Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org> says:
This series relocates the dumpable mode and the user_namespace
captured at execve() from mm_struct onto a new per-task
task_exec_state structure that stays attached to the task for its
full lifetime.
__ptrace_may_access() and several /proc owner / visibility checks
need to consult two pieces of state for any observable task,
including zombies that have already gone through exit_mm(): the
dumpable mode and the user namespace captured at execve(). Both
live on mm_struct today, which exit_mm() clears from the task long
before the task is reaped.
A reader that races with do_exit() observes task->mm == NULL and
either fails the check or falls back to init_user_ns - which denies
legitimate access to non-dumpable zombies that were running in a
nested user namespace.
mm_struct loses ->user_ns and the dumpability bits in ->flags.
MMF_DUMPABLE_BITS is reserved so MMF_DUMP_FILTER_* layout exposed via
/proc/<pid>/coredump_filter stays stable. task->user_dumpable and its
exit_mm() snapshot are removed.
task_exec_state is the privilege domain established by an execve()
[1]. Within a thread group it is shared via refcount; across thread
groups each task has its own:
- CLONE_VM siblings (thread-group members, io_uring workers)
refcount-share the parent's exec_state.
- Non-CLONE_VM clones (fork(), vfork() without CLONE_VM)
allocate a fresh exec_state inheriting the parent's dumpable
mode and user_ns.
- execve() in the child allocates a fresh instance and installs
it under task_lock + exec_update_lock via
task_exec_state_replace().
- Credential changes (setresuid, capset, ...) and
prctl(PR_SET_DUMPABLE) update dumpability on the current
task's exec_state, i.e. on the thread group's shared instance.
Behavioral change:
Kernel threads that briefly use a user mm via kthread_use_mm() no
longer inherit dumpability from the borrowed mm. Kthreads are not
ptraceable (PF_KTHREAD short-circuits __ptrace_may_access), so this
is observable only via /proc surfaces that a sufficiently privileged
reader can reach.
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/r/CAHk-=wj+NgoDH3GSicJ140SV8OoDd71pLmL3fgFEsTcgoMC6Og@mail.gmail.com
* patches from https://patch.msgid.link/
20260520-work-task_exec_state-v3-0-
69f895bc1385@kernel.org:
exec_state: relocate dumpable information
ptrace: add ptracer_access_allowed()
exec: introduce struct task_exec_state
sched/coredump: introduce enum task_dumpable
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260520-work-task_exec_state-v3-0-69f895bc1385@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>