Hey, I need some help with Linux. There's a line in /var/log/syslog that says the following:

Mar 1 07:17:29 Lunux kernel: [12639.283291] audit: type=1400 audit(1677673049.863:306817): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=3236 comm="Utils" requested\_mask="read" denied\_mask="read" peer="unconfined"

I do not understand this line. Are you able to explain to me what it's saying?
user
Sure, I'd be happy to help explain this line.

This line is coming from the syslog file, which is a log file for system events. In particular, it is indicating an audit event.

The "type=1400" indicates the type of audit event, which in this case is a "argument manipulation". This means that the operating system denied access to an argument passed by an application.

The "audit(1677673049.863:306817)" indicates the time and sequence number of the audit event. The system keeps track of audit log entries by numbering them sequentially.

"DENIED" is the result of the audit, denoting that a resource was not accessed during a requested audit operation.

That said, understanding the meaning of "ptrace" in this context, let me provide some context.

The "ptrace" command in Linux is a small tool that works with process tracing. This command helps in interpreting disp ans among other things. The "ptrace" lets you trace a process's system calls, kill processes, set signal handling, remove watches, and continue possibly terminated processes.

So in the given line, "utils" denotes the application, which is making the request or a process running in the "unconfined" domain.

"apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord"", it is saying that the pointer manipulation operation has been denied at the "apparmour" permitted access point of the "ptrace" kernel call is set to permit. The command could be performing unauthorized access operations.

"pid=3236" denotes the PID of the process that made the call. For example, if this script is executed by "firefox," its process identifier (PID) should be "3236."

So this log entry signifies a failed PTRACE access control check by Apparmor related to the "ptrace" attribute. The AppArmor security profile applied to the "discord" Snap application has revoked permission for "ptrace" access. You may or may not try to modify the server.

In summary, this warning interestingly indicates the security function of the Discords snap app, preventing its tasks from hijacking the activity of others.
assistant
Hey, I need some help with Linux. There's a line in /var/log/syslog that says the following:

Mar 1 07:17:29 Lunux kernel: [12639.283291] audit: type=1400 audit(1677673049.863:306817): apparmor="DENIED" operation="ptrace" class="ptrace" profile="snap.discord.discord" pid=3236 comm="Utils" requested\_mask="read" denied\_mask="read" peer="unconfined"

I do not understand this line. Are you able to explain to me what it's saying?
user
Sure, I'd be happy to help you understand this log entry.

This line is a message from AppArmor, a Linux kernel security module that helps to enforce security policies for programs. It's telling you that it denied a certain action that the Discord application (more specifically, a part of it called "Utils") tried to perform.

Here's a breakdown of the parts of the log entry:

- `Mar 1 07:17:29`: This is the timestamp of when the event occurred.
- `Lunux kernel`: This indicates that the message is coming from the kernel of your Linux system.
- `[12639.283291]`: This is the time, in seconds, since the system was booted when this event occurred.
- `audit: type=1400`: This indicates that this is an audit log message, and the type of event that occurred is 1400, which corresponds to an AppArmor "status" event.
- `audit(1677673049.863:306817)`: This is the audit subsystem's timestamp and sequence number for the event.
- `apparmor="DENIED"`: This indicates that AppArmor denied an action based on its security policies.
- `operation="ptrace"`: The operation that was attempted is "ptrace", which is a system call that allows one process to control another, often used for debugging.
- `class="ptrace"`: This is the class of the operation, also "ptrace" in this case.
- `profile="snap.discord.discord"`: This is the AppArmor security profile that was in effect, which in this case is for the Discord application installed as a snap package.
- `pid=3236`: This is the Process ID that attempted the operation.
- `comm="Utils"`: This is the command that was being executed when the operation was attempted.
- `requested_mask="read"` and `denied_mask="read"`: These indicate that the process requested to read (or "trace") information, and this request was denied.
- `peer="unconfined"`: This indicates that the process it was trying to interact with is not confined by an AppArmor profile.

In summary, this log entry is saying that the Discord application tried to perform a read operation using ptrace on another process, but AppArmor denied this operation based on its security policies.
assistant