The following is a description of the common types that are shared across the different schemas within Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language (OVAL). Each type is described in detail and should provide the information necessary to understand what each represents. This document is intended for developers and assumes some familiarity with XML. A high level description of the interaction between these type is not outlined here.
The OVAL Schema is maintained by The MITRE Corporation and developed by the public OVAL Community. For more information, including how to get involved in the project and how to submit change requests, please visit the OVAL website at http://oval.mitre.org.
The GeneratorType complex type defines an element that is used to hold information about when a particular OVAL document was compiled, what version of the schema was used, what tool compiled the document, and what version of that tools was used.
Additional generator information is also allowed although it is not part of the official OVAL Schema. Individual organizations can place generator information that they feel are important and these will be skipped during the validation. All OVAL really cares about is that the stated generator information is there.
Child Elements Type MinOccurs MaxOccurs product_name xsd:string 0 1 product_version xsd:string 0 1 schema_version xsd:decimal 1 1 timestamp xsd:dateTime 1 1
The MessageType complex type defines the structure for which messages are relayed from the data collection engine. Each message is a text string that has an associated level attribute identifying the type of message being sent. These messages could be error messages, warning messages, debug messages, etc. How the messages are used by tools and whether or not they are displayed to the user is up to the specific implementation. Please refer to the description of the MessageLevelEnumeration for more information about each type of message.
Attributes:
- level oval:MessageLevelEnumeration (optional -- default='info')
Simple Content xsd:string
The CheckEnumeration simple type defines acceptable check values, which are used to determine the final result of something based on the results of individual components. When used to define the relationship between objects and states, each check value defines how many of the matching objects must satisfy the given state for the test to return true. When used to define the relationship between instances of a given entity, the different check values defines how many instances must be true for the entity to return true. When used to define the relationship between entities and multiple variable values, each check value defines how many variable values must be true for the entity to return true.
Value Description all A value of 'all' means that a final result of true is given if all the individual results are true.
at least one A value of 'at least one' means that a final result of true is given if at least one of the individual results is true.
none exist A value of 'none exists' means that a test evaluates to true if no matching object exists that satisfy the data requirements.
DEPRECATED: this value has been deprecated and will be removed with the next major version of the language. One should use the other possible values in addition to the existance attributes instead of the 'none exist' value here.
none satisfy A value of 'none satisfy' means that a final result of true is given if none the individual results are true.
only one A value of 'only one' means that a final result of true is given if one and only one of the individual results are true.
Below are some tables that outline how each check attribute effects evaluation. The far left column identifies the check attribute in question. The middle column specifies the different combinations of individual results that the check attribute may bind together. (T=true, F=false, E=error, U=unknown, NE=not evaluated, NA=not applicable) For example, a 1+ under T means that one or more individual results are true, while a 0 under U means that zero individual results are unknown. The last column specifies what the final result would be according to each combination of individual results. Note that if the individual test is negated, then a true result is false and a false result is true, all other results stay as is.
|| num of individual results || check attr is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True || 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || False ALL || 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || check attr is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || True || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || False AT LEAST ONE || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || check attr is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True || 2+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || ** False ** || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || ** False ** ONLY ONE ||0,1 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error ||0,1 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown ||0,1 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || check attr is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True || 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || False NONE SATISFY || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
The DatatypeEnumeration simple type defines the legal datatypes that are used to describe the values of individual entities. A value should be interpreted according to the specified type. This is most important during comparisons. For example, is '21' less than '123'? will evaluate to true if the datatypes are 'int', but will evaluate to 'false' if the datatypes are 'string'. Another example is applying the 'equal' operation to '1.0.0.0' and '1.0'. With datatype 'string' they are not equal, with datatype 'version' they are.
Value Description binary The binary datatype is used to represent hex-encoded data that is in raw (non-printable) form. This datatype conforms to the W3C Recommendation for binary data meaning that each binary octet is encoded as a character tuple, consisting of two hexadecimal digits {[0-9a-fA-F]} representing the octet code. Expected operations within OVAL for binary values are 'equals' and 'not equal'.
boolean The boolean datatype represents standard boolean data, either true or false. This datatype conforms to the W3C Recommendation for boolean data meaning that the following literals are legal values: {true, false, 1, 0}. Expected operations within OVAL for boolean values are 'equals' and 'not equal'.
evr_string The evr_string datatype represents the epoch, version, and release fields as a single version string. It has the form "EPOCH:VERSION-RELEASE". Comparisons involving this datatype should follow the algorithm of librpm's rpmvercmp() function. Expected operations within OVAL for evr_string values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', and 'less than or equal'.
