Yes writing policy for shorewall would be preferable.

For not the easiest thing for you do do is setup labeling on this directory that allows iptables to write to the directory

# semanage fcontext -a -t iptables_var_run_t '/var/lib/shorewall(/.*)?'
# restorecon -R -v /var/lib/shorewall

(In reply to comment #1)
> Yes writing policy for shorewall would be preferable.
> 

Should this be done in the selinux-policy package, or the shorewall package? I presume the former, otherwise I would be creating an SElinux policy module for iptables in the shorewall package, which seems a bit odd.

> For not the easiest thing for you do do is setup labeling on this directory
> that allows iptables to write to the directory
> 
> # semanage fcontext -a -t iptables_var_run_t '/var/lib/shorewall(/.*)?'
> # restorecon -R -v /var/lib/shorewall

ok, thanks.

(In reply to comment #1)
> For not the easiest thing for you do do is setup labeling on this directory
> that allows iptables to write to the directory
> 
> # semanage fcontext -a -t iptables_var_run_t '/var/lib/shorewall(/.*)?'
> # restorecon -R -v /var/lib/shorewall

Actually, even after doing that I still get AVC denial on running /sbin/shorewall save as seen below.


Summary:

SELinux is preventing iptables (iptables_t) "write" to /var/lib/shorewall/save
(var_lib_t).

Detailed Description:

SELinux is preventing iptables (iptables_t) "write" to /var/lib/shorewall/save
(var_lib_t). The SELinux type var_lib_t, is a generic type for all files in the
directory and very few processes (SELinux Domains) are allowed to write to this
SELinux type. This type of denial usual indicates a mislabeled file. By default
a file created in a directory has the gets the context of the parent directory,
but SELinux policy has rules about the creation of directories, that say if a
process running in one SELinux Domain (D1) creates a file in a directory with a
particular SELinux File Context (F1) the file gets a different File Context
(F2). The policy usually allows the SELinux Domain (D1) the ability to write,
unlink, and append on (F2). But if for some reason a file
(/var/lib/shorewall/save) was created with the wrong context, this domain will
be denied. The usual solution to this problem is to reset the file context on
the target file, restorecon -v '/var/lib/shorewall/save'. If the file context
does not change from var_lib_t, then this is probably a bug in policy. Please
file a bug report (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi) against
the selinux-policy package. If it does change, you can try your application
again to see if it works. The file context could have been mislabeled by editing
the file or moving the file from a different directory, if the file keeps
getting mislabeled, check the init scripts to see if they are doing something to
mislabel the file.

Allowing Access:

You can attempt to fix file context by executing restorecon -v
'/var/lib/shorewall/save'

Fix Command:

restorecon '/var/lib/shorewall/save'

Additional Information:

Source Context                unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c102
                              3
Target Context                unconfined_u:object_r:var_lib_t:s0
Target Objects                /var/lib/shorewall/save [ file ]
Source                        iptables
Source Path                   /sbin/iptables
Port                          <Unknown>
Host                          withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
Source RPM Packages           iptables-1.4.1.1-2.fc9
Target RPM Packages           
Policy RPM                    selinux-policy-3.3.1-107.fc9
Selinux Enabled               True
Policy Type                   targeted
MLS Enabled                   True
Enforcing Mode                Enforcing
Plugin Name                   mislabeled_file
Host Name                     withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
Platform                      Linux withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
                              2.6.27.5-41.fc9.x86_64 #1 SMP Thu Nov 13 20:29:07
                              EST 2008 x86_64 x86_64
Alert Count                   1
First Seen                    Mon 24 Nov 2008 02:05:29 PM GMT
Last Seen                     Mon 24 Nov 2008 02:05:29 PM GMT
Local ID                      71ba3b4a-d9cd-4ca3-80fa-2bfff6179ec5
Line Numbers                  

