CS 6238 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
- Answers discretionary access control 1 of 2
owner decides who can access data does not meet need of many organizations
(information flow problem) - Answers discretionary access control 2 of 2
controlling who can gain access to data is not possible ___
can - Answers mandatory access control a of b
organization ___ control how info is shared
- Answers mandatory access control b of b
address information flow problem
- Answers mandatory access control
what should MAC do?
we have to add some meta-data (labels) that captures the nature of the info contained in the object
- Answers mandatory access control
what should MAC do?
Labels:
How sensitive?
What is the info about?
What kind of info does a user in a certain function/role needs to access?
- Answers mandatory access control
Label = (sensitivity level, compartment)
a compartment could be a SET
- Answers mandatory access control
labels can come in many different types
used to be "Who can write and who can read"
e.g. maybe a doctor can write.
labels - Answers mandatory access control
what is most important different between MAC and DAC?
A: ___, labels have diff parts, eg. (a) how sensitive info is and (b) what TOPICS does it relate to
- Answers mandatory access control
What does "comparing labels" mean?e.g. one lable can DOMINATE or be stronger than other labels.
- Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
L1 and L2
L1 = (l1,C1), L2 = (l2,C2)
C1 is a Set and C2 is a Set
- Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
when you have sets it means that ordering is ONLY PARTIAL
ordering -- partial..mustaque draws a Venn diagram with two circles to demonstrate the concept
Whne you have set you are always goig to have what;s called a PARTIAL SET
- Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
L1 = L2 iff l1 = l2 and C1=C2
contains - Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
how do we know if L1 is stronger or dominates L2?
A: L1 L2 if l1 = and C1 ___ C2 or can be written C1 C2
dominates - Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
" " is called ___
- Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
how do we know if L1 is stronger or dominates L2?
1 L1 = L2
2 L1 L2
3 L1 L2 if l1 = l2 and C1 "C" C2
4 If L1L2 and L1 not L2 and L1 not L2
then the two labels are not ordered
C1 and C2... mustaque draws (again) a Venn diagram with two circles to demonstrate the concept
partial ordering - Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
generally we are interested in Labels and a relation induced on them that defines a LATTICE (another way about the ________ (POSET) that I am talking about
least upper bound - Answers mandatory access control
comparing labels
Lattice -- poset + ___ (LUB) + greatest lower band (GLB)
ordered - Answers mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label -- (i,j)
if you look at two elements or two label values. what is the relationship bet the two?
A: neither one dominates the other. so the are not _____
lub - Answers mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label -- (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
what is upper bound?
Label -- (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(2,2) ( _________ ) Hint: Least is "UP"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
- Answers mandatory access control
so what is LUB (L1, L2)?
A: LUB (L1, L2) = L1 and LUB(L1, L2) = L2
and if there is label L3 s.t. L3 = L1 and L3 = L2
then L3 = LUB( L1, L2)
ask question what label dominates all these? that is the LEAST part.
Find me the one that has the smallest label that serves as an upper bound
lub, glb - Answers mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label -- (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
what is the greatest lower bound?
Label -- (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(2,2) ( ____________ ) Hint: Least is "UP"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,1) (__________) Hint: Least is "UP" vice versa
forward channel - Answers mandatory access control
this week is MAC, next Tuesday is an SELinux outside Guest speaker, the following Thursday mustaque will cover ______________ which is a way to get around MAC
labels - Answers mandatory access control
so if I ask you what is the difference in going from DAC to MAC?
A: ________
- Answers mandatory access control
Labels are the fundamental difference between DAC and MAC. Depending on who you are the labels can LOOK DIFFERENT, the users will be
We will first talk about concern for CONFIDENTIALLY
confidentiality - Answers mandatory access control
start with ______
MAC where Confidentiality named for the guys who designed it
Bell La Padula model
developed for a DoD conference
for this you need SECURITY CLEARANCE
classification - Answers mandatory access control
Data Labeling is hardest problem is commercial environment
People have CLEARANCES
information has __________
These can go through:
Top Secret (TS)
Secret (S)
Confidential (C)
Public or Unclassified (U)
Are these fully ordered?
TS most sensitive
I can say:
*TS S C U*
geography - Answers mandatory access control
How about compartments?
Compartments can be ________, Economic, Political info e.g.
Information is about SOMETHING
Documents contain info about different topics
need to know - Answers mandatory access control
DO compartments make sense for what user?
