Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org> says:
binfmt_misc has exactly one execution model where the registered
interpreter becomes the executed program and the matched binary is
handed to it as an argument. For wine or qemu-user that is the point.
For a per-binary loader it is backwards. The interpreter is an
implementation detail of running the binary, yet it owns the entire
process identity:
- argv[0] and /proc/pid/cmdline show the interpreter invocation, not
what the caller executed.
- /proc/self/exe names the interpreter. Relocatable programs commonly
locate themselves through it and find the dynamic linker instead.
- A binary passed to execveat() as an inaccessible O_CLOEXEC fd
cannot run at all as the interpreter has no path to open it by.
- gdb cross-validates AT_ENTRY/AT_PHDR against the exe file and
discards the load displacement on mismatch leaving PIE symbols
unrelocated.
This series adds two dispatch modes that close the gap from opposite
ends:
(1) transparent dispatch
Registered with the 'T' flag or chosen per exec with
BPF_BINPRM_TRANSPARENT. The binary is sent to the interpreter through
AT_EXECFD, the argument vector stays exactly as the caller built it,
and the kernel labels mm->exe_file and comm with the binary. A new
AT_FLAGS_TRANSPARENT_INTERP aux vector bit is raised indicating that
nothing was spliced, argv belongs to the program, and to load it from
the descriptor.
The interpreter keeps control of mapping the binary, so the mode
covers foreign architectures and non-ELF payloads.
The exe label is not a new privilege. It names precisely the file the
caller passed to execve(), not a file of the process's choosing. That
file is permission-checked, write-denied while the process runs and
recorded by audit. Credential derivation does not change exactly as
today.
(2) loader substitution
The kernel executes the matched binary natively as the main image
and substitutes the registered interpreter for the binary's
PT_INTERP. binfmt_misc functions as a PT_INTERP override. There is
no contract and no identity to reconstruct. So a stock dynamic
loader works unchanged. Hence, 'L' is for native-arch ELF with
PT_INTERP.
The two modes compose. A bpf handler reads the ELF header from bprm->buf
and grades per binary, picking 'L' where it applies and 'T' or classic
dispatch for the rest. If userspace control over relocation is wanted
'T' is the way to go.
* patches from https://patch.msgid.link/
20260721-work-bpf-binfmt_misc-ptinterp-v2-0-
e57866e4ae0f@kernel.org: (21 commits)
binfmt_misc: document loader substitution
selftests/exec: test binfmt_misc loader substitution
binfmt_misc: let a bpf handler request loader substitution
binfmt_misc: add the 'L' loader substitution flag
binfmt_elf_fdpic: consume a stashed PT_INTERP substitute
binfmt_elf: consume a stashed PT_INTERP substitute
exec: carry a PT_INTERP substitute in struct linux_binprm
binfmt_misc: document the transparent identity contract
selftests/exec: test the transparent binfmt_misc mode
binfmt_misc: let a bpf handler run the interpreter transparently
binfmt_misc: add a static transparent flag 'T'
binfmt_misc: add transparent interpreter dispatch
exec: label mm->exe_file with the binary for a transparent dispatch
exec: add AT_FLAGS_TRANSPARENT_INTERP
selftests/exec: convert the binfmt_misc bpf test to the kselftest harness
exec: release the replaced file with do_close_execat()
binfmt_misc: split out entry_open_interpreter() and build_interp_argv()
binfmt_misc: normalize the per-exec invocation flags
binfmt_misc: table-drive the register string flags
docs, binfmt_misc: keep general usage out of the handler sections
...
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260721-work-bpf-binfmt_misc-ptinterp-v2-0-e57866e4ae0f@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>