From: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
To: linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Alexander Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>,
Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>, Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>,
"Christian Brauner (Amutable)" <brauner@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH RFC v4 02/25] fs: notice when init abandons fs sharing
Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2026 15:56:35 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260601-work-kthread-nullfs-v4-2-77ee053060e0@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260601-work-kthread-nullfs-v4-0-77ee053060e0@kernel.org>
PID 1 may choose to stop sharing fs_struct state with us. Either via
unshare(CLONE_FS) or unshare(CLONE_NEWNS). Of course, PID 1 could have
chosen to create arbitrary process trees that all share fs_struct state
via CLONE_FS. This is a strong statement: We only care about PID 1 aka
the thread-group leader so subthread's fs_struct state doesn't matter.
PID 1 unsharing fs_struct state is a bug. PID 1 relies on various
kthreads to be able to perform work based on its fs_struct state.
Breaking that contract sucks for both sides. So just don't bother with
extra work for this. No sane init system should ever do this.
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>
---
fs/fs_struct.c | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 25 insertions(+)
diff --git a/fs/fs_struct.c b/fs/fs_struct.c
index c441586537e7..fcecf209f1a9 100644
--- a/fs/fs_struct.c
+++ b/fs/fs_struct.c
@@ -147,6 +147,30 @@ int unshare_fs_struct(void)
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(unshare_fs_struct);
+/*
+ * PID 1 may choose to stop sharing fs_struct state with us.
+ * Either via unshare(CLONE_FS) or unshare(CLONE_NEWNS). Of
+ * course, PID 1 could have chosen to create arbitrary process
+ * trees that all share fs_struct state via CLONE_FS. This is a
+ * strong statement: We only care about PID 1 aka the thread-group
+ * leader so subthread's fs_struct state doesn't matter.
+ *
+ * PID 1 unsharing fs_struct state is a bug. PID 1 relies on
+ * various kthreads to be able to perform work based on its
+ * fs_struct state. Breaking that contract sucks for both sides.
+ * So just don't bother with extra work for this. No sane init
+ * system should ever do this.
+ */
+static inline void validate_fs_switch(struct fs_struct *old_fs)
+{
+ if (likely(current->pid != 1))
+ return;
+ /* @old_fs may be dangling but for comparison it's fine */
+ if (old_fs != &init_fs)
+ return;
+ pr_warn("VFS: Pid 1 stopped sharing filesystem state\n");
+}
+
struct fs_struct *switch_fs_struct(struct fs_struct *new_fs)
{
struct fs_struct *fs;
@@ -162,6 +186,7 @@ struct fs_struct *switch_fs_struct(struct fs_struct *new_fs)
read_sequnlock_excl(&fs->seq);
}
+ validate_fs_switch(fs);
return new_fs;
}
--
2.47.3
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-06-01 13:57 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 28+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-06-01 13:56 [PATCH RFC v4 00/25] fs,kthread: start all kthreads in nullfs Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 01/25] fs: add switch_fs_struct() Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` Christian Brauner [this message]
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 03/25] fs: add scoped_with_init_fs() Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 04/25] fs: add real_fs to track task's actual fs_struct Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 05/25] fs: make userspace_init_fs a dynamically-initialized pointer Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 06/25] rnbd: use scoped_with_init_fs() for block device open Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 07/25] crypto: ccp: use scoped_with_init_fs() for SEV file access Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 08/25] scsi: target: use scoped_with_init_fs() for ALUA metadata Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 09/25] scsi: target: use scoped_with_init_fs() for APTPL metadata Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 10/25] btrfs: use scoped_with_init_fs() for update_dev_time() Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 11/25] coredump: use scoped_with_init_fs() for coredump path resolution Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 12/25] fs: use scoped_with_init_fs() for kernel_read_file_from_path_initns() Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 13/25] ksmbd: use scoped_with_init_fs() for share path resolution Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 14/25] ksmbd: use scoped_with_init_fs() for filesystem info path lookup Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 15/25] ksmbd: use scoped_with_init_fs() for VFS path operations Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 16/25] pnfs/blocklayout: use scoped_with_init_fs() for SCSI device lookup Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 17/25] initramfs: use scoped_with_init_fs() for rootfs unpacking Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 18/25] af_unix: use scoped_with_init_fs() for coredump socket lookup Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 19/25] fs: stop sharing fs_struct between init_task and pid 1 Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 20/25] fs: add umh argument to struct kernel_clone_args Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 21/25] devtmpfs: create private mount namespace Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 22/25] nullfs: make nullfs multi-instance Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 23/25] fs: start all kthreads in nullfs Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 24/25] fs: stop rewriting kthread fs structs Christian Brauner
2026-06-01 13:56 ` [PATCH RFC v4 25/25] fs: stop rewriting paths for PF_EXITING | PF_DUMPCORE Christian Brauner
2026-07-05 12:34 ` [PATCH RFC v4 00/25] fs,kthread: start all kthreads in nullfs Askar Safin
2026-07-05 12:57 ` Askar Safin
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