fileset_revision The fileset_revision datatype represents the version string related to filesets in HP-UX. An example would be 'A.03.61.00'. As far as implementing operations, right now there is a IP licensing issue being discussed on our ability to publicize the method to do this; however, the HP-UX team is willing to discuss how to implement this with anyone who would like to do it while we are waiting for the IP licensing issue to be resolved. Expected operations within OVAL for fileset_version values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', and 'less than or equal'.
float The float datatype describes standard float data. This datatype conforms to the W3C Recommendation for float data meaning it is patterned after the IEEE single-precision 32-bit floating point type. The format consists of a decimal followed, optionally, by the character 'E' or 'e', followed by an integer exponent. The special values positive and negative infinity and not-a-number have are represented by INF, -INF and NaN, respectively. Expected operations within OVAL for float values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', and 'less than or equal'.
ios_version The ios_version datatype describes Cisco IOS Train strings. These are in essence version strings for IOS. Please refer to Cisco's IOS Reference Guide for information on how to compare different Trains as they follow a very specific pattern. Expected operations within OVAL for ios_version values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', and 'less than or equal'.
int The int datatype describes standard integer data. This datatype conforms to the W3C Recommendation for integer data which follows the standard mathematical concept of the integer numbers. (no decimal point and infinite range) Expected operations within OVAL for int values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', 'less than or equal', 'bitwise and', and 'bitwise or'.
string The string datatype describes standard string data. This datatype conforms to the W3C Recommendation for string data. Expected operations within OVAL for string values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'case insensitive equals', 'case insensitive not equal', 'pattern match'.
version The version datatype represents a value that is a hierarchical list of non-negative integers separated by a single character delimiter. Note that any non-number character can be used as a delimiter and that different characters can be used within the same version string. So '#.#-#' is the same as '#.#.#' or '#c#c#'. Expected operations within OVAL for version values are 'equals', 'not equal', 'greater than', 'greater than or equal', 'less than', and 'less than or equal'.
For example '#.#.#' or '#-#-#-#' where the numbers to the left are more significant than the numbers to the right. When performing an 'equals' operation on a version datatype, you should first check the left most number for equality. If that fails, then the values are not equal. If it succeeds, then check the second left most number for equality. Continue checking the numbers from left to right until the last number has been checked. If, after testing all the previous numbers, the last number is equal then the two versions are equal. When performing other operations, such as 'less than', 'less than or equal', 'greater than, or 'greater than or equal', similar logic as above is used. Start with the left most number and move from left to right. For each number, check if it is less than the number you are testing against. If it is, then the version in question is less than the version you are testing against. If the number is equal, then move to check the next number to the right. For example, to test if 5.7.23 is less than or equal to 5.8.0 you first compare 5 to 5. They are equal so you move on to compare 7 to 8. 7 is less than 8 so the entire test succeeds and 5.7.23 is 'less than or equal' to 5.8.0. The difference between the 'less than' and 'less than or equal' operations is how the last number is handled. If the last number is reached, the check should use the given operation (either 'less than' and 'less than or equal') to test the number. For example, to test if 4.23.6 is greater than 4.23.6 you first compare 4 to 4. They are equal so you move on to compare 23 to 23. They are equal so you move on to compare 6 to 6. This is the last number in the version and since 6 is not greater than 6, the entire test fails and 4.23.6 is not greater than 4.23.6.
Version strings with a different number of components shall be padded with zeros to make them the same size. For example, if the version strings '1.2.3' and '6.7.8.9' are being compared, then the short one should be padded to become '1.2.3.0'.
The ExistenceEnumeration simple type defines acceptable existence values, which are used to determine a result based on the existence of individual components. The main use for this is for a test regarding the existence of objects on the system.
Value Description all_exist A value of 'all_exist' means that every object defined by the description exists on the system.
any_exist A value of 'any_exist' means that zero or more objects defined by the description exist on the system.
at_least_one_exists A value of 'at_least_one_exists' means that at least one object defined by the description exists on the system.
none_exist A value of 'none_exist' means that none of the objects defined by the description exist on the system.
only_one_exists A value of 'only_one_exists' means that only one object defined by the description exists on the system.
