From: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
To: "Paul Moore" <paul@paul-moore.com>,
"James Morris" <jmorris@namei.org>,
"Serge E. Hallyn" <serge@hallyn.com>,
"Stephen Smalley" <stephen.smalley.work@gmail.com>,
"Jeff Xu" <jeffxu@google.com>,
"Thiébaud Weksteen" <tweek@google.com>
Cc: Alexander Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>,
Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>, Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>,
linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org,
linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org,
Ondrej Mosnacek <omosnace@redhat.com>,
selinux@vger.kernel.org,
Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
"Liam R. Howlett" <liam@infradead.org>,
Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>,
Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@kernel.org>,
Pedro Falcato <pfalcato@suse.de>,
David Hildenbrand <david@kernel.org>,
linux-mm@kvack.org, Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v3 2/3] proc: query LSMs for introspective mem access (if PROC_MEM_FORCE_ALWAYS)
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 2026 23:00:17 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260907-selinux-pokemem-v3-2-0bafbaeafe50@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260907-selinux-pokemem-v3-0-0bafbaeafe50@google.com>
If the system is running with PROC_MEM_FORCE_ALWAYS, LSMs currently have no
good opportunity to block a process from overwriting read-only code in its
own address space through FOLL_FORCE writes via /proc/self/mem.
The security_ptrace_access_check() LSM hook is bypassed when a process
opens /proc/self/mem because this is considered "introspection".
This causes a hole in SELinux EXECMEM enforcement, which tries to ensure
that a process cannot create executable anonymous pages.
PROC_MEM_FORCE_PTRACE prevents that and ensures that such FOLL_FORCE
accesses are only possible when the LSM allows ptrace() attachment; but it
is unclear how quickly PROC_MEM_FORCE_PTRACE can be deployed in
environments running lots of third-party code, such as Android.
So, introduce a new LSM hook that can forbid FOLL_FORCE specifically for
such "introspective" accesses.
Acked-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
---
fs/proc/base.c | 14 ++++++++++++--
include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h | 1 +
include/linux/security.h | 7 +++++++
security/security.c | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
4 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/proc/base.c b/fs/proc/base.c
index bec6197329dc..295b21203c7f 100644
--- a/fs/proc/base.c
+++ b/fs/proc/base.c
@@ -851,6 +851,11 @@ static int __mem_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file, unsigned int mode)
/* private_data for proc_mem_operations */
struct mem_private {
struct mm_struct *mm;
+ /*
+ * Was the ptrace access check on open bypassed because the opener used
+ * the same MM (introspection)?
+ */
+ bool opened_by_owner;
};
static int mem_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
@@ -864,12 +869,14 @@ static int mem_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
priv->mm = proc_mem_open(inode, PTRACE_MODE_ATTACH);
if (IS_ERR_OR_NULL(priv->mm))
return priv->mm ? PTR_ERR(priv->mm) : -ESRCH;
+ priv->opened_by_owner = priv->mm == current->mm;
file->private_data = no_free_ptr(priv);
return 0;
}
static bool proc_mem_foll_force(struct file *file, struct mm_struct *mm)
{
+ struct mem_private *priv = file->private_data;
struct task_struct *task;
bool ptrace_active = false;
@@ -884,10 +891,13 @@ static bool proc_mem_foll_force(struct file *file, struct mm_struct *mm)
READ_ONCE(task->parent) == current;
put_task_struct(task);
}
- return ptrace_active;
+ if (!ptrace_active)
+ return false;
+ break;
default:
- return true;
+ break;
}
+ return security_mem_foll_force(file->f_cred, priv->opened_by_owner) == 0;
}
static ssize_t mem_rw(struct file *file, char __user *buf,
diff --git a/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h b/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
index 65c9609ec207..12f84a1e6fab 100644
--- a/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
+++ b/include/linux/lsm_hook_defs.h
