Re: [PATCH v4 2/5] capability: Add new capable_noaudit

From: sergeh

Date: Thu Aug 06 2026 - 14:53:43 EST


On Tue, Aug 04, 2026 at 11:45:52AM +0200, cem@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> From: Carlos Maiolino <cem@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
> In some situations (quota enforcement bypass in this case) we'd like to
> check for a specific capability without triggering spurious audit
> messages from security modules like selinux.
>
> Add a new helper so we don't need to use ns_capable_noaudit() directly.
>
> Signed-off-by: Carlos Maiolino <cmaiolino@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Reviewed-by: Christoph Hellwig <hch@xxxxxx>

Reviewed-by: Serge Hallyn <sergeh@xxxxxxxxxx>

> ---
>
> V4: Mention capable_noaudit check for process effective capabilities
> V3: remove the extern declaration
>
> include/linux/capability.h | 5 +++++
> kernel/capability.c | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
> 2 files changed, 23 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/capability.h b/include/linux/capability.h
> index 37db92b3d6f8..f8532d92fcad 100644
> --- a/include/linux/capability.h
> +++ b/include/linux/capability.h
> @@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ extern bool has_capability_noaudit(struct task_struct *t, int cap);
> extern bool has_ns_capability_noaudit(struct task_struct *t,
> struct user_namespace *ns, int cap);
> extern bool capable(int cap);
> +bool capable_noaudit(int cap);
> extern bool ns_capable(struct user_namespace *ns, int cap);
> extern bool ns_capable_noaudit(struct user_namespace *ns, int cap);
> extern bool ns_capable_setid(struct user_namespace *ns, int cap);
> @@ -167,6 +168,10 @@ static inline bool capable(int cap)
> {
> return true;
> }
> +static inline bool capable_noaudit(int cap)
> +{
> + return true;
> +}
> static inline bool ns_capable(struct user_namespace *ns, int cap)
> {
> return true;
> diff --git a/kernel/capability.c b/kernel/capability.c
> index 829f49ae07b9..f4a7f1963c9d 100644
> --- a/kernel/capability.c
> +++ b/kernel/capability.c
> @@ -416,6 +416,24 @@ bool capable(int cap)
> return ns_capable(&init_user_ns, cap);
> }
> EXPORT_SYMBOL(capable);
> +
> +/**
> + * capable_noaudit - Determine if the current task has a superior
> + * capability in effect by checking the process's effective
> + * capabilities (unaudited).
> + * @cap: The capability to be tested for
> + *
> + * This is the same as capable(), except it uses CAP_OPT_NOAUDIT as to prevent
> + * issuing spurious audit messages.
> + *
> + * This sets PF_SUPERPRIV on the task if the capability is available on the
> + * assumption that it's about to be used.
> + */
> +bool capable_noaudit(int cap)
> +{
> + return ns_capable_noaudit(&init_user_ns, cap);
> +}
> +EXPORT_SYMBOL(capable_noaudit);
> #endif /* CONFIG_MULTIUSER */
>
> /**
> --
> 2.55.0
>