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2025-11-14nstree: fix kernel-doc comments for internal functionsKriish Sharma
Documentation build reported: Warning: kernel/nstree.c:325 function parameter 'ns_tree' not described in '__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu' Warning: kernel/nstree.c:325 expecting prototype for ns_tree_adjoined_rcu(). Prototype was for __ns_tree_adjoined_rcu() instead Warning: kernel/nstree.c:353 expecting prototype for ns_tree_gen_id(). Prototype was for __ns_tree_gen_id() instead The kernel-doc comments for `__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu()` and `__ns_tree_gen_id()` had mismatched function names and a missing parameter description. This patch updates the function names in the kernel-doc headers and adds the missing `@ns_tree` parameter description for `__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu()`. Fixes: 885fc8ac0a4d ("nstree: make iterator generic") Reported-by: kernel test robot <lkp@intel.com> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/oe-kbuild-all/202511061542.0LO7xKs8-lkp@intel.com Signed-off-by: Kriish Sharma <kriish.sharma2006@gmail.com> Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251111112533.2254432-1-kriish.sharma2006@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: use guards for ns_tree_lockChristian Brauner
Make use of the guard infrastructure for ns_tree_lock. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-7-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: simplify owner list iterationChristian Brauner
Make use of list_for_each_entry_from_rcu(). Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-6-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: switch to new structuresChristian Brauner
Switch the nstree management to the new combined structures. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-5-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: add helper to operate on struct ns_tree_{node,root}Christian Brauner
Add helpers that work on the combined rbtree and rculist combined. This will make the code a lot more managable and legible. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-4-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: handle setns(pidfd, ...) cleanlyChristian Brauner
The setns() system call supports: (1) namespace file descriptors (nsfd) (2) process file descriptors (pidfd) When using nsfds the namespaces will remain active because they are pinned by the vfs. However, when pidfds are used things are more complicated. When the target task exits and passes through exit_nsproxy_namespaces() or is reaped and thus also passes through exit_cred_namespaces() after the setns()'ing task has called prepare_nsset() but before the active reference count of the set of namespaces it wants to setns() to might have been dropped already: P1 P2 pid_p1 = clone(CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) pidfd = pidfd_open(pid_p1) setns(pidfd, CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) prepare_nsset() exit(0) // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 -> exit_nsproxy_namespaces() -> exit_cred_namespaces() // ns_active_ref_put() will also put // the reference on the owner of the // namespace. If the only reason the // owning namespace was alive was // because it was a parent of @ns // it's active reference count now goes // to zero... -------------------------------- // | // ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | | commit_nsset() -----------------> // If setns() // now manages to install the namespaces // it will call ns_active_ref_get() // on them thus bumping the active reference // count from zero again but without also // taking the required reference on the owner. // Thus we get: // // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 When later someone does ns_active_ref_put() on @ns it will underflow parent_ns->__ns_active_ref leading to a splat from our asserts thinking there are still active references when in fact the counter just underflowed. So resurrect the ownership chain if necessary as well. If the caller succeeded to grab passive references to the set of namespaces the setns() should simply succeed even if the target task exists or gets reaped in the meantime and thus has dropped all active references to its namespaces. The race is rare and can only be triggered when using pidfs to setns() to namespaces. Also note that active reference on initial namespaces are nops. Since we now always handle parent references directly we can drop ns_ref_active_get_owner() when adding a namespace to a namespace tree. This is now all handled uniformly in the places where the new namespaces actually become active. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-5-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Fixes: 3c9820d5c64a ("ns: add active reference count") Reported-by: syzbot+1957b26299cf3ff7890c@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: return EFAULT on put_user() errorChristian Brauner
Don't return EINVAL, return EFAULT just like we do in other system calls. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-4-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: make sure reference are dropped outside of rcu lockChristian Brauner
The mount namespace may in fact sleep when putting the last passive reference so we need to drop the namespace reference outside of the rcu read lock. Do this by delaying the put until the next iteration where we've already moved on to the next namespace and legitimized it. Once we drop the rcu read lock to call put_user() we will also drop the reference to the previous namespace in the tree. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-3-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Fixes: 76b6f5dfb3fd ("nstree: add listns()") Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: add listns()Christian Brauner