Raw Audit Messages            

host=withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk type=AVC msg=audit(1227535529.897:450): avc:  denied  { write } for  pid=5208 comm="iptables" path="/var/lib/shorewall/save" dev=dm-0 ino=157464 scontext=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 tcontext=unconfined_u:object_r:var_lib_t:s0 tclass=file

host=withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1227535529.897:450): arch=c000003e syscall=59 success=yes exit=0 a0=16c8e50 a1=15c6950 a2=16d0150 a3=0 items=0 ppid=5196 pid=5208 auid=500 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts1 ses=56 comm="iptables" exe="/sbin/iptables" subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 key=(null)

Oops, I pasted the wrong AVC in comment #3. On running

# semanage fcontext -a -t iptables_var_run_t '/var/lib/shorewall(/.*)?'
# restorecon -R -v /var/lib/shorewall

and then doing /sbin/shorewall save I get:


Summary:

SELinux is preventing iptables (iptables_t) "write" to /var/lib/shorewall/save
(iptables_var_run_t).

Detailed Description:

SELinux denied access requested by iptables. It is not expected that this access
is required by iptables and this access may signal an intrusion attempt. It is
also possible that the specific version or configuration of the application is
causing it to require additional access.

Allowing Access:

Sometimes labeling problems can cause SELinux denials. You could try to restore
the default system file context for /var/lib/shorewall/save,

restorecon -v '/var/lib/shorewall/save'

If this does not work, there is currently no automatic way to allow this access.
Instead, you can generate a local policy module to allow this access - see FAQ
(http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/selinux-faq-fc5/#id2961385) Or you can disable
SELinux protection altogether. Disabling SELinux protection is not recommended.
Please file a bug report (http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/enter_bug.cgi)
against this package.

Additional Information:

Source Context                unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c102
                              3
Target Context                system_u:object_r:iptables_var_run_t:s0
Target Objects                /var/lib/shorewall/save [ file ]
Source                        iptables
Source Path                   /sbin/iptables
Port                          <Unknown>
Host                          withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
Source RPM Packages           iptables-1.4.1.1-2.fc9
Target RPM Packages           
Policy RPM                    selinux-policy-3.3.1-107.fc9
Selinux Enabled               True
Policy Type                   targeted
MLS Enabled                   True
Enforcing Mode                Enforcing
Plugin Name                   catchall_file
Host Name                     withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
Platform                      Linux withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk
                              2.6.27.5-41.fc9.x86_64 #1 SMP Thu Nov 13 20:29:07
                              EST 2008 x86_64 x86_64
Alert Count                   1
First Seen                    Mon 24 Nov 2008 03:25:49 PM GMT
Last Seen                     Mon 24 Nov 2008 03:25:49 PM GMT
Local ID                      5dd500f8-ce7e-46dc-958a-355279ccde15
Line Numbers                  

Raw Audit Messages            

host=withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk type=AVC msg=audit(1227540349.434:474): avc:  denied  { write } for  pid=6831 comm="iptables" path="/var/lib/shorewall/save" dev=dm-0 ino=157464 scontext=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 tcontext=system_u:object_r:iptables_var_run_t:s0 tclass=file

host=withnail.phys.ucl.ac.uk type=SYSCALL msg=audit(1227540349.434:474): arch=c000003e syscall=59 success=yes exit=0 a0=1b1be50 a1=1a19950 a2=1b23150 a3=0 items=0 ppid=6819 pid=6831 auid=500 uid=0 gid=0 euid=0 suid=0 fsuid=0 egid=0 sgid=0 fsgid=0 tty=pts1 ses=56 comm="iptables" exe="/sbin/iptables" subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:iptables_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 key=(null)

Well that is a bug.

You can add these rules for now using

# grep avc /var/log/audit/audit.log | audit2allow -M mypol
# semodule -i mypol.pp

Fixed iptables being able to write iptables_var_run_t selinux-policy-3.3.1-114.fc9

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