[PATCH v2] sysctl: move the "cad_pid" entry from pid_table[] to kern_reboot_table[]

From: Oleg Nesterov

Date: Mon Jul 20 2026 - 07:32:51 EST


cad_pid is global, and kill_cad_pid() is only used in the root namespace.

However, due to pid_table_root_permissions(), a non-root user can unshare
pid/user namespaces and modify it from the child namespace. This makes no
sense and is simply wrong.

Move it to kern_reboot_table[] where it logically belongs; this ensures
that only GLOBAL_ROOT_UID can read/modify this sysctl.

Note that this patch doesn't preserve "#ifdef CONFIG_PROC_SYSCTL" around
the "cad_pid"; CONFIG_PROC_SYSCTL selects CONFIG_SYSCTL, so it is always
set when kern_reboot_table[] is compiled.

Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fixes: e054bcbe7e7a ("sysctl: move cad_pid into kernel/pid.c")
Signed-off-by: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@xxxxxxxxxx>
Acked-by: Alexey Gladkov <legion@xxxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Bradley Morgan <include@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Pavel Tikhomirov <ptikhomirov@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/pid.c | 31 -------------------------------
kernel/reboot.c | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/pid.c b/kernel/pid.c
index f55189a3d07d..1c27e63fa0ad 100644
--- a/kernel/pid.c
+++ b/kernel/pid.c
@@ -764,29 +764,6 @@ static struct ctl_table_root pid_table_root = {
.set_ownership = pid_table_root_set_ownership,
};

-static int proc_do_cad_pid(const struct ctl_table *table, int write, void *buffer,
- size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
-{
- struct pid *new_pid;
- pid_t tmp_pid;
- int r;
- struct ctl_table tmp_table = *table;
-
- tmp_pid = pid_vnr(cad_pid);
- tmp_table.data = &tmp_pid;
-
- r = proc_dointvec(&tmp_table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos);
- if (r || !write)
- return r;
-
- new_pid = find_get_pid(tmp_pid);
- if (!new_pid)
- return -ESRCH;
-
- put_pid(xchg(&cad_pid, new_pid));
- return 0;
-}
-
static const struct ctl_table pid_table[] = {
{
.procname = "pid_max",
@@ -797,14 +774,6 @@ static const struct ctl_table pid_table[] = {
.extra1 = &pid_max_min,
.extra2 = &pid_max_max,
},
-#ifdef CONFIG_PROC_SYSCTL
- {
- .procname = "cad_pid",
- .maxlen = sizeof(int),
- .mode = 0600,
- .proc_handler = proc_do_cad_pid,
- },
-#endif
};
#endif

diff --git a/kernel/reboot.c b/kernel/reboot.c
index 695c33e75efd..f070c5c1103a 100644
--- a/kernel/reboot.c
+++ b/kernel/reboot.c
@@ -1366,6 +1366,29 @@ static struct attribute *reboot_attrs[] = {
};

#ifdef CONFIG_SYSCTL
+static int proc_do_cad_pid(const struct ctl_table *table, int write, void *buffer,
+ size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
+{
+ struct ctl_table tmp_table = *table;
+ struct pid *new_pid;
+ pid_t tmp_pid;
+ int r;
+
+ tmp_pid = pid_vnr(cad_pid);
+ tmp_table.data = &tmp_pid;
+
+ r = proc_dointvec(&tmp_table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos);
+ if (r || !write)
+ return r;
+
+ new_pid = find_get_pid(tmp_pid);
+ if (!new_pid)
+ return -ESRCH;
+
+ put_pid(xchg(&cad_pid, new_pid));
+ return 0;
+}
+
static const struct ctl_table kern_reboot_table[] = {
{
.procname = "poweroff_cmd",
@@ -1381,6 +1404,12 @@ static const struct ctl_table kern_reboot_table[] = {
.mode = 0644,
.proc_handler = proc_dointvec,
},
+ {
+ .procname = "cad_pid",
+ .maxlen = sizeof(int),
+ .mode = 0600,
+ .proc_handler = proc_do_cad_pid,
+ },
};

static void __init kernel_reboot_sysctls_init(void)
--
2.52.0