Add a new listns() system call that allows userspace to iterate through namespaces in the system. This provides a programmatic interface to discover and inspect namespaces, enhancing existing namespace apis. Currently, there is no direct way for userspace to enumerate namespaces in the system. Applications must resort to scanning /proc/<pid>/ns/ across all processes, which is: 1. Inefficient - requires iterating over all processes 2. Incomplete - misses inactive namespaces that aren't attached to any running process but are kept alive by file descriptors, bind mounts, or parent namespace references 3. Permission-heavy - requires access to /proc for many processes 4. No ordering or ownership. 5. No filtering per namespace type: Must always iterate and check all namespaces. The list goes on. The listns() system call solves these problems by providing direct kernel-level enumeration of namespaces. It is similar to listmount() but obviously tailored to namespaces. /* * @req: Pointer to struct ns_id_req specifying search parameters * @ns_ids: User buffer to receive namespace IDs * @nr_ns_ids: Size of ns_ids buffer (maximum number of IDs to return) * @flags: Reserved for future use (must be 0) */ ssize_t listns(const struct ns_id_req *req, u64 *ns_ids, size_t nr_ns_ids, unsigned int flags); Returns: - On success: Number of namespace IDs written to ns_ids - On error: Negative error code /* * @size: Structure size * @ns_id: Starting point for iteration; use 0 for first call, then * use the last returned ID for subsequent calls to paginate * @ns_type: Bitmask of namespace types to include (from enum ns_type): * 0: Return all namespace types * MNT_NS: Mount namespaces * NET_NS: Network namespaces * USER_NS: User namespaces * etc. Can be OR'd together * @user_ns_id: Filter results to namespaces owned by this user namespace: * 0: Return all namespaces (subject to permission checks) * LISTNS_CURRENT_USER: Namespaces owned by caller's user namespace * Other value: Namespaces owned by the specified user namespace ID */ struct ns_id_req { __u32 size; /* sizeof(struct ns_id_req) */ __u32 spare; /* Reserved, must be 0 */ __u64 ns_id; /* Last seen namespace ID (for pagination) */ __u32 ns_type; /* Filter by namespace type(s) */ __u32 spare2; /* Reserved, must be 0 */ __u64 user_ns_id; /* Filter by owning user namespace */ }; Example 1: List all namespaces void list_all_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, /* Start from beginning */ .ns_type = 0, /* All types */ .user_ns_id = 0, /* All user namespaces */ }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; printf("All namespaces in the system:\n"); do { ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); break; } for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" Namespace ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); /* Continue from last seen ID */ if (ret > 0) req.ns_id = ids[ret - 1]; } while (ret == 100); /* Buffer was full, more may exist */ } Example 2: List network namespaces only void list_network_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = NET_NS, /* Only network namespaces */ .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); return; } printf("Network namespaces: %zd found\n", ret); for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" netns ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); } Example 3: List namespaces owned by current user namespace void list_owned_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = 0, /* All types */ .user_ns_id = LISTNS_CURRENT_USER, /* Current userns */ }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); return; } printf("Namespaces owned by my user namespace: %zd\n", ret); for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" ns ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); } Example 4: List multiple namespace types void list_network_and_mount_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = NET_NS | MNT_NS, /* Network and mount */ .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); printf("Network and mount namespaces: %zd found\n", ret); } Example 5: Pagination through large namespace sets void list_all_with_pagination(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = 0, .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[50]; size_t total = 0; ssize_t ret; printf("Enumerating all namespaces with pagination:\n"); while (1) { ret = listns(&req, ids, 50, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); break; } if (ret == 0) break; /* No more namespaces */ total += ret; printf(" Batch: %zd namespaces\n", ret); /* Last ID in this batch becomes start of next batch */ req.ns_id = ids[ret - 1]; if (ret < 50) break; /* Partial batch = end of results */ } printf("Total: %zu namespaces\n", total); } Permission Model listns() respects namespace isolation and capabilities: (1) Global listing (user_ns_id = 0): - Requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the namespace's owning user namespace - OR the namespace must be in the caller's namespace context (e.g., a namespace the caller is currently using) - User namespaces additionally allow listing if the caller has CAP_SYS_ADMIN in that user namespace itself (2) Owner-filtered listing (user_ns_id != 0): - Requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the specified owner user namespace - OR the namespace must be in the caller's namespace context - This allows unprivileged processes to enumerate namespaces they own (3) Visibility: - Only "active" namespaces are listed - A namespace is active if it has a non-zero __ns_ref_active count - This includes namespaces used by running processes, held by open file descriptors, or kept active by bind mounts - Inactive namespaces (kept alive only by internal kernel references) are not visible via listns() Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-19-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: add unified namespace listChristian Brauner
Allow to walk the unified namespace list completely locklessly. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-18-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: simplify rbtree comparison helpersChristian Brauner
They all do the same basic thing. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-17-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: maintain list of owned namespacesChristian Brauner
The namespace tree doesn't express the ownership concept of namespace appropriately. Maintain a list of directly owned namespaces per user namespace. This will allow userspace and the kernel to use the listns() system call to walk the namespace tree by owning user namespace. The rbtree is used to find the relevant namespace entry point which allows to continue iteration and the owner list can be used to walk the tree completely lock free. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-16-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: assign fixed ids to the initial namespacesChristian Brauner
The initial set of namespace comes with fixed inode numbers making it easy for userspace to identify them solely based on that information. This has long preceeded anything here. Similarly, let's assign fixed namespace ids for the initial namespaces. Kill the cookie and use a sequentially increasing number. This has the nice side-effect that the owning user namespace will always have a namespace id that is smaller than any of it's descendant namespaces. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-15-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03nstree: introduce a unified treeChristian Brauner
