From: Xiao Liang <shaw.leon@gmail.com>
To: util-linux@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>
Subject: [PATCH] nsenter: Support specifying namespace by ID
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2026 11:23:42 +0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260214032345.32457-1-shaw.leon@gmail.com> (raw)
Linux kernel v6.19 introduces listns() syscall that lists namespace IDs,
as well as the support for opening an nsfile by a file_handle of ns ID.
This patch allows specifying namespaces by ID for nsenter. For example:
# nsenter --net=:7
enters init net namespace (7 for NET_NS_INIT_ID).
In the rare case that a ns file name starts with a colon, prepend "./"
for disambiguation.
Signed-off-by: Xiao Liang <shaw.leon@gmail.com>
---
configure.ac | 4 ++
meson.build | 3 ++
sys-utils/nsenter.1.adoc | 34 +++++++------
sys-utils/nsenter.c | 104 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
4 files changed, 119 insertions(+), 26 deletions(-)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 912aa85d0..a0c8d0752 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1052,6 +1052,10 @@ char *c = crypt("abc","pw");
])
AM_CONDITIONAL([HAVE_LIBCRYPT], [test "x$have_libcrypt" = xyes])
+AC_CHECK_TYPES([struct nsfs_file_handle], [], [], [[
+#include <linux/nsfs.h>
+]])
+
AC_ARG_WITH([selinux],
AS_HELP_STRING([--with-selinux], [compile with SELinux support]),
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 1f4a5babb..5b8d03270 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -915,6 +915,9 @@ conf.set('USE_COLORS_BY_DEFAULT', get_option('colors-default') ? 1 : false)
is_glibc = cc.has_header_symbol('limits.h', '__GLIBC__')
+have = cc.has_type('struct nsfs_file_handle', prefix : '#include <linux/nsfs.h>')
+conf.set('HAVE_STRUCT_NSFS_FILE_HANDLE', have ? 1 : false)
+
############################################################
diff --git a/sys-utils/nsenter.1.adoc b/sys-utils/nsenter.1.adoc
index d12097472..3dec46d66 100644
--- a/sys-utils/nsenter.1.adoc
+++ b/sys-utils/nsenter.1.adoc
@@ -87,36 +87,36 @@ Optionally, a process can be addressed with the format _PID:inode_. The _inode_
identifies the unique process's file descriptor. To retrieve a process's inode
number you can use the *getino*(1) utility.
-*-m*, *--mount*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the mount namespace. If no file is specified, enter the mount namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the mount namespace specified by _file_.
+*-m*, *--mount*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the mount namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the mount namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the mount namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
-*-u*, *--uts*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the UTS namespace. If no file is specified, enter the UTS namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the UTS namespace specified by _file_.
+*-u*, *--uts*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the UTS namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the UTS namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the UTS namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
-*-i*, *--ipc*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the IPC namespace. If no file is specified, enter the IPC namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the IPC namespace specified by _file_.
+*-i*, *--ipc*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the IPC namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the IPC namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the IPC namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
-*-n*, *--net*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the network namespace. If no file is specified, enter the network namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the network namespace specified by _file_.
+*-n*, *--net*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the network namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the network namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the network namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
*-N*, *--net-socket* _fd_::
Enter the network namespace of the target process's socket. It requires *--target* process specified. Supported since Linux 5.6.
-*-p*, *--pid*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the PID namespace. If no file is specified, enter the PID namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the PID namespace specified by _file_.
+*-p*, *--pid*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the PID namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the PID namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the PID namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
-*-U*, *--user*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the user namespace. If no file is specified, enter the user namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the user namespace specified by _file_. See also the *--setuid* and *--setgid* options.
+*-U*, *--user*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the user namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the user namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the user namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_. See also the *--setuid* and *--setgid* options.
*--user-parent*::
Enter the parent user namespace. Parent user namespace will be acquired from any other enabled namespace.
If combined with *--user* option the parent user namespace will be fetched from the user namespace and replace it.
-*-C*, *--cgroup*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the cgroup namespace. If no file is specified, enter the cgroup namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the cgroup namespace specified by _file_.
+*-C*, *--cgroup*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the cgroup namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the cgroup namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the cgroup namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
-*-T*, *--time*[**=**_file_]::
-Enter the time namespace. If no file is specified, enter the time namespace of the target process. If _file_ is specified, enter the time namespace specified by _file_.
+*-T*, *--time*[**=**<__file__|:__nsid__>]::
+Enter the time namespace. If no argument is specified, enter the time namespace of the target process. If _file_ or :__nsid__ is specified, enter the time namespace specified by _file_ or _nsid_.
*-G*, *--setgid* _gid_::
Set the group ID which will be used in the entered namespace and drop supplementary groups.
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ include::man-common/help-version.adoc[]
The *--user-parent* option requires Linux 4.9 or higher, older kernels will raise inappropriate ioctl for device error.
+Specifying namesapces by _nsid_ requires Linux 6.19 or higher.
+
== AUTHORS
mailto:biederm@xmission.com[Eric Biederman],
diff --git a/sys-utils/nsenter.c b/sys-utils/nsenter.c
index b45f626b1..2820a7123 100644
--- a/sys-utils/nsenter.c
+++ b/sys-utils/nsenter.c
@@ -93,16 +93,16 @@ static void __attribute__((__noreturn__)) usage(void)
fputs(USAGE_OPTIONS, out);
fputs(_(" -a, --all enter all namespaces\n"), out);
fputs(_(" -t, --target <PID> target process to get namespaces from\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -m, --mount[=<file>] enter mount namespace\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -u, --uts[=<file>] enter UTS namespace (hostname etc)\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -i, --ipc[=<file>] enter System V IPC namespace\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -n, --net[=<file>] enter network namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -m, --mount[=<file|:nsid>] enter mount namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -u, --uts[=<file|:nsid>] enter UTS namespace (hostname etc)\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -i, --ipc[=<file|:nsid>] enter System V IPC namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -n, --net[=<file|:nsid>] enter network namespace\n"), out);
fputs(_(" -N, --net-socket <fd> enter socket's network namespace (use with --target)\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -p, --pid[=<file>] enter pid namespace\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -C, --cgroup[=<file>] enter cgroup namespace\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -U, --user[=<file>] enter user namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -p, --pid[=<file|:nsid>] enter pid namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -C, --cgroup[=<file|:nsid>] enter cgroup namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -U, --user[=<file|:nsid>] enter user namespace\n"), out);
fputs(_(" --user-parent enter parent user namespace\n"), out);
- fputs(_(" -T, --time[=<file>] enter time namespace\n"), out);
+ fputs(_(" -T, --time[=<file|:nsid>] enter time namespace\n"), out);
fputs(_(" -S, --setuid[=<uid>] set uid in entered namespace\n"), out);
fputs(_(" -G, --setgid[=<gid>] set gid in entered namespace\n"), out);
fputs(_(" --preserve-credentials do not touch uids or gids\n"), out);
@@ -177,10 +177,89 @@ static void open_target_fd(int *fd, const char *type, const char *path)
err(EXIT_FAILURE, _("cannot open %s"), path);
}
+#ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_NSFS_FILE_HANDLE
+
+static struct file_handle nsfs_fh_tmpl = {};
+static int nsfs_fd = -1;
+
+static int fill_nsfs_file_handle(struct file_handle *fh, uint64_t ns_id)
+{
+ struct nsfs_file_handle *nsfh = (struct nsfs_file_handle *)fh->f_handle;
+ int pidfd_self;
+ int mount_id;
+
+ if (nsfs_fh_tmpl.handle_type) {
+ *fh = nsfs_fh_tmpl;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ /*
+ * Before we can build a file handle of the namespace file of given
+ * nsid and open it, we need the handle_type of nsfs and a "mount_fd"
+ * for open_by_handle_at(2)). However,
+ *
+ * 1. FILEID_NSFS is currently not exposed to userspace, and
+ * 2. linux/fcntl.h, in which FD_NSFS_ROOT is defined, conflicts with
+ * fcntl.h,
+ *
+ * so we retrieve the information by grabbing a temporary ns file.
+ */
+ pidfd_self = pidfd_open(getpid(), 0);
+ if (pidfd_self < 0)
+ return -errno;
+
+ /* Mount namespace can not be disabled by kernel config */
+ nsfs_fd = ioctl(pidfd_self, PIDFD_GET_MNT_NAMESPACE, 0);
+ if (nsfs_fd < 0)
+ return -errno;
+ close(pidfd_self);
+
+ fh->handle_bytes = sizeof(struct nsfs_file_handle);
+ if (name_to_handle_at(nsfs_fd, "", fh, &mount_id,
+ AT_EMPTY_PATH | AT_HANDLE_FID) == -1)
+ return -errno;
+ assert(fh->handle_type);
+ nsfs_fh_tmpl = *fh;
+
+out:
+ memset(nsfh, 0, sizeof(*nsfh));
+ nsfh->ns_id = ns_id;
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void open_target_fd_by_nsid(int *fd, const char *idstr)
+{
+ unsigned char fh_buf[sizeof(struct file_handle) +
+ sizeof(struct nsfs_file_handle)];
+ struct file_handle *fh = (struct file_handle *)fh_buf;
+ uint64_t ns_id;
+
+ if (ul_strtou64(idstr, &ns_id, 10) != 0)
+ errx(EXIT_FAILURE, _("failed to parse nsid: %s"), idstr);
+
+ if (fill_nsfs_file_handle(fh, ns_id) != 0)
+ err(EXIT_FAILURE, _("failed to fill namespace file handle"));
+
+ if (*fd >= 0)
+ close(*fd);
+
+ *fd = open_by_handle_at(nsfs_fd, fh, O_RDONLY);
+ if (*fd < 0)
+ err(EXIT_FAILURE, _("cannot open namespace of id %"PRIu64),
+ ns_id);
+}
+#endif /* HAVE_STRUCT_NSFS_FILE_HANDLE */
+
static void enable_nsfile(struct namespace_file *n, const char *path)
{
- if (path)
- open_target_fd(&n->fd, n->name, path);
+ if (path) {
+#ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_NSFS_FILE_HANDLE
+ if (*path == ':')
+ open_target_fd_by_nsid(&n->fd, path + 1);
+ else
+#endif
+ open_target_fd(&n->fd, n->name, path);
+ }
n->enabled = true;
}
@@ -776,6 +855,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
if (pid_fd >= 0)
close(pid_fd);
+#ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_NSFS_FILE_HANDLE
+ if (nsfs_fd >= 0)
+ close(nsfs_fd);
+#endif
+
/* Remember the current working directory if I'm not changing it */
if (root_fd >= 0 && wd_fd < 0 && wdns == NULL) {
wd_fd = open(".", O_RDONLY);
--
2.53.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-02-14 3:24 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-02-14 3:23 Xiao Liang [this message]
2026-02-18 11:44 ` [PATCH] nsenter: Support specifying namespace by ID Karel Zak
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