Landlock: LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV bypass via io_uring IORING_OP_URING_CMD

Landlock: LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV bypass via io_uring IORING_OP_URING_CMD

[Bryam Vargas]

Hello Mickaël, and Landlock / io_uring folks,

A task confined by a Landlock ruleset that grants READ_FILE/WRITE_FILE on a block
or NVMe character device but withholds LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV can still
reach the device-command surface through io_uring IORING_OP_URING_CMD with the
IOCTL_DEV check bypassed: the request enters the device-command handler (block
discard, or the NVMe char-device passthrough) where the equivalent ioctl(2) is
denied. The destructive completion and the NVMe-admin surface follow from the
code -- see Impact.

Affected
--------
Any kernel with CONFIG_SECURITY_LANDLOCK=y and Landlock enabled that supports
LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV (Landlock ABI >= 5, since Linux 6.8) and io_uring
uring_cmd for the device class (block BLOCK_URING_CMD_DISCARD; NVMe passthrough).
Confirmed by source inspection on mainline (v7.1-rc7) and reproduced on Linux
7.0.11 (Landlock ABI 8). The confined task needs a writable fd to a device it is
legitimately allowed to use (e.g. a partition/loop device or an NVMe namespace
passed into a container or granted by the ruleset); no CAP is required to reach
the io_uring path. The gap is structural -- Landlock has never registered a
uring_cmd hook -- so it is present from ABI 5 (Linux 6.8) through current
mainline (v7.1-rc7) and is not a regression tied to a single Fixes: commit.

Root cause
----------
On the ioctl(2) path, the syscall handler in fs/ioctl.c calls
security_file_ioctl() (its only call site on the ioctl(2) path) before
dispatching to do_vfs_ioctl(); that reaches Landlock hook_file_ioctl_common(),
which denies a device ioctl unless the file's
allowed_access holds LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV (BLKDISCARD/BLKSECDISCARD/
BLKZEROOUT and NVMe passthrough are not in the is_masked_device_ioctl()
allow-list, so they require the right).

io_uring reaches the same device-command surface by a different producer:

  IORING_OP_URING_CMD -> io_uring_cmd()   io_uring/uring_cmd.c
   -> security_uring_cmd(ioucmd)          (the ONLY LSM gate on this path)
   -> file->f_op->uring_cmd()             e.g. blkdev_uring_cmd() / nvme_ns_chr_uring_cmd()

Landlock's LSM_HOOK_INIT list (security/landlock/fs.c, net.c, task.c) registers
file_ioctl/file_ioctl_compat but no uring_cmd hook -- only SELinux
(selinux_uring_cmd) and Smack (smack_uring_cmd) gate this surface -- so
security_uring_cmd() returns 0 for a Landlocked task and hook_file_ioctl /
IOCTL_DEV is never consulted. For block, blkdev_cmd_discard() is then gated only
by BLK_OPEN_WRITE; for NVMe, nvme_ns_chr_uring_cmd() reaches the admin/IO
passthrough with no security_file_ioctl on the path. There is no shared helper
that re-applies the IOCTL_DEV check.

SELinux and Smack hooking uring_cmd while Landlock does not is the coverage
asymmetry; the Landlock documentation describes IOCTL_DEV as gating ioctl(2) but
does not mention io_uring.

Reproducer
----------
A self-contained PoC is available on request (it needs root only to set up a loop
block device and open it; Landlock enforcement is uid-independent, so the
confined child demonstrates the gap regardless of the setup uid). The child
applies a Landlock ruleset handling READ_FILE|WRITE_FILE|IOCTL_DEV with a rule
granting only READ_FILE|WRITE_FILE on the device, then:

  (1) ioctl(fd, BLKDISCARD, range)        -> -EACCES  (Landlock enforces IOCTL_DEV)
  (2) IORING_OP_URING_CMD,
      cmd_op = BLOCK_URING_CMD_DISCARD     -> reaches the block command handler

Observed on Linux 7.0.11 (Landlock ABI 8):

  [1] ioctl(BLKDISCARD)   -> ret=-1 errno=13 (Permission denied)
  [2] uring_cmd(DISCARD)  -> cqe.res=-22 (Invalid argument)

A Landlock denial is always -EACCES; the io_uring path returned -EINVAL, which
originates in a post-authorization check inside the block command handler
(blk_validate_byte_range() in blkdev_cmd_discard()), reached only after
security_uring_cmd() returned 0. So this run demonstrates the authorization
bypass -- the request traversed the LSM gate into the block device-command
handler with no IOCTL_DEV check -- and then failed a parameter check, not an
authorization check. The destructive completion (an authorized discard with a
granularity-aligned range) is the expected behaviour but was not exercised in
this run.

Impact
------
Demonstrated: the LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV authorization is bypassed. The
device-command request reaches the block command handler with no Landlock check;
the only remaining gate is BLK_OPEN_WRITE (held, since the policy granted write).
Inferred from the code, not exercised here: an authorized DISCARD with a valid
range completes (DISCARD/secure-erase semantics, destroying on-device data), and
the same missing hook leaves the NVMe char-device uring_cmd surface ungated --
nvme_ns_chr_uring_cmd (namespace device /dev/nvmeXnY) -> nvme_ns_uring_cmd for
NVME_URING_CMD_IO/IO_VEC passthrough, and nvme_dev_uring_cmd (controller device
/dev/nvmeX) for NVME_URING_CMD_ADMIN (format, sanitize, firmware download,
security send) -- both reach f_op->uring_cmd with no Landlock/IOCTL_DEV gate.

So the confirmed finding is a missing authorization (the confined task escapes
its own IOCTL_DEV restriction); the destructive data effect and the NVMe-admin
high-water-mark follow from the code but are not shown in the run above. The
proven authorization bypass alone scores CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
(6.5 Medium) -- S:C because the confined task crosses the Landlock policy
boundary it was placed under, I:H because the bypassed path reaches a handler
whose authorized completion modifies device data. With the device command
completing destructively the projected ceiling is
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H (8.4 High), the A:H component
reasoned from the source rather than executed. No memory safety is involved.

Suggested direction
-------------------
Have Landlock register a uring_cmd hook that maps the device command to the same
checks the ioctl path applies (IOCTL_DEV, and truncate where relevant), so a
single chokepoint covers every f_op->uring_cmd provider (block, NVMe, ublk, and
any future one). Mirrors how SELinux/Smack already gate this surface.

I am happy to send a patch for this if you would like.

Best regards,

Bryam Vargas
Independent security researcher, HEXLAB S.A.S., Cali, Colombia
hexlabsecurity@proton.me

Re: Landlock: LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV bypass via io_uring IORING_OP_URING_CMD

[Jens Axboe]

On 6/16/26 2:16 PM, Bryam Vargas wrote:
> Hello Micka?l, and Landlock / io_uring folks,
> 
> A task confined by a Landlock ruleset that grants READ_FILE/WRITE_FILE
> on a block or NVMe character device but withholds
> LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_IOCTL_DEV can still reach the device-command
> surface through io_uring IORING_OP_URING_CMD with the IOCTL_DEV check
> bypassed: the request enters the device-command handler (block
> discard, or the NVMe char-device passthrough) where the equivalent
> ioctl(2) is denied. The destructive completion and the NVMe-admin
> surface follow from the code -- see Impact.

I've said this before, but apparently it hasn't been received - this
isn't an io_uring issue. If landlock is missing a hook, then that's on
landlock and they should add it. Other security handlers already have
that. Hence no need to broadcast this to a bunch of lists, it's strictly
a landlock issue.

-- 
Jens Axboe