Re: [PATCH v5 next 1/5] modules:capabilities: add request_module_cap()

From: Serge E. Hallyn
Date: Wed Nov 29 2017 - 12:28:59 EST


Quoting Theodore Ts'o (tytso@xxxxxxx):
> Half the problem here is that with containers, people are changing the
> security model, because they want to let untrusted users have "root",
> without really having "root". Part of the fundamental problem is that
> there are some well-meaning, but fundamentally misguided people, who
> have been asserting: "Containers are just as secure as VM's".
>
> Well, they are not. And the sooner people get past this, the better
> off they'll be....

Just to be clear, module loading requires - and must always continue to
require - CAP_SYS_MODULE against the initial user namespace. Containers
in user namespaces do not have that.

I don't believe anyone has ever claimed that containers which are not in
a user namespace are in any way secure.

(And as for the other claim, I'd prefer to stick to "VMs are in most
cases as insecure as properly configured containers" :)

-serge