A: What is the nature of the information that you:
"_________"
access rules - Answers mandatory access control
we are ready to define the rule that we are going to have for MAC
strictly guided by the Confidentiality rules: 1 of 2
________ (one for read, one for write)
1 - READ - simple security requirement Subject S can read object O if label of S dominates label of O
(also called the READ DOWN RULE)
"you can't read up, you can only read down"
This says. e.g. top secret user can read everything in the system
write - Answers mandatory access control
we are ready to define the rule that we are going to have for MAC
strictly guided by the Confidentiality rules: 2 of 2
ACCESS RULES (one for read, one for write)
2 -____________ - start/confinement property - S can write O if S's label is dominated by the label of O
(also called WRITE UP RULE)
why does this make sense?
A: anyone can claim to write top secret documents
object owner - Answers mandatory access control
so before i get into details, remember two of the requirements were:
1. it is not you but who you work for. someone can mandate the way information is to be shared. it gave ALL POWER TO _________________
2. information Float. We want to prevent information float
e.g. info flow
Secret, ------------- Unclassified -- Unclassified User
Object ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Object
O1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,O2
..so we need...
e.g.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,User
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,S1
Secret, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified -- Unclasd User
Object ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Object
O1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,O2
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Secret
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Subject
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, S2
- Answers mandatory access control
e.g.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,User
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,S1
Secret, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified -- Unclasd User
Object ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Object
O1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,O2
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Secret
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Subject
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, S2
Does this address information flow?
A:
trusted user - Answers mandatory access control
a of b
declassification must be done by what is called a ____________.
TRUSTED USER = rules do not apply to you
tranquility principle - Answers mandatory access control
b of b
__________ a subject cannot change security class of an Active Object TOCTOU problem that we discussed before
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
BLP -- READ DOWN / WRITE UP
U1 ----------- U2
TS ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,unclassified
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
BLP -- READ DOWN / WRITE UP
does NOT ADDRESS INTEGRity
It is not looking a tthe content
It is looking at the LABELS
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
How can we apply this model for INTEGRITY?
A: BIBA Model
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
what kinds of rules would make sense for INTEGRITY?
integrity is a quality of information (E.g. trusted newspaper)
HIGH MED LOW -- Write Down, Read UP biba
for HIGH, the Input has to be HIGH QUALITY, Hi integrity
level - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
What if you want both Confidentiality AND Integrity?
A: Read/ Write ONLY at your __________
wrong - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
def: Trusted User - "does no ___________"
blp - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
SELinux allows you to implement _________ if you'd like to
classified - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
90% of the work at GTRI is _______
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
if a company does not need MAC then this type of control does not make sense
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
WHen MAC ------ -- LAbels
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,User,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,DATA
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Titles, Roles etc.,,,,,,,,,,,,,proprietary, public, fin, health
labels - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
MAC REQUIRES SOME KIND OF ________
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control)
Users -- have permissions
versus
Users -- Roles -- Permissions
permissions - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 2
Basic RBAC + Generalizations
Users ------- Roles --------- Permissions
,,,,,,,,,,,, Session /,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
U = set of users
R = set of Roles
P = set of __________
S = set of sessions
- Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 3
Access Control Policy -- PA and UA
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,PA C[underline] R x P
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,UA C[underline] U x R
e.g. (user, role (alice, manager)
what role does a user have in order to do what they need to do
role - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 4
What happens at execution time?
at execution time
,,,,,,user: S-- U
,,,,,,role: S-- 2^R
the point is: do not limit a session to a single ________
permissios - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 5
What are the Permissions that a certain session S has to have?
____________(S) = U,,,,,,,,,,,,,{ P | (P,r) E (PA}
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,r E Roles (s)
E = "belongs to"
| = "such that???"
so any permission that is r that belongs to S, that is a set of resources we have access to
basic - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 6
___________ RBAC = RBAC-0 (said RBAC zero)
groups - Answers mandatory access control lecture TWO
1 of 3 different POLICIES
RBAC (Role Based Access Control) part 7
Do not talk about anything unless you talk about how you want to implement it.
DId we not see something like this before
HINT: in DAC?
A: _____________!!; Groups and Roles are Related
Content preview
CS 6238 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
- Answers 20161018 discretionary access control 1 of 2
owner decides who can access data does not meet need of many organizations
(information flow problem) - Answers 20161018 discretionary access control 2 of 2
controlling who can gain access to data is not possible ___
can - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control a of b
organization ___ control how info is shared
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control b of b
address information flow problem
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
what should MAC do?
we have to add some meta-data (labels) that captures the nature of the info contained in the object
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
what should MAC do?
Labels:
How sensitive?
What is the info about?
What kind of info does a user in a certain function/role needs to access?
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
Label = (sensitivity level, compartment)
a compartment could be a SET
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
labels can come in many different types
used to be "Who can write and who can read"
e.g. maybe a doctor can write.
labels - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
what is most important different between MAC and DAC?
