the event will fire if a descriptor is not ready within a certain time period.
If the event is already present in the event loop, its timeout will be adjusted to
match the new value, if any.
The add() function returns 1 on success, and -1 if a error occurred.
del()
int (*del)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
The del() function deletes the event pev from sudo's event loop. Deleted events can
be added back via the add() function.
The del() function returns 1 on success, and -1 if a error occurred.
pending()
int (*pending)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, int events,
struct timespec *ts);
The pending() function can be used to determine whether one or more events is pending.
The events argument specifies which events to check for. See the set() function for a
list of valid event types. If SUDO_PLUGIN_EV_TIMEOUT is specified in events, the
event has an associated timeout and the ts pointer is non-NULL, it will be filled in
with the remaining time.
fd()
int (*fd)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
The fd() function returns the descriptor or signal number associated with the event
pev.
setbase()
void (*setbase)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev, void *base);
The setbase() function sets the underlying event base for pev to the specified value.
This can be used to move an event created via event_alloc() to a new event loop allo-
cated by sudo's event subsystem. If base is NULL, pev's event base is reset to the
default value, which corresponds to sudo's main event loop. Using this function re-
quires linking the plugin with the sudo_util library. It is unlikely to be used out-
side of the sudoers plugin.
loopbreak()
void (*loopbreak)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
The loopbreak() function causes sudo's event loop to exit immediately and the running
command to be terminated.
free()
void (*free)(struct sudo_plugin_event *pev);
The free() function deletes the event pev from the event loop and frees the memory as-
sociated with it.
Remote command execution
The sudo front-end does not support running remote commands. However, starting with sudo
1.8.8, the -h option may be used to specify a remote host that is passed to the policy
plugin. A plugin may also accept a runas_user in the form of "user@hostname" which will
work with older versions of sudo. It is anticipated that remote commands will be supported
by executing a "helper" program. The policy plugin should setup the execution environment
such that the sudo front-end will run the helper which, in turn, will connect to the remote
host and run the command.
For example, the policy plugin could utilize ssh to perform remote command execution. The
helper program would be responsible for running ssh with the proper options to use a private
key or certificate that the remote host will accept and run a program on the remote host
that would setup the execution environment accordingly.
Note that remote sudoedit functionality must be handled by the policy plugin, not sudo it-
self as the front-end has no knowledge that a remote command is being executed. This may be
addressed in a future revision of the plugin API.
Conversation API
If the plugin needs to interact with the user, it may do so via the conversation() function.
A plugin should not attempt to read directly from the standard input or the user's tty (nei-
ther of which are guaranteed to exist). The caller must include a trailing newline in msg
if one is to be printed.
A printf()-style function is also available that can be used to display informational or er-
ror messages to the user, which is usually more convenient for simple messages where no use
input is required.
Conversation function structures
The conversation function takes as arguments pointers to the following structures:
struct sudo_conv_message {
#define SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_OFF 0x0001 /* do not echo user input */
#define SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_ON 0x0002 /* echo user input */
#define SUDO_CONV_ERROR_MSG 0x0003 /* error message */
#define SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG 0x0004 /* informational message */
#define SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_MASK 0x0005 /* mask user input */
#define SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_OK 0x1000 /* flag: allow echo if no tty */
#define SUDO_CONV_PREFER_TTY 0x2000 /* flag: use tty if possible */
int msg_type;
int timeout;
const char *msg;
};
#define SUDO_CONV_REPL_MAX 1023
struct sudo_conv_reply {
char *reply;
};
typedef int (*sudo_conv_callback_fn_t)(int signo, void *closure);
struct sudo_conv_callback {
unsigned int version;
void *closure;
sudo_conv_callback_fn_t on_suspend;
sudo_conv_callback_fn_t on_resume;
};
Pointers to the conversation() and printf()-style functions are passed in to the plugin's
open() function when the plugin is initialized. The following type definitions can be used
in the declaration of the open() function:
typedef int (*sudo_conv_t)(int num_msgs,
const struct sudo_conv_message msgs[],
struct sudo_conv_reply replies[], struct sudo_conv_callback *callback);
typedef int (*sudo_printf_t)(int msg_type, const char *fmt, ...);
To use the conversation() function, the plugin must pass an array of sudo_conv_message and
sudo_conv_reply structures. There must be a struct sudo_conv_message and struct
sudo_conv_reply for each message in the conversation, that is, both arrays must have the
same number of elements. Each struct sudo_conv_reply must have its reply member initialized
to NULL. The struct sudo_conv_callback pointer, if not NULL, should contain function point-
ers to be called when the sudo process is suspended and/or resumed during conversation in-
put. The on_suspend and on_resume functions are called with the signal that caused sudo to
be suspended and the closure pointer from the struct sudo_conv_callback. These functions
should return 0 on success and -1 on error. On error, the conversation will end and the
conversation function will return a value of -1. The intended use is to allow the plugin to
release resources, such as locks, that should not be held indefinitely while suspended and
then reacquire them when the process is resumed. Note that the functions are not actually
invoked from within a signal handler.
