From: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
To: Paul Moore <paul@paul-moore.com>,
Serge Hallyn <sergeh@kernel.org>,
Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>,
Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>,
Shuah Khan <skhan@linuxfoundation.org>,
Alex Shi <alexs@kernel.org>, Yanteng Si <si.yanteng@linux.dev>,
Dongliang Mu <dzm91@hust.edu.cn>
Cc: "Miguel Ojeda" <ojeda@kernel.org>,
"Boqun Feng" <boqun@kernel.org>, "Gary Guo" <gary@garyguo.net>,
"Björn Roy Baron" <bjorn3_gh@protonmail.com>,
"Benno Lossin" <lossin@kernel.org>,
"Andreas Hindborg" <a.hindborg@kernel.org>,
"Trevor Gross" <tmgross@umich.edu>,
"Danilo Krummrich" <dakr@kernel.org>,
"Jann Horn" <jannh@google.com>,
linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, rust-for-linux@vger.kernel.org,
"Alice Ryhl" <aliceryhl@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v4 1/2] rust: task: clarify comments on task UID accessors
Date: Fri, 29 May 2026 09:33:01 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260529-remove-task-euid-v4-1-07cbdf3af980@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260529-remove-task-euid-v4-0-07cbdf3af980@google.com>
From: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Linux has separate subjective and objective task credentials, see the
comment above `struct cred`. Clarify which accessor functions operate on
which set of credentials.
Also document that Task::euid() is a very weird operation. You can see how
weird it is by grepping for task_euid() - binder is its only user.
Task::euid() obtains the objective effective UID - it looks at the
credentials of the task for purposes of acting on it as an object, but then
accesses the effective UID (which the credentials.7 man page describes as
"[...] used by the kernel to determine the permissions that the process
will have when accessing shared resources [...]").
For context:
Arguably, binder's use of task_euid() is a theoretical security problem,
which only has no impact on Android because Android has no setuid binaries
executable by apps.
commit 29bc22ac5e5b ("binder: use euid from cred instead of using task")
fixed that by removing that only user of task_euid(), but the fix got
reverted in commit c21a80ca0684 ("binder: fix test regression due to
sender_euid change") because some Android test started failing.
Signed-off-by: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
---
Originally sent as:
https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260212-rust-uid-v1-1-deff4214c766@google.com
---
rust/kernel/task.rs | 9 ++++++---
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/rust/kernel/task.rs b/rust/kernel/task.rs
index 38273f4eedb5..eabd65bfde12 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/task.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/task.rs
@@ -210,14 +210,17 @@ pub fn pid(&self) -> Pid {
unsafe { *ptr::addr_of!((*self.as_ptr()).pid) }
}
- /// Returns the UID of the given task.
+ /// Returns the objective real UID of the given task.
#[inline]
pub fn uid(&self) -> Kuid {
// SAFETY: It's always safe to call `task_uid` on a valid task.
Kuid::from_raw(unsafe { bindings::task_uid(self.as_ptr()) })
}
- /// Returns the effective UID of the given task.
+ /// Returns the objective effective UID of the given task.
+ ///
+ /// You should probably not be using this; the effective UID is normally
+ /// only relevant in subjective credentials.
#[inline]
pub fn euid(&self) -> Kuid {
// SAFETY: It's always safe to call `task_euid` on a valid task.
@@ -371,7 +374,7 @@ fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
impl Eq for Task {}
impl Kuid {
- /// Get the current euid.
+ /// Get the current subjective effective UID.
#[inline]
pub fn current_euid() -> Kuid {
// SAFETY: Just an FFI call.
--
2.54.0.823.g6e5bcc1fc9-goog
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-05-29 9:33 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-05-29 9:33 [PATCH v4 0/2] Delete task_euid() Alice Ryhl
2026-05-29 9:33 ` Alice Ryhl [this message]
2026-05-29 12:17 ` [PATCH v4 1/2] rust: task: clarify comments on task UID accessors Gary Guo
2026-05-29 9:33 ` [PATCH v4 2/2] cred: delete task_euid() Alice Ryhl
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