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    V3 file capabilities: alter behavior of cap_setpcap · 72c2d582
    Andrew Morgan authored
    
    
    The non-filesystem capability meaning of CAP_SETPCAP is that a process, p1,
    can change the capabilities of another process, p2.  This is not the
    meaning that was intended for this capability at all, and this
    implementation came about purely because, without filesystem capabilities,
    there was no way to use capabilities without one process bestowing them on
    another.
    
    Since we now have a filesystem support for capabilities we can fix the
    implementation of CAP_SETPCAP.
    
    The most significant thing about this change is that, with it in effect, no
    process can set the capabilities of another process.
    
    The capabilities of a program are set via the capability convolution
    rules:
    
       pI(post-exec) = pI(pre-exec)
       pP(post-exec) = (X(aka cap_bset) & fP) | (pI(post-exec) & fI)
       pE(post-exec) = fE ? pP(post-exec) : 0
    
    at exec() time.  As such, the only influence the pre-exec() program can
    have on the post-exec() program's capabilities are through the pI
    capability set.
    
    The correct implementation for CAP_SETPCAP (and that enabled by this patch)
    is that it can be used to add extra pI capabilities to the current process
    - to be picked up by subsequent exec()s when the above convolution rules
    are applied.
    
    Here is how it works:
    
    Let's say we have a process, p. It has capability sets, pE, pP and pI.
    Generally, p, can change the value of its own pI to pI' where
    
       (pI' & ~pI) & ~pP = 0.
    
    That is, the only new things in pI' that were not present in pI need to
    be present in pP.
    
    The role of CAP_SETPCAP is basically to permit changes to pI beyond
    the above:
    
       if (pE & CAP_SETPCAP) {
          pI' = anything; /* ie., even (pI' & ~pI) & ~pP != 0  */
       }
    
    This capability is useful for things like login, which (say, via
    pam_cap) might want to raise certain inheritable capabilities for use
    by the children of the logged-in user's shell, but those capabilities
    are not useful to or needed by the login program itself.
    
    One such use might be to limit who can run ping. You set the
    capabilities of the 'ping' program to be "= cap_net_raw+i", and then
    only shells that have (pI & CAP_NET_RAW) will be able to run
    it. Without CAP_SETPCAP implemented as described above, login(pam_cap)
    would have to also have (pP & CAP_NET_RAW) in order to raise this
    capability and pass it on through the inheritable set.
    
    Signed-off-by: default avatarAndrew Morgan <morgan@kernel.org>
    Signed-off-by: default avatarSerge E. Hallyn <serue@us.ibm.com>
    Cc: Stephen Smalley <sds@tycho.nsa.gov>
    Cc: James Morris <jmorris@namei.org>
    Cc: Casey Schaufler <casey@schaufler-ca.com>
    Signed-off-by: default avatarAndrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
    Signed-off-by: default avatarLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
    72c2d582