This will allow userspace to lookup and stat a namespace simply by its identifier without having to know what type of namespace it is. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-13-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03ns: add active reference countChristian Brauner
The namespace tree is, among other things, currently used to support file handles for namespaces. When a namespace is created it is placed on the namespace trees and when it is destroyed it is removed from the namespace trees. While a namespace is on the namespace trees with a valid reference count it is possible to reopen it through a namespace file handle. This is all fine but has some issues that should be addressed. On current kernels a namespace is visible to userspace in the following cases: (1) The namespace is in use by a task. (2) The namespace is persisted through a VFS object (namespace file descriptor or bind-mount). Note that (2) only cares about direct persistence of the namespace itself not indirectly via e.g., file->f_cred file references or similar. (3) The namespace is a hierarchical namespace type and is the parent of a single or multiple child namespaces. Case (3) is interesting because it is possible that a parent namespace might not fulfill any of (1) or (2), i.e., is invisible to userspace but it may still be resurrected through the NS_GET_PARENT ioctl(). Currently namespace file handles allow much broader access to namespaces than what is currently possible via (1)-(3). The reason is that namespaces may remain pinned for completely internal reasons yet are inaccessible to userspace. For example, a user namespace my remain pinned by get_cred() calls to stash the opener's credentials into file->f_cred. As it stands file handles allow to resurrect such a users namespace even though this should not be possible via (1)-(3). This is a fundamental uapi change that we shouldn't do if we don't have to. Consider the following insane case: Various architectures support the CONFIG_MMU_LAZY_TLB_REFCOUNT option which uses lazy TLB destruction. When this option is set a userspace task's struct mm_struct may be used for kernel threads such as the idle task and will only be destroyed once the cpu's runqueue switches back to another task. But because of ptrace() permission checks struct mm_struct stashes the user namespace of the task that struct mm_struct originally belonged to. The kernel thread will take a reference on the struct mm_struct and thus pin it. So on an idle system user namespaces can be persisted for arbitrary amounts of time which also means that they can be resurrected using namespace file handles. That makes no sense whatsoever. The problem is of course excarabted on large systems with a huge number of cpus. To handle this nicely we introduce an active reference count which tracks (1)-(3). This is easy to do as all of these things are already managed centrally. Only (1)-(3) will count towards the active reference count and only namespaces which are active may be opened via namespace file handles. The problem is that namespaces may be resurrected. Which means that they can become temporarily inactive and will be reactived some time later. Currently the only example of this is the SIOGCSKNS socket ioctl. The SIOCGSKNS ioctl allows to open a network namespace file descriptor based on a socket file descriptor. If a socket is tied to a network namespace that subsequently becomes inactive but that socket is persisted by another process in another network namespace (e.g., via SCM_RIGHTS of pidfd_getfd()) then the SIOCGSKNS ioctl will resurrect this network namespace. So calls to open_related_ns() and open_namespace() will end up resurrecting the corresponding namespace tree. Note that the active reference count does not regulate the lifetime of the namespace itself. This is still done by the normal reference count. The active reference count can only be elevated if the regular reference count is elevated. The active reference count also doesn't regulate the presence of a namespace on the namespace trees. It only regulates its visiblity to namespace file handles (and in later patches to listns()). A namespace remains on the namespace trees from creation until its actual destruction. This will allow the kernel to always reach any namespace trivially and it will also enable subsystems like bpf to walk the namespace lists on the system for tracing or general introspection purposes. Note that different namespaces have different visibility lifetimes on current kernels. While most namespace are immediately released when the last task using them exits, the user- and pid namespace are persisted and thus both remain accessible via /proc/<pid>/ns/<ns_type>. The user namespace lifetime is aliged with struct cred and is only released through exit_creds(). However, it becomes inaccessible to userspace once the last task using it is reaped, i.e., when release_task() is called and all proc entries are flushed. Similarly, the pid namespace is also visible until the last task using it has been reaped and the associated pid numbers are freed. The active reference counts of the user- and pid namespace are decremented once the task is reaped. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-11-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03ns: add missing authorshipChristian Brauner
I authored the files a short while ago. Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-10-31nstree: simplify returnChristian Brauner
node_to_ns() checks for NULL and the assert isn't really helpful and will have to be dropped later anyway. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-7-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-09-25ns: move ns type into struct ns_commonChristian Brauner
It's misplaced in struct proc_ns_operations and ns->ops might be NULL if the namespace is compiled out but we still want to know the type of the namespace for the initial namespace struct. Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-09-25nstree: make struct ns_tree privateChristian Brauner
Don't expose it directly. There's no need to do that. Reviewed-by: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-09-19nstree: make iterator genericChristian Brauner
Move the namespace iteration infrastructure originally introduced for mount namespaces into a generic library usable by all namespace types. Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>