From: sashiko-bot@kernel.org
Cc: "open list:SECURITY SUBSYSTEM" <linux-security-module@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] KEYS: Return user session keyring on lookup
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:16:12 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <sashiko-outbox-177855@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261019145624.309790-1-jarkko@kernel.org>
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [Critical] keys: NULL dereference in keyctl_session_to_parent() without session keyring
--
commit e79a6a32e7b5e470d5cab49936bcd7b8bfc551d1
Author: Jarkko Sakkinen <jarkko@kernel.org>
KEYS: Return user session keyring on lookup
This commit changes lookup_user_key() so that looking up
KEY_SPEC_SESSION_KEYRING without KEY_LOOKUP_CREATE returns the user session
keyring directly instead of installing it into the current task's
credentials.
> diff --git a/security/keys/process_keys.c b/security/keys/process_keys.c
> index a63c46bb2d148..a5aa056a67259 100644
> --- a/security/keys/process_keys.c
> +++ b/security/keys/process_keys.c
[ ... ]
> @@ -665,20 +640,21 @@ key_ref_t lookup_user_key(key_serial_t id, unsigned long lflags,
>
> case KEY_SPEC_SESSION_KEYRING:
> if (!ctx.cred->session_keyring) {
> - /* always install a session keyring upon access if one
> - * doesn't exist yet */
> ret = look_up_user_keyrings(NULL, &user_session);
> if (ret < 0)
> goto error;
> - if (lflags & KEY_LOOKUP_CREATE)
> +
> + if (lflags & KEY_LOOKUP_CREATE) {
> + key_put(user_session);
> ret = join_session_keyring(NULL);
> - else
> - ret = install_session_keyring(user_session);
> + if (ret < 0)
> + goto error;
> + goto reget_creds;
> + }
>
> - key_put(user_session);
> - if (ret < 0)
> - goto error;
> - goto reget_creds;
> + key = user_session;
> + key_ref = make_key_ref(key, 1);
> + break;
[Severity: Critical]
Could returning user_session here without installing it into the current
task's credentials cause a NULL pointer dereference in
keyctl_session_to_parent()?
In security/keys/keyctl.c, keyctl_session_to_parent() looks up
KEY_SPEC_SESSION_KEYRING without KEY_LOOKUP_CREATE and stores the returned
keyring in cred->session_keyring:
security/keys/keyctl.c:keyctl_session_to_parent() {
keyring_r = lookup_user_key(KEY_SPEC_SESSION_KEYRING, 0, KEY_NEED_LINK);
if (IS_ERR(keyring_r))
return PTR_ERR(keyring_r);
...
cred->session_keyring = key_ref_to_ptr(keyring_r);
...
mycred = current_cred();
pcred = __task_cred(parent);
if (mycred == pcred ||
mycred->session_keyring == pcred->session_keyring) {
ret = 0;
goto unlock;
}
...
/* the keyrings must have the same UID */
if ((pcred->session_keyring &&
!uid_eq(pcred->session_keyring->uid, mycred->euid)) ||
!uid_eq(mycred->session_keyring->uid, mycred->euid))
goto unlock;
}
Previously, lookup_user_key() installed user_session into the current
task's credentials, guaranteeing that mycred->session_keyring was non-NULL.
With this change, if a child process has no session keyring
(mycred->session_keyring is NULL) and its parent has a non-NULL
pcred->session_keyring with matching ownership, the check
mycred->session_keyring == pcred->session_keyring is false, and
!uid_eq(mycred->session_keyring->uid, mycred->euid) dereferences NULL
while holding write_lock_irq(&tasklist_lock) and rcu_read_lock().
Additionally, if both the child and the parent have session_keyring == NULL,
mycred->session_keyring == pcred->session_keyring evaluates to true (NULL ==
NULL), causing keyctl_session_to_parent() to return 0 early without
installing cred->session_keyring onto the parent.
Should keyctl_session_to_parent() check cred->session_keyring instead of
mycred->session_keyring (and avoid the mycred == pcred early exit when
mycred->session_keyring is NULL)?
> } else if (test_bit(KEY_FLAG_UID_KEYRING,
> &ctx.cred->session_keyring->flags) &&
> lflags & KEY_LOOKUP_CREATE) {
--
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20261019145624.309790-1-jarkko@kernel.org?part=1
prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-10-19 16:16 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-10-19 14:56 [PATCH v2 1/2] KEYS: Return user session keyring on lookup Jarkko Sakkinen
2026-10-19 14:56 ` [PATCH v2 2/2] KEYS: Reject keyring creation with overridden credentials Jarkko Sakkinen
2026-10-19 15:59 ` David Howells
2026-10-19 17:08 ` Jarkko Sakkinen
2026-10-19 16:18 ` sashiko-bot
2026-10-19 16:16 ` sashiko-bot [this message]
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