GSS_EXPORT_SEC_CONTEXT(3) Programmer's Manual GSS_EXPORT_SEC_CONTEXT(3)NAMEgss_export_sec_context — Transfer a security context to another process
SYNOPSIS
#include <gssapi/gssapi.h>
OM_uint32
gss_export_sec_context(OM_uint32 *minor_status,
gss_ctx_id_t *context_handle, gss_buffer_t interprocess_token);
DESCRIPTION
Provided to support the sharing of work between multiple processes. This
routine will typically be used by the context-acceptor, in an application
where a single process receives incoming connection requests and accepts
security contexts over them, then passes the established context to one
or more other processes for message exchange. gss_export_sec_context()
deactivates the security context for the calling process and creates an
interprocess token which, when passed to gss_import_sec_context() in
another process, will re-activate the context in the second process.
Only a single instantiation of a given context may be active at any one
time; a subsequent attempt by a context exporter to access the exported
security context will fail.
The implementation may constrain the set of processes by which the inter‐
process token may be imported, either as a function of local security
policy, or as a result of implementation decisions. For example, some
implementations may constrain contexts to be passed only between pro‐
cesses that run under the same account, or which are part of the same
process group.
The interprocess token may contain security-sensitive information (for
example cryptographic keys). While mechanisms are encouraged to either
avoid placing such sensitive information within interprocess tokens, or
to encrypt the token before returning it to the application, in a typical
object-library GSS-API implementation this may not be possible. Thus the
application must take care to protect the interprocess token, and ensure
that any process to which the token is transferred is trustworthy.
If creation of the interprocess token is successful, the implementation
shall deallocate all process-wide resources associated with the security
context, and set the context_handle to GSS_C_NO_CONTEXT. In the event of
an error that makes it impossible to complete the export of the security
context, the implementation must not return an interprocess token, and
should strive to leave the security context referenced by the
context_handle parameter untouched. If this is impossible, it is permis‐
sible for the implementation to delete the security context, providing it
also sets the context_handle parameter to GSS_C_NO_CONTEXT.
PARAMETERS
minor_status Mechanism specific status code.
context_handle
Context handle identifying the context to transfer.
interprocess_token
Token to be transferred to target process. Storage associ‐
ated with this token must be freed by the application after
use with a call to gss_release_buffer().
RETURN VALUES
GSS_S_COMPLETE
Successful completion
GSS_S_CONTEXT_EXPIRED
The context has expired
GSS_S_NO_CONTEXT
The context was invalid
GSS_S_UNAVAILABLE
The operation is not supported
SEE ALSOgss_import_sec_context(3), gss_release_buffer(3)STANDARDS
RFC 2743 Generic Security Service Application Program Interface Ver‐
sion 2, Update 1
RFC 2744 Generic Security Service API Version 2 : C-bindings
HISTORY
The gss_export_sec_context function first appeared in FreeBSD 7.0.
AUTHORS
John Wray, Iris Associates
COPYRIGHT
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BSD January 26, 2010 BSD
