Re: [RFC PATCH v1 01/11] security: add LSM blob and hooks for namespaces

Christian Brauner
2026-04-10T09:35:41Z

On Thu, Apr 09, 2026 at 06:40:03PM +0200, Mickaël Salaün wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 01:31:30PM +0100, Christian Brauner wrote:
> > On Thu, Mar 12, 2026 at 11:04:34AM +0100, Mickaël Salaün wrote:
> > > From: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
> > >
> > > All namespace types now share the same ns_common infrastructure. Extend
> > > this to include a security blob so LSMs can start managing namespaces
> > > uniformly without having to add one-off hooks or security fields to
> > > every individual namespace type.
> > >
> > > Add a ns_security pointer to ns_common and the corresponding lbs_ns
> > > blob size to lsm_blob_sizes. Allocation and freeing hooks are called
> > > from the common __ns_common_init() and __ns_common_free() paths so
> > > every namespace type gets covered in one go. All information about the
> > > namespace type and the appropriate casting helpers to get at the
> > > containing namespace are available via ns_common making it
> > > straightforward for LSMs to differentiate when they need to.
> > >
> > > A namespace_install hook is called from validate_ns() during setns(2)
> > > giving LSMs a chance to enforce policy on namespace transitions.
> > >
> > > Individual namespace types can still have their own specialized security
> > > hooks when needed. This is just the common baseline that makes it easy
> > > to track and manage namespaces from the security side without requiring
> > > every namespace type to reinvent the wheel.
> > >
> > > Cc: Günther Noack <gnoack@google.com>
> > > Cc: Paul Moore <paul@paul-moore.com>
> > > Cc: Serge E. Hallyn <serge@hallyn.com>
> > > Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
> > > Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260216-work-security-namespace-v1-1-075c28758e1f@kernel.org
> > > ---
> > > include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h | 3 ++
> > > include/linux/lsm_hooks.h | 1 +
> > > include/linux/ns/ns_common_types.h | 3 ++
> > > include/linux/security.h | 20 ++++++++
> > > kernel/nscommon.c | 12 +++++
> > > kernel/nsproxy.c | 8 +++-
> > > security/lsm_init.c | 2 +
> > > security/security.c | 76 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > > 8 files changed, 124 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > >
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h b/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
> > > index 8c42b4bde09c..fefd3aa6d8f4 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
> > > @@ -260,6 +260,9 @@ LSM_HOOK(int, -ENOSYS, task_prctl, int option, unsigned long arg2,
> > > LSM_HOOK(void, LSM_RET_VOID, task_to_inode, struct task_struct *p,
> > > struct inode *inode)
> > > LSM_HOOK(int, 0, userns_create, const struct cred *cred)
> > > +LSM_HOOK(int, 0, namespace_alloc, struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +LSM_HOOK(void, LSM_RET_VOID, namespace_free, struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +LSM_HOOK(int, 0, namespace_install, const struct nsset *nsset, struct ns_common *ns)
> > > LSM_HOOK(int, 0, ipc_permission, struct kern_ipc_perm *ipcp, short flag)
> > > LSM_HOOK(void, LSM_RET_VOID, ipc_getlsmprop, struct kern_ipc_perm *ipcp,
> > > struct lsm_prop *prop)
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/lsm_hooks.h b/include/linux/lsm_hooks.h
> > > index d48bf0ad26f4..3e7afe76e86c 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/lsm_hooks.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/lsm_hooks.h
> > > @@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ struct lsm_blob_sizes {
> > > unsigned int lbs_ipc;
> > > unsigned int lbs_key;
> > > unsigned int lbs_msg_msg;
> > > + unsigned int lbs_ns;
> > > unsigned int lbs_perf_event;
> > > unsigned int lbs_task;
> > > unsigned int lbs_xattr_count; /* num xattr slots in new_xattrs array */
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/ns/ns_common_types.h b/include/linux/ns/ns_common_types.h
> > > index 0014fbc1c626..170288e2e895 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/ns/ns_common_types.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/ns/ns_common_types.h
> > > @@ -115,6 +115,9 @@ struct ns_common {
> > > struct dentry *stashed;
> > > const struct proc_ns_operations *ops;
> > > unsigned int inum;
> > > +#ifdef CONFIG_SECURITY
> > > + void *ns_security;
> > > +#endif
> > > union {