A: ___, labels have diff parts, eg. (a) how sensitive info is and (b) what TOPICS does it relate to
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
What does "comparing labels" mean?e.g. one lable can DOMINATE or be stronger than other labels.
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
L1 and L2
L1 = (l1,C1), L2 = (l2,C2)
C1 is a Set and C2 is a Set
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
when you have sets it means that ordering is ONLY PARTIAL
ordering --> partial..mustaque draws a Venn diagram with two circles to demonstrate the concept
Whne you have set you are always goig to have what;s called a PARTIAL SET
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
L1 = L2 iff l1 = l2 and C1=C2
contains - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
how do we know if L1 is stronger or dominates L2?
A: L1 > L2 if l1 >= and C1 ___ C2 or can be written C1 > C2
dominates - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
" > " is called ___
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
how do we know if L1 is stronger or dominates L2?
1 L1 = L2
2 L1 > L2
3 L1 < L2 if l1 <= l2 and C1 "C" C2
,4 If L1<>L2 and L1 not < L2 and L1 not > L2
then the two labels are not ordered
C1 and C2... mustaque draws (again) a Venn diagram with two circles to demonstrate the concept
partial ordering - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
generally we are interested in Labels and a relation induced on them that defines a LATTICE (another
way about the ________ (POSET) that I am talking about
least upper bound - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
comparing labels
Lattice --> poset + ___ (LUB) + greatest lower band (GLB)
ordered - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label --> (i,j)
if you look at two elements or two label values. what is the relationship bet the two?
A: neither one dominates the other. so the are not _____
lub - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label --> (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
what is upper bound?
Label --> (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(2,2) ( _________ ) Hint: Least is "UP"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
so what is LUB (L1, L2)?
A: LUB (L1, L2) >= L1 and LUB(L1, L2) >= L2
and if there is label L3 s.t. L3 >= L1 and L3 >= L2
then L3 >= LUB( L1, L2)
ask question what label dominates all these? that is the LEAST part.
Find me the one that has the smallest label that serves as an upper bound
lub, glb - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
e.g. we label it two simple integers
Label --> (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
what is the greatest lower bound?
Label --> (i,j)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(2,2) ( ____________ ) Hint: Least is "UP"
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,2),,,,,,,,,,,,(2,1)
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(1,1) (__________) Hint: Least is "UP" vice versa
forward channel - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
this week is MAC, next Tuesday is an SELinux outside Guest speaker, the following Thursday mustaque
will cover ______________ which is a way to get around MAC
labels - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
so if I ask you what is the difference in going from DAC to MAC?
A: ________
- Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
Labels are the fundamental difference between DAC and MAC. Depending on who you are the labels
can LOOK DIFFERENT, the users will be
We will first talk about concern for CONFIDENTIALLY
confidentiality - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
start with ______
MAC where Confidentiality named for the guys who designed it
Bell La Padula model
developed for a DoD conference
for this you need SECURITY CLEARANCE
classification - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
Data Labeling is hardest problem is commercial environment
, People have CLEARANCES
information has __________
These can go through:
Top Secret (TS)
Secret (S)
Confidential (C)
Public or Unclassified (U)
Are these fully ordered?
TS most sensitive
I can say:
*TS > S > C > U*
geography - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
How about compartments?
Compartments can be ________, Economic, Political info e.g.
Information is about SOMETHING
Documents contain info about different topics
need to know - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
DO compartments make sense for what user?
A: What is the nature of the information that you:
"_________"
access rules - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
we are ready to define the rule that we are going to have for MAC
strictly guided by the Confidentiality rules: 1 of 2
________ (one for read, one for write)
1 - READ - simple security requirement Subject S can read object O if label of S dominates label of O
(also called the READ DOWN RULE)
"you can't read up, you can only read down"
This says. e.g. top secret user can read everything in the system
write - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
we are ready to define the rule that we are going to have for MAC
strictly guided by the Confidentiality rules: 2 of 2
ACCESS RULES (one for read, one for write)
2 -____________ - start/confinement property - S can write O if S's label is dominated by the label of
O
(also called WRITE UP RULE)
why does this make sense?
A: anyone can claim to write top secret documents
object owner - Answers 20161018 mandatory access control
so before i get into details, remember two of the requirements were:
1. it is not you but who you work for. someone can mandate the way information is to be shared. it
gave ALL POWER TO _________________
2. information Float. We want to prevent information float
e.g. info flow
Secret, -------------> Unclassified <-- Unclassified User
Object ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Object
O1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,O2
..so we need...
e.g.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,User
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,S1
Secret, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Unclassified <-- Unclasd User
Object ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Object
O1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,O2
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Secret