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ LSM_HOOK(int, 0, binder_transfer_file, const struct cred *from,
LSM_HOOK(int, 0, ptrace_access_check, struct task_struct *child,
unsigned int mode)
LSM_HOOK(int, 0, ptrace_traceme, struct task_struct *parent)
+LSM_HOOK(int, 0, mem_foll_force, const struct cred *subject, bool opened_by_owner)
LSM_HOOK(int, 0, capget, const struct task_struct *target, kernel_cap_t *effective,
kernel_cap_t *inheritable, kernel_cap_t *permitted)
LSM_HOOK(int, 0, capset, struct cred *new, const struct cred *old,
diff --git a/include/linux/security.h b/include/linux/security.h
index 153e9043058f..e8bc2e644241 100644
--- a/include/linux/security.h
+++ b/include/linux/security.h
@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ int security_binder_transfer_file(const struct cred *from,
const struct cred *to, const struct file *file);
int security_ptrace_access_check(struct task_struct *child, unsigned int mode);
int security_ptrace_traceme(struct task_struct *parent);
+int security_mem_foll_force(const struct cred *subject, bool opened_by_owner);
int security_capget(const struct task_struct *target,
kernel_cap_t *effective,
kernel_cap_t *inheritable,
@@ -676,6 +677,12 @@ static inline int security_ptrace_traceme(struct task_struct *parent)
return cap_ptrace_traceme(parent);
}
+static inline int security_mem_foll_force(const struct cred *subject,
+ bool opened_by_owner)
+{
+ return 0;
+}
+
static inline int security_capget(const struct task_struct *target,
kernel_cap_t *effective,
kernel_cap_t *inheritable,
diff --git a/security/security.c b/security/security.c
index 71aea8fdf014..2cde1efdb7a6 100644
--- a/security/security.c
+++ b/security/security.c
@@ -595,6 +595,31 @@ int security_ptrace_traceme(struct task_struct *parent)
return call_int_hook(ptrace_traceme, parent);
}
+/**
+ * security_mem_foll_force() - Check if FOLL_FORCE is allowed
+ * @subject: credentials using which /proc/$pid/mem was opened
+ * @opened_by_owner: whether checks on open() were bypassed because the opener
+ * has the same MM as the target
+ *
+ * Check if FOLL_FORCE is allowed for accessing process memory through
+ * /proc/$pid/mem. opened_by_owner signals whether the opener's MM was the same
+ * as the target MM, meaning the security_ptrace_access_check() hook was
+ * bypassed on open().
+ * (Current current->mm does not matter for this; for example, if write() is
+ * called on an FD that was received from another process which obtained it with
+ * open("/proc/self/mem"), @opened_by_owner is still true.)
+ *
+ * Note that this hook is only designed to be useful in the opened_by_owner
+ * case, where the subject credentials effectively also describe the object.
+ *
+ * Return: Returns 0 if permission is granted.
+ */
+int security_mem_foll_force(const struct cred *subject,
+ bool opened_by_owner)
+{
+ return call_int_hook(mem_foll_force, subject, opened_by_owner);
+}
+
/**
* security_capget() - Get the capability sets for a process
* @target: target process
--
2.55.0.1003.g10538fe699-goog
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-09-07 21:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-07 21:00 [PATCH v3 0/3] proc,security,selinux: let SELinux block FOLL_FORCE for /proc/self/mem Jann Horn
2026-09-07 21:00 ` [PATCH v3 1/3] proc: refactor /proc/$pid/mem to use struct as private_data Jann Horn
2026-09-07 21:00 ` Jann Horn [this message]
2026-09-07 21:00 ` [PATCH v3 3/3] selinux: require PROCESS__PTRACE for FOLL_FORCE introspection Jann Horn
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20260907-selinux-pokemem-v3-2-0bafbaeafe50@google.com \
--to=jannh@google.com \
--cc=akpm@linux-foundation.org \
--cc=brauner@kernel.org \
--cc=david@kernel.org \
--cc=jack@suse.cz \
--cc=jeffxu@google.com \
--cc=jmorris@namei.org \
--cc=liam@infradead.org \
--cc=linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=linux-mm@kvack.org \
--cc=linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=ljs@kernel.org \
--cc=omosnace@redhat.com \
--cc=paul@paul-moore.com \
--cc=pfalcato@suse.de \
--cc=selinux@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=serge@hallyn.com \
--cc=stephen.smalley.work@gmail.com \
--cc=tweek@google.com \
--cc=vbabka@kernel.org \
--cc=viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox