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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
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| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-30 09:22:00 -0700 |
| commit | 034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c (patch) | |
| tree | 2536f4b2d7893ccd916b5abdf3c454ad6edc03c2 /Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.tar.gz linux-stable-034dd340b08be1f2f0477ad16131d609f9dbd53c.zip | |
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:
- Fix error output of boot instance creation failure
Currently if a boot instance creation fails, instead of printing out
the name of the instance that failed, it prints "(null)". That is
because it prints "cur_str" that had already been processed by
strsep(). Print the saved name instead.
While at it, print the error code of the failure.
- Fix use-after-free for same named historgrams
Histograms can be named so that they can be used in multiple events.
But if the named histogram has a variable attached, the second event
that uses the named histogram which duplicates it and needs to free
the original after duplication leaves the old variable in place and
still visible. If another histogram uses than variable, it will use
the stale one which will try to reference the freed duplicate
histogram and crash the kernel.
Free the duplicate variables along with the duplicated histogram
data.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in event self test
The events self tests uses a kthread for testing but does not check
if it succeeded in creating a kthread. If the kthread creation were
to fail, the code will still try to call kthread_stop() on the error
returned.
- Fix race between reading trace_pipe and updating subbuffer size
If a user is reading the trace_pipe file at the same time they update
the ring buffer sub-buffer size, can cause the trace_pipe read to
read stale data. Add trace_access_lock() around updating the ring
buffer sub-buffer size.
- Fix eventfs_inode on failure path in creation of the events directory
In the creation of the "events" directory, if after allocating the
eventfs_inode a failure is detected, it calls cleanup_ei() which
calls free_ei(). The free_ei() will test if eventfs_inode being freed
has no children. It is a bug if it does. But on the failure case of
the creation of the "events" directory, the children lists have not
yet been initialized and the free will trigger a warning because
list_empty() on an uninitialized list returns false.
Move the initialization into init_ei() where it makes more sense and
makes sure that a created eventfs_inode has its lists initialized
upon creation.
- Check return value of kthread_run() in ftrace direct sample code
The sample code that shows how to use the ftrace direct calls does
not test the return of kthread_run() to see if it succeeds. Return a
failure if the kthread_run() doesn't succeed.
- Clear user events state on fork in case of alloc failure
On fork, the child gets a pointer to the parent's user events state.
It makes a copy of it then updates the child's pointer to it. But if
the allocation fails, the duplication function leaves the child with
a pointer to its parent's descriptor. When the child cleans up its
data, it will free the parent's descriptor while the parent is still
using it.
In the duplication function, set the child's user_event_mm to NULL
before testing if the allocation succeeded, and when it exits it will
not free the parent's descriptor.
- Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
simple_ring_buffer_swap_reader_page() starts with retry set to 8 and
post-decrements it only after a failed link replacement. On the final
attempt, a successful replacement leaves retry at zero, while a
failed replacement leaves it at -1.
But the check for success expects the retry value to be non-zero and
exits with an error on zero. This is the opposite result. Fix it.
- Fail nicely when the remote swap_reader_page() returns an error
Currently, if the swap_reader_page() of a remote buffer fails, it
triggers a WARN_ON_ONCE() and continues normally. Instead, have it
exit with an error and a pr_warn() print instead of a full WARNING.
* tag 'trace-v7.3-2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace:
ring-buffer: Stop remote reader update when page swap fails
tracing: Fix retry exhaustion in simple ring buffer reader swap
tracing/user_events: Clear copied tracing state before fork duplication
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-multi-modify
samples/ftrace: Fix kthread_stop() on ERR_PTR in ftrace-direct-modify
eventfs: Initialize ei->children and ei->list in init_ei()
tracing: Fix use-after-free in trace_pipe read on sub-buffer order change
tracing: Fix crash passing ERR_PTR to kthread_stop()
tracing: Fix use-after-free with same-name named triggers
tracing: Fix logged instance name on creation failure
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst | 207 |
1 files changed, 207 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst b/Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..35f2296b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/security/keys/request-key.rst @@ -0,0 +1,207 @@ +=================== +Key Request Service +=================== + +The key request service is part of the key retention service (refer to +Documentation/security/keys/core.rst). This document explains more fully how +the requesting algorithm works. + +The process starts by either the kernel requesting a service by calling +``request_key*()``:: + + struct key *request_key(const struct key_type *type, + const char *description, + const char *callout_info); + +or:: + + struct key *request_key_tag(const struct key_type *type, + const char *description, + const struct key_tag *domain_tag, + const char *callout_info); + +or:: + + struct key *request_key_with_auxdata(const struct key_type *type, + const char *description, + const struct key_tag *domain_tag, + const char *callout_info, + size_t callout_len, + void *aux); + +or:: + + struct key *request_key_rcu(const struct key_type *type, + const char *description, + const struct key_tag *domain_tag); + +Or by userspace invoking the request_key system call:: + + key_serial_t request_key(const char *type, + const char *description, + const char *callout_info, + key_serial_t dest_keyring); + +The main difference between the access points is that the in-kernel interface +does not need to link the key to a keyring to prevent it from being immediately +destroyed. The kernel interface returns a pointer directly to the key, and +it's up to the caller to destroy the key. + +The request_key_tag() call is like the in-kernel request_key(), except that it +also takes a domain tag that allows keys to be separated by namespace and +killed off as a group. + +The request_key_with_auxdata() calls is like the request_key_tag() call, except +that they permit auxiliary data to be passed to the upcaller (the default is +NULL). This is only useful for those key types that define their own upcall +mechanism rather than using /sbin/request-key. + +The request_key_rcu() call is like the request_key_tag() call, except that it +doesn't check for keys that are under construction and doesn't attempt to +construct missing keys. + +The userspace interface links the key to a keyring associated with the process +to prevent the key from going away, and returns the serial number of the key to +the caller. + + +The following example assumes that the key types involved don't define their +own upcall mechanisms. If they do, then those should be substituted for the +forking and execution of /sbin/request-key. + + +The Process +=========== + +A request proceeds in the following manner: + + 1) Process A calls request_key() [the userspace syscall calls the kernel + interface]. + + 2) request_key() searches the process's subscribed keyrings to see if there's + a suitable key there. If there is, it returns the key. If there isn't, + and callout_info is not set, an error is returned. Otherwise the process + proceeds to the next step. + + 3) request_key() sees that A doesn't have the desired key yet, so it creates + two things: + + a) An uninstantiated key U of requested type and description. + + b) An authorisation key V that refers to key U and notes that process A + is the context in which key U should be instantiated and secured, and + from which associated key requests may be satisfied. + + 4) request_key() then forks and executes /sbin/request-key with a new session + keyring that contains a link to auth key V. + + 5) /sbin/request-key assumes the authority associated with key U. + + 6) /sbin/request-key execs an appropriate program to perform the actual + instantiation. + + 7) The program may want to access another key from A's context (say a + Kerberos TGT key). It just requests the appropriate key, and the keyring + search notes that the session keyring has auth key V in its bottom level. + + This will permit it to then search the keyrings of process A with the + UID, GID, groups and security info of process A as if it was process A, + and come up with key W. + + 8) The program then does what it must to get the data with which to + instantiate key U, using key W as a reference (perhaps it contacts a + Kerberos server using the TGT) and then instantiates key U. + + 9) Upon instantiating key U, auth key V is automatically revoked so that it + may not be used again. + + 10) The program then exits 0 and request_key() deletes key V and returns key + U to the caller. + +This also extends further. If key W (step 7 above) didn't exist, key W would +be created uninstantiated, another auth key (X) would be created (as per step +3) and another copy of /sbin/request-key spawned (as per step 4); but the +context specified by auth key X will still be process A, as it was in auth key +V. + +This is because process A's keyrings can't simply be attached to +/sbin/request-key at the appropriate places because (a) execve will discard two +of them, and (b) it requires the same UID/GID/Groups all the way through. + + +Negative Instantiation And Rejection +==================================== + +Rather than instantiating a key, it is possible for the possessor of an +authorisation key to negatively instantiate a key that's under construction. +This is a short duration placeholder that causes any attempt at re-requesting +the key while it exists to fail with error ENOKEY if negated or the specified +error if rejected. + +This is provided to prevent excessive repeated spawning of /sbin/request-key +processes for a key that will never be obtainable. + +Should the /sbin/request-key process exit anything other than 0 or die on a +signal, the key under construction will be automatically negatively +instantiated for a short amount of time. + + +The Search Algorithm +==================== + +A search of any particular keyring proceeds in the following fashion: + + 1) When the key management code searches for a key (keyring_search_rcu) it + firstly calls key_permission(SEARCH) on the keyring it's starting with, + if this denies permission, it doesn't search further. + + 2) It considers all the non-keyring keys within that keyring and, if any key + matches the criteria specified, calls key_permission(SEARCH) on it to see + if the key is allowed to be found. If it is, that key is returned; if + not, the search continues, and the error code is retained if of higher + priority than the one currently set. + + 3) It then considers all the keyring-type keys in the keyring it's currently + searching. It calls key_permission(SEARCH) on each keyring, and if this + grants permission, it recurses, executing steps (2) and (3) on that + keyring. + +The process stops immediately a valid key is found with permission granted to +use it. Any error from a previous match attempt is discarded and the key is +returned. + +When request_key() is invoked, if CONFIG_KEYS_REQUEST_CACHE=y, a per-task +one-key cache is first checked for a match. + +When search_process_keyrings() is invoked, it performs the following searches +until one succeeds: + + 1) If extant, the process's thread keyring is searched. + + 2) If extant, the process's process keyring is searched. + + 3) The process's session keyring is searched. + + 4) If the process has assumed the authority associated with a request_key() + authorisation key then: + + a) If extant, the calling process's thread keyring is searched. + + b) If extant, the calling process's process keyring is searched. + + c) The calling process's session keyring is searched. + +The moment one succeeds, all pending errors are discarded and the found key is +returned. If CONFIG_KEYS_REQUEST_CACHE=y, then that key is placed in the +per-task cache, displacing the previous key. The cache is cleared on exit or +just prior to resumption of userspace. + +Only if all these fail does the whole thing fail with the highest priority +error. Note that several errors may have come from LSM. + +The error priority is:: + + EKEYREVOKED > EKEYEXPIRED > ENOKEY + +EACCES/EPERM are only returned on a direct search of a specific keyring where +the basal keyring does not grant Search permission. |
