An in-depth interpretation of the plus sign and dot in the permission column in Linux

1. Summary

In Linux, the ls -l command is the most commonly used. The first column in the command display result is also where we are more concerned. Generally speaking, the characters indicating permissions occupy 10 positions. However, we often see content displayed at the eleventh position in this column. The most common one is the dot (.), and the plus sign (+) will also appear in this position. What is this? What's going on? Let's try it out with our own hands, shall we?

2. Regarding the dot (.) in the permission column

2.1 Let’s take a look at the root directory.

[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ /
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0 bin -> usr/bin
dr-xr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:boot_t:s0 boot
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:device_t:s0 dev
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:etc_t:s0 etc
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:home_root_t:s0 home
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:lib_t:s0 lib -> usr/lib
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:lib_t:s0 lib64 -> usr/lib64
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:mnt_t:s0 media
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:mnt_t:s0 mnt
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 opt
dr-xr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:proc_t:s0 proc
dr-xr-x---. root root system_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 root
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:var_run_t:s0 run
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0 sbin -> usr/sbin
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:var_t:s0 srv
dr-xr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:sysfs_t:s0 sys
drwxrwxrwt. root root system_u:object_r:tmp_t:s0 tmp
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 usr
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:var_t:s0 var

2.2 Create a file and a directory in the HOME directory respectively, and observe the details of the eleventh position of the permissions.

[root@DCGH ~]# touch DCGH
[root@DCGH ~]# mkdir DCGH-DIR
[root@DCGH ~]# ls -l
总用量 0
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 0 3月 28 10:23 DCGH
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 6 3月 28 10:24 DCGH-DIR

2.3 Check the SELinux status of this machine and list the basic information about SELinux in the files and directories in this directory.

[root@DCGH ~]# getenforce
Enforcing
[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ
-rw-r--r--. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH
drwxr-xr-x. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH-DIR

2.4 Close SELinux, create experimental files and directories again, and list the basic information about SELinux in this directory and the files and directories under the root again.

[root@DCGH ~]# sed -i "s/SELINUX=enforcing/SELINUX=disabled/g" /etc/selinux/config
[root@DCGH ~]# reboot
[root@DCGH ~]# getenforce
Disabled
[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ
-rw-r--r--. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH
drwxr-xr-x. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH-DIR
[root@DCGH ~]# touch DCGH-later
[root@DCGH ~]# mkdir DCGH-later-dir
[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ
-rw-r--r--. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH
drwxr-xr-x. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH-DIR
-rw-r--r-- root root ? DCGH-later
drwxr-xr-x root root ? DCGH-later-dir
[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ /
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0 bin -> usr/bin
dr-xr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:boot_t:s0 boot
drwxr-xr-x root root ? dev
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:etc_t:s0 etc
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:home_root_t:s0 home
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:lib_t:s0 lib -> usr/lib
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:lib_t:s0 lib64 -> usr/lib64
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:mnt_t:s0 media
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:mnt_t:s0 mnt
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 opt
dr-xr-xr-x root root ? proc
dr-xr-x---. root root system_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 root
drwxr-xr-x root root ? run
lrwxrwxrwx. root root system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0 sbin -> usr/sbin
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:var_t:s0 srv
dr-xr-xr-x root root ? sys
drwxrwxrwt. root root system_u:object_r:tmp_t:s0 tmp
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:usr_t:s0 usr
drwxr-xr-x. root root system_u:object_r:var_t:s0 var

Through the above example, we can see that this point (.) is not useless, but it has a huge effect, and we usually don’t pay much attention to it. Files and directories created after SELinux is turned on will show this dot in the permission column. Files and directories created after SELinux is turned off will not show this dot in the permission column. Files or directories created before will remain unchanged.

3. Regarding the plus sign (+) in the permission column

3.1 Friends who have learned about ACL permission settings in Linux must be familiar with this plus sign. But let us verify it through experiments.

[root@DCGH ~]# setfacl -m u:dcgh:rwx *

[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ

-rw-rwxr--+ root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH

drwxrwxr-x+ root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH-DIR

drwxrwxr-x+ root root ? DCGH-DIR-later -rw-rwxr--+ root root ? DCGH-later

[root@DCGH ~]# setfacl -b *

[root@DCGH ~]# ls -lZ

-rw-r--r--. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH

drwxr-xr-x. root root unconfined_u:object_r:admin_home_t:s0 DCGH-DIR

drwxr-xr-x root root ? DCGH-DIR-later -rw-r--r-- root root ? DCGH-later

We can see that after adding ACL permission control, the last position of the permission column of files and directories that previously had SELinux attributes has changed to a plus sign (+). After removing the original ACL permissions, restore them to their original state.

4. Summary

4.1 The dots in the Linux permission column are not meaningless characters. Directories and files created when SELinux is turned on have this point. This point in the permissions column indicates that the directory or file has SELinux-related permissions set. After disabling SELinux permissions, it is inconvenient for files or directories created when SELinux permissions were previously enabled to retain their original permissions, and the dots in the permissions column are still displayed. Newly created directories or files do not have this dot displayed in the permissions column.

4.2 If the last position in the permission column is a plus sign, it means that this directory or file has already set ACL permission related content. If the plus sign exists, the display of dots for directories or files that already have dots will be overwritten, but the original SELinux attributes remain unchanged.

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