> > > struct ns_tree;
> > > struct rcu_head ns_rcu;
> > > diff --git a/include/linux/security.h b/include/linux/security.h
> > > index 83a646d72f6f..611b9098367d 100644
> > > --- a/include/linux/security.h
> > > +++ b/include/linux/security.h
> > > @@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ enum fs_value_type;
> > > struct watch;
> > > struct watch_notification;
> > > struct lsm_ctx;
> > > +struct nsset;
> > >
> > > /* Default (no) options for the capable function */
> > > #define CAP_OPT_NONE 0x0
> > > @@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ struct lsm_ctx;
> > >
> > > struct ctl_table;
> > > struct audit_krule;
> > > +struct ns_common;
> > > struct user_namespace;
> > > struct timezone;
> > >
> > > @@ -533,6 +535,9 @@ int security_task_prctl(int option, unsigned long arg2, unsigned long arg3,
> > > unsigned long arg4, unsigned long arg5);
> > > void security_task_to_inode(struct task_struct *p, struct inode *inode);
> > > int security_create_user_ns(const struct cred *cred);
> > > +int security_namespace_alloc(struct ns_common *ns);
> > > +void security_namespace_free(struct ns_common *ns);
> > > +int security_namespace_install(const struct nsset *nsset, struct ns_common *ns);
> > > int security_ipc_permission(struct kern_ipc_perm *ipcp, short flag);
> > > void security_ipc_getlsmprop(struct kern_ipc_perm *ipcp, struct lsm_prop *prop);
> > > int security_msg_msg_alloc(struct msg_msg *msg);
> > > @@ -1407,6 +1412,21 @@ static inline int security_create_user_ns(const struct cred *cred)
> > > return 0;
> > > }
> > >
> > > +static inline int security_namespace_alloc(struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +{
> > > + return 0;
> > > +}
> > > +
> > > +static inline void security_namespace_free(struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +{
> > > +}
> > > +
> > > +static inline int security_namespace_install(const struct nsset *nsset,
> > > + struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +{
> > > + return 0;
> > > +}
> > > +
> > > static inline int security_ipc_permission(struct kern_ipc_perm *ipcp,
> > > short flag)
> > > {
> > > diff --git a/kernel/nscommon.c b/kernel/nscommon.c
> > > index bdc3c86231d3..de774e374f9d 100644
> > > --- a/kernel/nscommon.c
> > > +++ b/kernel/nscommon.c
> > > @@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
> > > #include <linux/ns_common.h>
> > > #include <linux/nstree.h>
> > > #include <linux/proc_ns.h>
> > > +#include <linux/security.h>
> > > #include <linux/user_namespace.h>
> > > #include <linux/vfsdebug.h>
> > >
> > > @@ -59,6 +60,9 @@ int __ns_common_init(struct ns_common *ns, u32 ns_type, const struct proc_ns_ope
> > >
> > > refcount_set(&ns->__ns_ref, 1);
> > > ns->stashed = NULL;
> > > +#ifdef CONFIG_SECURITY
> > > + ns->ns_security = NULL;
> > > +#endif
> > > ns->ops = ops;
> > > ns->ns_id = 0;
> > > ns->ns_type = ns_type;
> > > @@ -77,6 +81,13 @@ int __ns_common_init(struct ns_common *ns, u32 ns_type, const struct proc_ns_ope
> > > ret = proc_alloc_inum(&ns->inum);
> > > if (ret)
> > > return ret;
> > > +
> > > + ret = security_namespace_alloc(ns);
> > > + if (ret) {
> > > + proc_free_inum(ns->inum);
> >
> > ret = security_namespace_alloc(ns);
> > if (ret && !inum)
> > proc_free_inum(ns->inum);
> > return ret;
> >
> >
> > > + return ret;
> > > + }
> > > +
> > > /*
> > > * Tree ref starts at 0. It's incremented when namespace enters
> > > * active use (installed in nsproxy) and decremented when all
> > > @@ -91,6 +102,7 @@ int __ns_common_init(struct ns_common *ns, u32 ns_type, const struct proc_ns_ope
> > >
> > > void __ns_common_free(struct ns_common *ns)
> > > {
> > > + security_namespace_free(ns);
> > > proc_free_inum(ns->inum);
> > > }
> > >
> > > diff --git a/kernel/nsproxy.c b/kernel/nsproxy.c
> > > index 259c4b4f1eeb..f0b30d1907e7 100644
> > > --- a/kernel/nsproxy.c
> > > +++ b/kernel/nsproxy.c
> > > @@ -379,7 +379,13 @@ static int prepare_nsset(unsigned flags, struct nsset *nsset)
> > >
> > > static inline int validate_ns(struct nsset *nsset, struct ns_common *ns)
> > > {
> > > - return ns->ops->install(nsset, ns);
> > > + int ret;
> > > +
> > > + ret = ns->ops->install(nsset, ns);
> > > + if (ret)
> > > + return ret;
> > > +
> > > + return security_namespace_install(nsset, ns);
> >
> > In my local tree I had that moved before the ->install() and I think
> > that's the correct thing to do. So please switch to that.
>
> Looks good, I'll include your fixes in the next version.

