Re: [PATCH bpf-next 2/2] selftests/bpf: Add tests for bpf_get_dentry_xattr

[Song Liu]

> On Aug 19, 2024, at 11:29 PM, Al Viro <viro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Aug 19, 2024 at 08:25:38PM +0000, Song Liu wrote:
> 
>> int bpf_get_parent_path(struct path *p) {
>> again:
>>    if (p->dentry == p->mnt.mnt_root) {
>>        follow_up(p);
>>        goto again;
>>    }
>>    if (unlikely(IS_ROOT(p->dentry))) {
>>        return PARENT_WALK_DONE;  
>>    }
>>    parent_dentry = dget_parent(p->dentry);
>>    dput(p->dentry);
>>    p->dentry = parent_dentry;
>>    return PARENT_WALK_NEXT; 
>> }
>> 
>> This will handle the mount. However, we cannot guarantee deny-by-default
>> policies like LandLock does, because this is just a building block of 
>> some security policies.
> 
> You do realize that above is racy as hell, right?
> 
> Filesystem objects do get moved around.  You can, theoretically, play with
> rename_lock, but that is highly antisocial.

I do understand filesystem objects may get moved around. However, I am not
sure whether we have to avoid all the race conditions (and whether it is
really possible to avoid all race conditions). 

> What's more, _mounts_ can get moved around.  That is to say, there is no
> such thing as stable canonical pathname of a file.

Maybe I should really step back and ask for high level suggestions. 

We are hoping to tag all files in a directory with xattr (or something
else) on the directory. For example, a xattr "Do_not_rename" on /usr 
should block rename of all files inside /usr. 

Our original idea is to start from security_file_open() hook, and walk 
up the tree (/usr/bin/gcc => /usr/bin => /usr). However, this appears
to be wasteful and unreliable, and Christian suggested we should use a 
combination of security_inode_permission and security_file_open. I 
tried to build something on this direction, and hits a few issues:

1. Getting xattr from security_inode_permission() is not easy. Some
   FS requires dentry to get xattr. 
2. Finding parent from security_inode_permission() is also tricky.
   (maybe as trick as doing dget_parent() from security_file_open?)
   We need tag on /usr to work on /usr/bin. But how do we know /usr
   is /usr/bin's parent?

For the original goal… tag all files in a directory with xattr on 
the directory, is it possible at all? If not, we will go back and
implement something to tag all the files one at a time. If it is
indeed possible, what's the right way to do it, and what are the
race conditions we need to avoid and to accept?

Comments and suggestions are highly appreciated. 

Thanks,
Song