Below are some tables that outline how each ExistenceEnumeration value effects evaluation of a given test. Note that this is related to the existance of an object(s) and not the object(s) compliance with a state. The left column identifies the ExistenceEnumeration value in question. The middle column specifies the different combinations of individual item status values that have been found in the system characteristics file related to the given object. (EX=exists, DE=does not exist, ER=error, NC=not collected) For example, a 1+ under EX means that one or more individual item status attributes are set to exists, while a 0 under NC means that zero individual item status attributes are set to not collected. The last column specifies what the result of the existence piece would be according to each combination of individual item status values.
|| item status value count || attr value || || existence piece is || EX | DE | ER | NC || ---------------||---------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 || True || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 || False || 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || False all_exist || 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Error || 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Unknown || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Evaluated || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Applicable ---------------||---------------------------||------------------
|| item status value count || attr value || || existence piece is || EX | DE | ER | NC || ---------------||---------------------------||------------------ || 0+ | 0+ | 0 | 0+ || True || 1+ | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ || True || -- | -- | -- | -- || False any || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ || Error || -- | -- | -- | -- || Unknown || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Evaluated || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Applicable ---------------||---------------------------||------------------
|| item status value count || attr value || || existence piece is || EX | DE | ER | NC || ---------------||---------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || True || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 || False at_least_one || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ || Error || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ || Unknown || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Evaluated || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Applicable ---------------||---------------------------||------------------
|| item status value count || attr value || || existence piece is || EX | DE | ER | NC || ---------------||---------------------------||------------------ || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 0 || True || 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || False none || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ || Error || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ || Unknown || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Evaluated || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Applicable ---------------||---------------------------||------------------
|| item status value count || attr value || || existence piece is || EX | DE | ER | NC || ---------------||---------------------------||------------------ || 1 | 0+ | 0 | 0 || True || 2+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || False || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 0 || False only_one || 0,1 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ || Error || 0,1 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ || Unknown || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Evaluated || -- | -- | -- | -- || Not Applicable ---------------||---------------------------||------------------
The FamilyEnumeration simple type is a listing of families that OVAL supports at this time. Since new family values can only be added with new version of the schema, the value of 'undefined' is to be used when the desired family is not available. Note that use of the undefined family value does not target all families, rather it means that some family other than one of the defined values is targeted.
Value Description catos ios macos pixos undefined unix windows
The MessageLevelEnumeration simple type defines the different levels associated with a message. There is no specific criteria about which messages get assigned which level. This is completely arbitrary and up to the content producer to decide what is an error message and what is a debug message.
Value Description debug Debug messages should only be displayed by a tool when run in some sort of verbose mode.
error Error messages should be recorded when there was an error that did not allow the collection of specific data.
fatal A fatal message should be recorded when an error causes the failure of more than just a single piece of data.
info Info messages are used to pass useful information about the data collection to a user.
warning A warning message reports something that might not correct but information was still collected.
The OperationEnumeration simple type defines acceptable operations. Each operation defines how to compare entities against their actual values.
Value Description equals The 'equals' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is equal to the stated entity. When the specified datatype is a string, this results in a case-sensitive comparison.
not equal The 'not equal' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is not equal to the stated entity. When the specified datatype is a string, this results in a case-sensitive comparison.
case insensitive equals The 'case insensitive equals' operation is meant for string data and returns true if the actual value on the system is equal (using a case insensitive comparison) to the stated entity.
case insensitive not equal The 'case insensitive not equal' operation is meant for string data and returns true if the actual value on the system is not equal (using a case insensitive comparison) to the stated entity.
greater than The 'greater than' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is greater than the stated entity.
less than The 'less than' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is less than the stated entity.
greater than or equal The 'greater than or equal' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is greater than or equal to the stated entity.
less than or equal The 'less than or equal' operation returns true if the actual value on the system is less than or equal to the stated entity.
bitwise and The 'bitwise and' operation is used to determine if a specific bit is set. It returns true if performing a BITWISE AND with the binary representation of the stated entity against the binary representation of the actual value on the system results in a binary value that is equal to the binary representation of the stated entity. For example, assuming a datatype of 'int', if the actual integer value of the setting on your machine is 6 (same as 0110 in binary), then performing a 'bitwise and' with the stated integer 4 (0100) returns 4 (0100). Since the result is the same as the state mask, then the test returns true. If the actual value on your machine is 1 (0001), then the 'bitwise and' with the stated integer 4 (0100) returns 0 (0000). Since the result is not the same as the stated mask, then the test fails.
