From 634cdfd6b394cf4a5bfaeacf3b325998c752df45 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Demi Marie Obenour Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:28:49 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] kernel: prevent prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG) from racing with parent process exit If a process calls prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG) at the same time that the parent process exits, the child will write to me->pdeath_sig at the same time the parent is reading it. Since there is no synchronization, this is a data race. Worse, it is possible that a subsequent call to getppid() can continue to return the previous parent process ID without the parent death signal being delivered. This happens in the following scenario: parent child forget_original_parent() prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, SIGKILL) sys_prctl() me->pdeath_sig = SIGKILL; getppid(); RCU_INIT_POINTER(t->real_parent, reaper); if (t->pdeath_signal) /* reads stale me->pdeath_sig */ group_send_sig_info(t->pdeath_signal, ...); And in the following: parent child forget_original_parent() RCU_INIT_POINTER(t->real_parent, reaper); /* also no barrier */ if (t->pdeath_signal) /* reads stale me->pdeath_sig */ group_send_sig_info(t->pdeath_signal, ...); prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, SIGKILL) sys_prctl() me->pdeath_sig = SIGKILL; getppid(); /* reads old ppid() */ As a result, the following pattern is racy: pid_t parent_pid = getpid(); pid_t child_pid = fork(); if (child_pid == -1) { /* handle error... */ return; } if (child_pid == 0) { if (prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG, SIGKILL) != 0) { /* handle error */ _exit(126); } if (getppid() != parent_pid) { /* parent died already */ raise(SIGKILL); } /* keep going in child */ } /* keep going in parent */ If the parent is killed at exactly the wrong time, the child process can (wrongly) stay running. I didn't manage to reproduce this in my testing, but I'm pretty sure the race is real. KCSAN is probably the best way to spot the race. Fix the bug by holding tasklist_lock for reading whenever pdeath_signal is being written to. This prevents races on me->pdeath_sig, and the locking and unlocking of the rwlock provide the needed memory barriers. If prctl(PR_SET_PDEATHSIG) happens before the parent exits, the signal will be sent. If it happens afterwards, a subsequent getppid() will return the new value. Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20250913-fix-prctl-pdeathsig-race-v1-1-44e2eb426fe9@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Demi Marie Obenour Cc: Oleg Nesterov Cc: Mateusz Guzik Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton --- kernel/sys.c | 10 ++++++++++ 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+) diff --git a/kernel/sys.c b/kernel/sys.c index 36d66ff416117..bd25f39a6b57b 100644 --- a/kernel/sys.c +++ b/kernel/sys.c @@ -2488,7 +2488,17 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE5(prctl, int, option, unsigned long, arg2, unsigned long, arg3, error = -EINVAL; break; } + /* + * Ensure that either: + * + * 1. Subsequent getppid() calls reflect the parent process having died. + * 2. forget_original_parent() will send the new me->pdeath_signal. + * + * Also prevent the read of me->pdeath_signal from being a data race. + */ + read_lock(&tasklist_lock); me->pdeath_signal = arg2; + read_unlock(&tasklist_lock); break; case PR_GET_PDEATHSIG: error = put_user(me->pdeath_signal, (int __user *)arg2); -- 2.47.3