Thanks!

>
> >
> > The rest looks good to me, thanks.
>
> Another issue raised by Daniel Durning [1] is freeing of anonymous
> namespaces.
>
> I'll extend this patch with this new hunk if that's ok:
>
> diff --git a/fs/namespace.c b/fs/namespace.c
> index 854f4fc66469..f6977e59be7d 100644
> --- a/fs/namespace.c
> +++ b/fs/namespace.c
> @@ -4186,6 +4186,8 @@ static void free_mnt_ns(struct mnt_namespace *ns)
> {
> if (!is_anon_ns(ns))
> ns_common_free(ns);
> + else
> + security_namespace_free(&ns->ns);
> dec_mnt_namespaces(ns->ucounts);
> mnt_ns_tree_remove(ns);
> }

I think that's fixing it at the wrong layer. It's probably better to do
sm like:

diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/nsfs.h b/include/uapi/linux/nsfs.h
index a25e38d1c874..ea0f0267d90f 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/nsfs.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/nsfs.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ enum init_ns_ino {
MNT_NS_INIT_INO = 0xEFFFFFF8U,
#ifdef __KERNEL__
MNT_NS_ANON_INO = 0xEFFFFFF7U,
+ MNT_NS_INO_SPECIAL_MAX = MNT_NS_ANON_INO,
#endif
};

diff --git a/kernel/nscommon.c b/kernel/nscommon.c
index 3166c1fd844a..e7a3dd2189cc 100644
--- a/kernel/nscommon.c
+++ b/kernel/nscommon.c
@@ -91,7 +91,10 @@ int __ns_common_init(struct ns_common *ns, u32 ns_type, const struct proc_ns_ope

void __ns_common_free(struct ns_common *ns)
{
- proc_free_inum(ns->inum);
+ security_namespace_free(&ns->ns);
+
+ if (ns->inum > MNT_NS_INO_SPECIAL_MAX)
+ proc_free_inum(ns->inum);
}

struct ns_common *__must_check ns_owner(struct ns_common *ns)

>
> Daniel, could you please confirm that this fixes the memory leak?
>
> [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260330193100.3603-1-danieldurning.work@gmail.com/
>
>
> > > +/**
> > > + * security_namespace_free() - Release LSM security data from a namespace
> > > + * @ns: the namespace being freed
> > > + *
> > > + * Release security data attached to the namespace. Called before the
> > > + * namespace structure is freed.
> > > + *
> > > + * Note: The namespace may be freed via kfree_rcu(). LSMs must use
> > > + * RCU-safe freeing for any data that might be accessed by concurrent
> > > + * RCU readers.
> > > + */
> > > +void security_namespace_free(struct ns_common *ns)
> > > +{
> > > + if (!ns->ns_security)
> > > + return;
> > > +
> > > + call_void_hook(namespace_free, ns);
> > > +
>
> > > + kfree(ns->ns_security);
> > > + ns->ns_security = NULL;
>
> I think it would be safer to replace these two lines with:
> kfree_rcu_mightsleep(ns->ns_security)
>
> > > +}