bitwise or The 'bitwise or' operation is used to determine if a specific bit is not set. It returns true if performing a BITWISE OR with the binary representation of the stated entity against the binary representation of the actual value on the system results in a binary value that is equal to the binary representation of the stated entity. For example, assuming a datatype of 'int', if the actual integer value of the setting on your machine is 6 (same as 0110 in binary), then performing a 'bitwise or' with the stated integer 14 (1110) returns 14 (1110). Since the result is the same as the state mask, then the test returns true. If the actual value on your machine is 1 (0001), then the 'bitwise or' with the stated integer 14 (1110) returns 15 (1111). Since the result is not the same as the stated mask, then the test fails.
pattern match The 'pattern match' operation allows an item to be tested against a regular expression. When used by an entity in an OVAL Object, the regular expression represents the set of matching objects on the system. Patterns must comply with POSIX std 1003.2-1992, Section 2.8 - 'Regular Expression Notation'. Patterns can use both Basic and Extended Regular Expression notation.
The OperatorEnumeration simple type defines acceptable operators. Each operator defines how to evaluate multiple arguments.
Value Description AND The AND operator produces a true result if every argument is true. If one or more arguments are false, the result of the AND is false. If one or more of the arguments are unknown, and if none of the arguments are false, then the AND operator produces a result of unknown.
ONE The ONE operator produces a true result if one and only one argument is true. If there are more than argument is true (or if there are no true arguements), the result of the ONE is false. If one or more of the arguments are unknown, then the ONE operator produces a result of unknown.
OR The OR operator produces a true result if one or more arguments is true. If every argument is false, the result of the OR is false. If one or more of the arguments are unknown and if none of arguments are true, then the OR operator produces a result of unknown.
XOR XOR is defined to be true if an odd number of its arguments are true, and false otherwise. If any of the arguments are unknown, then the XOR operator produces a result of unknown.
Below are some tables that outline how each operator effects evaluation. The far left column identifies the operator in question. The middle column specifies the different combinations of individual results that the operator may bind together. (T=true, F=false, E=error, U=unknown, NE=not evaluated, NA=not applicable) For example, a 1+ under T means that one or more individual results are true, while a 0 under U means that zero individual results are unknown. The last column specifies what the final result would be according to each combination of individual results. Note that if the individual test is negated, then a true result is false and a false result is true, all other results stay as is.
|| num of individual results || operator is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True || 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || False AND || 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || operator is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True || 2+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || ** False ** || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || ** False ** ONE ||0,1 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error ||0,1 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown ||0,1 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || operator is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ || 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || True || 0 | 1+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || False OR || 0 | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0 | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
|| num of individual results || operator is || || final result is || T | F | E | U | NE | NA || ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------ ||odd | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || True ||even| 0+ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+ || False XOR || 0+ | 0+ | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ | 0+ || Error || 0+ | 0+ | 0 | 1+ | 0+ | 0+ || Unknown || 0+ | 0+ | 0 | 0 | 1+ | 0+ || Not Evaluated || 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+ || Not Applicable ---------------||-----------------------------||------------------
Define the format for acceptable OVAL Definition ids. An urn format is used with the id starting with the word oval followed by a unique string, followed by the three letter code 'def', and ending with an integer.
oval:[A-Za-z0-9_\-\.]+:def:[1-9][0-9]*
Define the format for acceptable OVAL Object ids. An urn format is used with the id starting with the word oval followed by a unique string, followed by the three letter code 'obj', and ending with an integer.
oval:[A-Za-z0-9_\-\.]+:obj:[1-9][0-9]*
Define the format for acceptable OVAL State ids. An urn format is used with the id starting with the word oval followed by a unique string, followed by the three letter code 'ste', and ending with an integer.
oval:[A-Za-z0-9_\-\.]+:ste:[1-9][0-9]*
Define the format for acceptable OVAL Test ids. An urn format is used with the id starting with the word oval followed by a unique string, followed by the three letter code 'tst', and ending with an integer.
oval:[A-Za-z0-9_\-\.]+:tst:[1-9][0-9]*
Define the format for acceptable OVAL Variable ids. An urn format is used with the id starting with the word oval followed by a unique string, followed by the three letter code 'var', and ending with an integer.
oval:[A-Za-z0-9_\-\.]+:var:[1-9][0-9]*
Define the format for acceptable OVAL Item ids. The format is an integer. An item id is used to identify the different items found in an OVAL System Characteristics file.
The EmptyStringType simple type is a restriction of the built-in string simpleType. The only allowed string is the empty string with a length of zero. This type is used by certain elements to allow empty content when non-string data is accepted. See the EntityIntType in the OVAL Definition Schema for an example of its use.
The NonEmptyStringType simple type is a restriction of the built-in string simpleType. Empty strings are not allowed. This type is used by comment attributes where an empty value is not allowed.