The msg_type must be set to one of the following values:
SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_OFF
Prompt the user for input with echo disabled; this is generally used for passwords.
The reply will be stored in the replies array, and it will never be NULL.
SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_ON
Prompt the user for input with echo enabled. The reply will be stored in the replies
array, and it will never be NULL.
SUDO_CONV_ERROR_MSG
Display an error message. The message is written to the standard error unless the
SUDO_CONV_PREFER_TTY flag is set, in which case it is written to the user's terminal
if possible.
SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG
Display a message. The message is written to the standard output unless the
SUDO_CONV_PREFER_TTY flag is set, in which case it is written to the user's terminal
if possible.
SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_MASK
Prompt the user for input but echo an asterisk character for each character read. The
reply will be stored in the replies array, and it will never be NULL. This can be
used to provide visual feedback to the user while reading sensitive information that
should not be displayed.
In addition to the above values, the following flag bits may also be set:
SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_OK
Allow input to be read when echo cannot be disabled when the message type is
SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_ECHO_OFF or SUDO_CONV_PROMPT_MASK. By default, sudo will refuse to
read input if the echo cannot be disabled for those message types.
SUDO_CONV_PREFER_TTY
When displaying a message via SUDO_CONV_ERROR_MSG or SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG, try to write
the message to the user's terminal. If the terminal is unavailable, the standard er-
ror or standard output will be used, depending upon whether SUDO_CONV_ERROR_MSG or
SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG was used. The user's terminal is always used when possible for in-
put, this flag is only used for output.
The timeout in seconds until the prompt will wait for no more input. A zero value implies
an infinite timeout.
The plugin is responsible for freeing the reply buffer located in each struct
sudo_conv_reply, if it is not NULL. SUDO_CONV_REPL_MAX represents the maximum length of the
reply buffer (not including the trailing NUL character). In practical terms, this is the
longest password sudo will support.
The printf()-style function uses the same underlying mechanism as the conversation() func-
tion but only supports SUDO_CONV_INFO_MSG and SUDO_CONV_ERROR_MSG for the msg_type parame-
ter. It can be more convenient than using the conversation() function if no user reply is
needed and supports standard printf() escape sequences.
See the sample plugin for an example of the conversation() function usage.
Plugin invocation order
As of sudo 1.9.0, the plugin open() and close() functions are called in the following order:
1. audit open
2. policy open
3. approval open
4. approval close
5. I/O log open
6. command runs
7. command exits
8. I/O log close
9. policy close
10. audit close
11. sudo exits
Prior to sudo 1.9.0, the I/O log close() function was called after the policy close() func-
tion.
Sudoers group plugin API
The sudoers plugin supports its own plugin interface to allow non-Unix group lookups. This
can be used to query a group source other than the standard Unix group database. Two sample
group plugins are bundled with sudo, group_file, and system_group, are detailed in
sudoers(5). Third party group plugins include a QAS AD plugin available from Quest Soft-
ware.
A group plugin must declare and populate a sudoers_group_plugin struct in the global scope.
This structure contains pointers to the functions that implement plugin initialization,
cleanup, and group lookup.
struct sudoers_group_plugin {
unsigned int version;
int (*init)(int version, sudo_printf_t sudo_printf,
char *const argv[]);
void (*cleanup)(void);
int (*query)(const char *user, const char *group,
const struct passwd *pwd);
};
The sudoers_group_plugin struct has the following fields:
version
The version field should be set to GROUP_API_VERSION.
This allows sudoers to determine the API version the group plugin was built against.
init
int (*init)(int version, sudo_printf_t plugin_printf,
char *const argv[]);
The init() function is called after sudoers has been parsed but before any policy
checks. It returns 1 on success, 0 on failure (or if the plugin is not configured),
and -1 if a error occurred. If an error occurs, the plugin may call the
plugin_printf() function with SUDO_CONF_ERROR_MSG to present additional error informa-
tion to the user.
The function arguments are as follows:
version
The version passed in by sudoers allows the plugin to determine the major and
minor version number of the group plugin API supported by sudoers.
plugin_printf
A pointer to a printf()-style function that may be used to display informational
or error message to the user. Returns the number of characters printed on suc-
cess and -1 on failure.
argv A NULL-terminated array of arguments generated from the group_plugin option in
sudoers. If no arguments were given, argv will be NULL.
cleanup
void (*cleanup)();
The cleanup() function is called when sudoers has finished its group checks. The
plugin should free any memory it has allocated and close open file handles.
query
int (*query)(const char *user, const char *group,
const struct passwd *pwd);
The query() function is used to ask the group plugin whether user is a member of
group.
The function arguments are as follows:
user The name of the user being looked up in the external group database.
group
The name of the group being queried.
pwd The password database entry for user, if any. If user is not present in the
password database, pwd will be NULL.
Group API Version Macros
/* Sudoers group plugin version major/minor */
#define GROUP_API_VERSION_MAJOR 1
#define GROUP_API_VERSION_MINOR 0
#define GROUP_API_VERSION ((GROUP_API_VERSION_MAJOR << 16) | \
GROUP_API_VERSION_MINOR)
For getters and setters see the Policy plugin API.
