[PATCH RFC 2/3] pidfd: Use scoped cleanup for task access

From: Chen Linxuan via B4 Relay

Date: Thu Aug 20 2026 - 01:47:00 EST


From: Chen Linxuan <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Split namespace acquisition from namespace fd creation and represent a
privileged target task as a scoped class that owns both the task
reference and exec_update_lock. Use the class for namespace lookups so
ptrace access checks and task state reads remain tied to the same exec
critical section, while open_namespace() stays outside the lock.

Assisted-by: codex:glm-5.3
Signed-off-by: Chen Linxuan <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/pidfs.c | 123 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------
1 file changed, 77 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/pidfs.c b/fs/pidfs.c
index a6a643f15d08..39e1e7ad9b2b 100644
--- a/fs/pidfs.c
+++ b/fs/pidfs.c
@@ -527,62 +527,71 @@ static bool pidfs_ioctl_valid(unsigned int cmd)
return false;
}

-static long pidfd_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
+static inline void pidfd_put_task_locked(struct task_struct *task)
{
- struct task_struct *task __free(put_task) = NULL;
- struct nsproxy *nsp __free(put_nsproxy) = NULL;
- struct ns_common *ns_common = NULL;
- int error;
-
- if (!pidfs_ioctl_valid(cmd))
- return -ENOIOCTLCMD;
-
- if (cmd == FS_IOC_GETVERSION) {
- if (!arg)
- return -EINVAL;
-
- __u32 __user *argp = (__u32 __user *)arg;
- return put_user(file_inode(file)->i_generation, argp);
+ if (!IS_ERR_OR_NULL(task)) {
+ up_read(&task->signal->exec_update_lock);
+ put_task_struct(task);
}
+}

- /* Extensible IOCTL that does not open namespace FDs, take a shortcut */
- if (_IOC_NR(cmd) == _IOC_NR(PIDFD_GET_INFO))
- return pidfd_info(file, cmd, arg);
+/*
+ * Return @pid's task with @task's exec_update_lock held. The ptrace check
+ * and the callers' task state lookup must be performed while the lock is held
+ * so that they cannot race with a concurrent execve().
+ */
+static struct task_struct *pidfd_get_task_locked(struct pid *pid,
+ unsigned long arg)
+{
+ struct task_struct *task = get_pid_task(pid, PIDTYPE_PID);
+ int error;

- task = get_pid_task(pidfd_pid(file), PIDTYPE_PID);
if (!task)
- return -ESRCH;
+ return ERR_PTR(-ESRCH);

- if (arg)
- return -EINVAL;
+ if (arg) {
+ put_task_struct(task);
+ return ERR_PTR(-EINVAL);
+ }

- /*
- * We're trying to open a file descriptor to the namespace so perform a
- * filesystem cred ptrace check. Hold @task's exec_update_lock for the
- * duration of the ptrace check and the namespace lookup so that the
- * credentials used for the access decision match those of @task at the
- * time its namespace is read, preventing a concurrent execve() from
- * swapping the task's credentials in between the check and the use. We
- * mirror nsfs behavior.
- */
error = down_read_killable(&task->signal->exec_update_lock);
- if (error)
- return error;
+ if (error) {
+ put_task_struct(task);
+ return ERR_PTR(error);
+ }

if (!ptrace_may_access(task, PTRACE_MODE_READ_FSCREDS)) {
- error = -EACCES;
- goto out_unlock;
+ up_read(&task->signal->exec_update_lock);
+ put_task_struct(task);
+ return ERR_PTR(-EACCES);
}

+ return task;
+}
+
+DEFINE_CLASS(pidfd_task_locked, struct task_struct *,
+ pidfd_put_task_locked(_T),
+ pidfd_get_task_locked(pid, arg),
+ struct pid *pid, unsigned long arg)
+
+static struct ns_common *pidfd_get_namespace(struct pid *pid,
+ unsigned int cmd,
+ unsigned long arg)
+{
+ struct nsproxy *nsp __free(put_nsproxy) = NULL;
+ struct ns_common *ns_common = NULL;
+
+ CLASS(pidfd_task_locked, task)(pid, arg);
+ if (IS_ERR(task))
+ return ERR_CAST(task);
+
scoped_guard(task_lock, task) {
nsp = task->nsproxy;
if (nsp)
get_nsproxy(nsp);
}
- if (!nsp) {
- error = -ESRCH; /* just pretend it didn't exist */
- goto out_unlock;
- }
+ if (!nsp)
+ return ERR_PTR(-ESRCH); /* just pretend it didn't exist */

switch (cmd) {
/* Namespaces that hang of nsproxy. */
@@ -664,16 +673,38 @@ static long pidfd_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
#endif
break;
default:
- error = -ENOIOCTLCMD;
+ return ERR_PTR(-ENOIOCTLCMD);
+ }
+
+ if (!ns_common)
+ return ERR_PTR(-EOPNOTSUPP);
+
+ return ns_common;
+}
+
+static long pidfd_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
+{
+ struct ns_common *ns_common = NULL;
+
+ if (!pidfs_ioctl_valid(cmd))
+ return -ENOIOCTLCMD;
+
+ if (cmd == FS_IOC_GETVERSION) {
+ if (!arg)
+ return -EINVAL;
+
+ __u32 __user *argp = (__u32 __user *)arg;
+
+ return put_user(file_inode(file)->i_generation, argp);
}

- if (!error && !ns_common)
- error = -EOPNOTSUPP;
+ /* Extensible IOCTL that does not open namespace FDs, take a shortcut */
+ if (_IOC_NR(cmd) == _IOC_NR(PIDFD_GET_INFO))
+ return pidfd_info(file, cmd, arg);

-out_unlock:
- up_read(&task->signal->exec_update_lock);
- if (error)
- return error;
+ ns_common = pidfd_get_namespace(pidfd_pid(file), cmd, arg);
+ if (IS_ERR(ns_common))
+ return PTR_ERR(ns_common);

/* open_namespace() unconditionally consumes the reference */
return open_namespace(ns_common);

--
2.53.0