Merge patch series "exec: introduce task_exec_state for exec-time metadata"

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>

1 files changed, 27 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/kernel/fork.c b/kernel/fork.c
index 5f3fdfdb14c7..91545ed6463f 100644
--- a/kernel/fork.c
+++ b/kernel/fork.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include <linux/sched/task_stack.h>
 #include <linux/sched/cputime.h>
 #include <linux/sched/ext.h>
+#include <linux/sched/exec_state.h>
 #include <linux/seq_file.h>
 #include <linux/rtmutex.h>
 #include <linux/init.h>
@@ -555,6 +556,7 @@ void free_task(struct task_struct *tsk)
 	if (tsk->flags & PF_KTHREAD)
 		free_kthread_struct(tsk);
 	bpf_task_storage_free(tsk);
+	put_task_exec_state(rcu_access_pointer(tsk->exec_state));
 	free_task_struct(tsk);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL(free_task);
@@ -731,7 +733,6 @@ void __mmdrop(struct mm_struct *mm)
 	destroy_context(mm);
 	mmu_notifier_subscriptions_destroy(mm);
 	check_mm(mm);
-	put_user_ns(mm->user_ns);
 	mm_pasid_drop(mm);
 	mm_destroy_cid(mm);
 	percpu_counter_destroy_many(mm->rss_stat, NR_MM_COUNTERS);
@@ -946,6 +947,8 @@ static struct task_struct *dup_task_struct(struct task_struct *orig, int node)
 	tsk->seccomp.filter = NULL;
 #endif
 
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(tsk->exec_state, NULL);
+
 	setup_thread_stack(tsk, orig);
 	clear_user_return_notifier(tsk);
 	clear_tsk_need_resched(tsk);
@@ -1072,8 +1075,7 @@ static void mmap_init_lock(struct mm_struct *mm)
 #endif
 }
 
-static struct mm_struct *mm_init(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p,
-	struct user_namespace *user_ns)
+static struct mm_struct *mm_init(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p)
 {
 	mt_init_flags(&mm->mm_mt, MM_MT_FLAGS);
 	mt_set_external_lock(&mm->mm_mt, &mm->mmap_lock);
@@ -1132,7 +1134,6 @@ static struct mm_struct *mm_init(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p,
 				     NR_MM_COUNTERS))
 		goto fail_pcpu;
 
-	mm->user_ns = get_user_ns(user_ns);
 	lru_gen_init_mm(mm);
 	return mm;
 
@@ -1163,7 +1164,7 @@ struct mm_struct *mm_alloc(void)
 		return NULL;
 
 	memset(mm, 0, sizeof(*mm));
-	return mm_init(mm, current, current_user_ns());
+	return mm_init(mm, current);
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_IF_KUNIT(mm_alloc);
 
@@ -1527,7 +1528,7 @@ static struct mm_struct *dup_mm(struct task_struct *tsk,
 
 	memcpy(mm, oldmm, sizeof(*mm));
 
-	if (!mm_init(mm, tsk, mm->user_ns))
+	if (!mm_init(mm, tsk))
 		goto fail_nomem;
 
 	uprobe_start_dup_mmap();
@@ -1593,6 +1594,22 @@ static int copy_mm(u64 clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int copy_exec_state(u64 clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
+{
+	struct task_exec_state *exec_state;
+
+	/* CLONE_VM siblings refcount-share the parent's exec_state. */
+	if (clone_flags & CLONE_VM) {
+		exec_state = rcu_dereference_protected(current->exec_state, true);
+		refcount_inc(&exec_state->count);
+		rcu_assign_pointer(tsk->exec_state, exec_state);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	/* Everyone else inherits a fresh copy. */
+	return task_exec_state_copy(tsk);
+}
+
 static int copy_fs(u64 clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 {
 	struct fs_struct *fs = current->fs;
@@ -2090,6 +2107,9 @@ __latent_entropy struct task_struct *copy_process(
 	p = dup_task_struct(current, node);
 	if (!p)
 		goto fork_out;
+	retval = copy_exec_state(clone_flags, p);
+	if (retval)
+		goto bad_fork_free;
 	p->flags &= ~PF_KTHREAD;
 	if (args->kthread)
 		p->flags |= PF_KTHREAD;
@@ -3098,6 +3118,7 @@ void __init proc_caches_init(void)
 			sizeof(struct signal_struct), 0,
 			SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN|SLAB_PANIC|SLAB_ACCOUNT,
 			NULL);
+	exec_state_init();
 	files_cachep = kmem_cache_create("files_cache",
 			sizeof(struct files_struct), 0,
 			SLAB_HWCACHE_ALIGN|SLAB_PANIC|SLAB_ACCOUNT,