PLUGIN API CHANGELOG
The following revisions have been made to the Sudo Plugin API.
Version 1.0
Initial API version.
Version 1.1 (sudo 1.8.0)
The I/O logging plugin's open() function was modified to take the command_info list as
an argument.
Version 1.2 (sudo 1.8.5)
The Policy and I/O logging plugins' open() functions are now passed a list of plugin
parameters if any are specified in sudo.conf(5).
A simple hooks API has been introduced to allow plugins to hook in to the system's en-
vironment handling functions.
The init_session Policy plugin function is now passed a pointer to the user environ-
ment which can be updated as needed. This can be used to merge in environment vari-
ables stored in the PAM handle before a command is run.
Version 1.3 (sudo 1.8.7)
Support for the exec_background entry has been added to the command_info list.
The max_groups and plugin_dir entries were added to the settings list.
The version() and close() functions are now optional. Previously, a missing version()
or close() function would result in a crash. If no policy plugin close() function is
defined, a default close() function will be provided by the sudo front-end that dis-
plays a warning if the command could not be executed.
The sudo front-end now installs default signal handlers to trap common signals while
the plugin functions are run.
Version 1.4 (sudo 1.8.8)
The remote_host entry was added to the settings list.
Version 1.5 (sudo 1.8.9)
The preserve_fds entry was added to the command_info list.
Version 1.6 (sudo 1.8.11)
The behavior when an I/O logging plugin returns an error (-1) has changed. Previ-
ously, the sudo front-end took no action when the log_ttyin(), log_ttyout(),
log_stdin(), log_stdout(), or log_stderr() function returned an error.
The behavior when an I/O logging plugin returns 0 has changed. Previously, output
from the command would be displayed to the terminal even if an output logging function
returned 0.
Version 1.7 (sudo 1.8.12)
The plugin_path entry was added to the settings list.
The debug_flags entry now starts with a debug file path name and may occur multiple
times if there are multiple plugin-specific Debug lines in the sudo.conf(5) file.
Version 1.8 (sudo 1.8.15)
The sudoedit_checkdir and sudoedit_follow entries were added to the command_info list.
The default value of sudoedit_checkdir was changed to true in sudo 1.8.16.
The sudo conversation function now takes a pointer to a struct sudo_conv_callback as
its fourth argument. The sudo_conv_t definition has been updated to match. The
plugin must specify that it supports plugin API version 1.8 or higher to receive a
conversation function pointer that supports this argument.
Version 1.9 (sudo 1.8.16)
The execfd entry was added to the command_info list.
Version 1.10 (sudo 1.8.19)
The umask entry was added to the user_info list. The iolog_group, iolog_mode, and
iolog_user entries were added to the command_info list.
Version 1.11 (sudo 1.8.20)
The timeout entry was added to the settings list.
Version 1.12 (sudo 1.8.21)
The change_winsize field was added to the io_plugin struct.
Version 1.13 (sudo 1.8.26)
The log_suspend field was added to the io_plugin struct.
Version 1.14 (sudo 1.8.29)
The umask_override entry was added to the command_info list.
Version 1.15 (sudo 1.9.0)
The cwd_optional entry was added to the command_info list.
The event_alloc field was added to the policy_plugin and io_plugin structs.
The errstr argument was added to the policy and I/O plugin functions which the plugin
function can use to return an error string. This string may be used by the audit
plugin to report failure or error conditions set by the other plugins.
The close() function is now is called regardless of whether or not a command was actu-
ally executed. This makes it possible for plugins to perform cleanup even when a com-
mand was not run.
SUDO_CONV_REPL_MAX has increased from 255 to 1023 bytes.
Support for audit and approval plugins was added.
Version 1.16 (sudo 1.9.3)
Initial resource limit values were added to the user_info list.
The cmnd_chroot and cmnd_cwd enties were added to the settings list.
Version 1.17 (sudo 1.9.4)
The event_alloc field was added to the audit_plugin and approval_plugin structs.
Version 1.18 (sudo 1.9.9)
The policy may now set resource limit values in the command_info list.
SEE ALSO
sudo.conf(5), sudoers(5), sudo(8)
AUTHORS
Many people have worked on sudo over the years; this version consists of code written pri-
marily by:
Todd C. Miller
See the CONTRIBUTORS file in the sudo distribution (https://www.sudo.ws/contributors.html)
for an exhaustive list of people who have contributed to sudo.
BUGS
If you feel you have found a bug in sudo, please submit a bug report at
https://bugzilla.sudo.ws/
SUPPORT
Limited free support is available via the sudo-users mailing list, see
https://www.sudo.ws/mailman/listinfo/sudo-users to subscribe or search the archives.
DISCLAIMER
sudo is provided "AS IS" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited
to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are dis-
claimed. See the LICENSE file distributed with sudo or https://www.sudo.ws/license.html for
complete details.
Sudo 1.9.9 January 20, 2022 Sudo 1.9.9
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