[RFC PATCH v1 07/13] exec: validate spawn template executable identity

From: Li Chen

Date: Thu May 28 2026 - 06:09:53 EST


Record a conservative executable identity key when a template is created:
device, inode, size, mode, owner, ctime, and mtime. Recheck it before
each spawn. For path-created templates, also reopen the path so a replaced
executable cannot silently reuse the old template fd.
Reject stale templates with ESTALE. Keep the check conservative by also
rechecking that the file remains a regular executable mapping target.

Signed-off-by: Li Chen <me@linux.beauty>
---
MAINTAINERS | 1 +
fs/spawn_template.c | 75 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
include/linux/spawn_template.h | 25 ++++++++++++
3 files changed, 101 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 include/linux/spawn_template.h

diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index d5441812825c3..ea4134a188779 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -9737,6 +9737,7 @@ F: fs/tests/binfmt_*_kunit.c
F: fs/tests/exec_kunit.c
F: include/linux/binfmts.h
F: include/linux/elf.h
+F: include/linux/spawn_template.h
F: include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h
F: include/uapi/linux/binfmts.h
F: include/uapi/linux/elf.h
diff --git a/fs/spawn_template.c b/fs/spawn_template.c
index 8c3711929cffb..268f804227987 100644
--- a/fs/spawn_template.c
+++ b/fs/spawn_template.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
#include <linux/sched/task.h>
#include <linux/signal.h>
#include <linux/slab.h>
+#include <linux/spawn_template.h>
#include <linux/string.h>
#include <linux/syscalls.h>
#include <linux/uaccess.h>
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@

struct spawn_template {
struct file *exec_file;
+ struct spawn_template_file_key exec_key;
const struct cred *creator_cred;
char *filename;
bool deny_write;
@@ -40,6 +42,46 @@ struct spawn_template_spawn_context {

static const struct file_operations spawn_template_fops;

+static bool spawn_template_file_exec_allowed(struct file *file);
+
+void spawn_template_fill_file_key(struct file *file,
+ struct spawn_template_file_key *key)
+{
+ struct inode *inode = file_inode(file);
+ struct timespec64 ctime = inode_get_ctime(inode);
+ struct timespec64 mtime = inode_get_mtime(inode);
+
+ key->dev = inode->i_sb->s_dev;
+ key->ino = inode->i_ino;
+ key->size = i_size_read(inode);
+ key->mode = READ_ONCE(inode->i_mode);
+ key->uid = inode->i_uid;
+ key->gid = inode->i_gid;
+ key->ctime_sec = ctime.tv_sec;
+ key->ctime_nsec = ctime.tv_nsec;
+ key->mtime_sec = mtime.tv_sec;
+ key->mtime_nsec = mtime.tv_nsec;
+}
+
+bool spawn_template_file_key_matches(struct file *file,
+ const struct spawn_template_file_key *key)
+{
+ struct spawn_template_file_key cur;
+
+ spawn_template_fill_file_key(file, &cur);
+
+ return cur.dev == key->dev &&
+ cur.ino == key->ino &&
+ cur.size == key->size &&
+ cur.mode == key->mode &&
+ uid_eq(cur.uid, key->uid) &&
+ gid_eq(cur.gid, key->gid) &&
+ cur.ctime_sec == key->ctime_sec &&
+ cur.ctime_nsec == key->ctime_nsec &&
+ cur.mtime_sec == key->mtime_sec &&
+ cur.mtime_nsec == key->mtime_nsec;
+}
+
static int spawn_template_exit_status(int err)
{
switch (err) {
@@ -58,6 +100,32 @@ static bool spawn_template_cred_matches(struct spawn_template *tmpl)
return current_cred() == tmpl->creator_cred;
}

+static bool spawn_template_key_matches(struct spawn_template *tmpl)
+{
+ bool matches;
+
+ if (tmpl->filename) {
+ struct file *file __free(fput) = NULL;
+ struct file *tmp;
+
+ tmp = open_exec(tmpl->filename);
+ if (IS_ERR(tmp))
+ return false;
+ file = tmp;
+
+ matches = spawn_template_file_key_matches(file,
+ &tmpl->exec_key);
+ matches = matches && spawn_template_file_exec_allowed(file);
+ exe_file_allow_write_access(file);
+ if (!matches)
+ return false;
+ }
+
+ return spawn_template_file_exec_allowed(tmpl->exec_file) &&
+ spawn_template_file_key_matches(tmpl->exec_file,
+ &tmpl->exec_key);
+}
+
static int spawn_template_copy_signal_set(const struct spawn_template_action *action,
sigset_t *mask)
{
@@ -433,6 +501,7 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE2(spawn_template_create,
&tmpl->deny_write);
if (ret)
goto out_free_tmpl;
+ spawn_template_fill_file_key(tmpl->exec_file, &tmpl->exec_key);

if (args.flags & SPAWN_TEMPLATE_CREATE_CLOEXEC)
fd_flags |= O_CLOEXEC;
@@ -507,6 +576,11 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE3(spawn_template_spawn, int, template_fd,
if (ret)
goto out_free_ctx;

+ if (!spawn_template_key_matches(ctx->tmpl)) {
+ ret = -ESTALE;
+ goto out_free_actions;
+ }
+
kargs = (struct kernel_clone_args) {
.flags = CLONE_VM | CLONE_VFORK | CLONE_PIDFD,
.pidfd = u64_to_user_ptr(ctx->args.pidfd),
@@ -517,6 +591,7 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE3(spawn_template_spawn, int, template_fd,

ret = kernel_clone(&kargs);

+out_free_actions:
kfree(ctx->actions);
out_free_ctx:
kfree(ctx);
diff --git a/include/linux/spawn_template.h b/include/linux/spawn_template.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f14a7749fe55b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/linux/spawn_template.h
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
+#ifndef _LINUX_SPAWN_TEMPLATE_H
+#define _LINUX_SPAWN_TEMPLATE_H
+
+#include <linux/fs.h>
+
+struct spawn_template_file_key {
+ dev_t dev;
+ ino_t ino;
+ loff_t size;
+ umode_t mode;
+ kuid_t uid;
+ kgid_t gid;
+ u64 ctime_sec;
+ u64 ctime_nsec;
+ u64 mtime_sec;
+ u64 mtime_nsec;
+};
+
+void spawn_template_fill_file_key(struct file *file,
+ struct spawn_template_file_key *key);
+bool spawn_template_file_key_matches(struct file *file,
+ const struct spawn_template_file_key *key);
+
+#endif /* _LINUX_SPAWN_TEMPLATE_H */
--
2.52.0