[PATCH RFC 41/41] selftests/filesystems: add backing file tests for pseudo files

From: Christian Brauner

Date: Tue Nov 10 2026 - 05:00:24 EST


Add tests that files on pseudo filesystems can't be used as storage:

- a procfs file attached read-only to a loop device
- sysfs files attached read-only and read-write to a loop device
- a sysfs file behind a lower-only overlayfs attached to a loop device
- a sysfs file as the backing file of a usb mass storage gadget LUN
- a sysfs file as the source of a file-backed erofs mount

And make sure that a memfd and another loop device still work as loop
backing files and that loop refuses a backing file that isn't open for
reading.

Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/.gitignore | 1 +
tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/Makefile | 2 +-
tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/config | 9 +
.../selftests/filesystems/pseudo_backing_test.c | 274 +++++++++++++++++++++
4 files changed, 285 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/.gitignore b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/.gitignore
index cf79000e4092..8df38eabb125 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/.gitignore
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/.gitignore
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ kernfs_test
idmapped_tmpfile
ustat_test
rw_hint_test
+pseudo_backing_test
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/Makefile
index fbd5c27505ef..0ebb9005bcd2 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@

CFLAGS += $(KHDR_INCLUDES)
TEST_GEN_PROGS := devpts_pts anon_inode_test kernfs_test fclog ustat_test rw_hint_test
-TEST_GEN_PROGS += idmapped_tmpfile
+TEST_GEN_PROGS += idmapped_tmpfile pseudo_backing_test
TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED := dnotify_test

include ../lib.mk
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/config b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/config
index 9f45bc493a30..228196160d29 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/config
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/config
@@ -6,3 +6,12 @@ CONFIG_NET=y
CONFIG_NET_NS=y
CONFIG_INET=y
CONFIG_SYSFS=y
+CONFIG_BLK_DEV_LOOP=y
+CONFIG_OVERLAY_FS=y
+CONFIG_TMPFS=y
+CONFIG_CONFIGFS_FS=y
+CONFIG_USB_GADGET=y
+CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS=y
+CONFIG_USB_CONFIGFS_MASS_STORAGE=y
+CONFIG_EROFS_FS=y
+CONFIG_EROFS_FS_BACKED_BY_FILE=y
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/pseudo_backing_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/pseudo_backing_test.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..bc8e17ab8e6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/filesystems/pseudo_backing_test.c
@@ -0,0 +1,274 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <sched.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <linux/loop.h>
+#include <linux/magic.h>
+#include <sys/ioctl.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <sys/mount.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <sys/vfs.h>
+
+#include "kselftest_harness.h"
+#include "wrappers.h"
+
+/*
+ * Put @fd behind a free loop device. The device is set up with
+ * LO_FLAGS_AUTOCLEAR and goes away again when it is closed here.
+ */
+static int loop_attach(int fd, bool rw, char *dev, size_t len)
+{
+ struct loop_config cfg = {};
+ int ctl, nr, lfd, ret = 0;
+
+ ctl = open("/dev/loop-control", O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
+ if (ctl < 0)
+ return -errno;
+ nr = ioctl(ctl, LOOP_CTL_GET_FREE);
+ if (nr < 0)
+ ret = -errno;
+ close(ctl);
+ if (ret)
+ return ret;
+
+ snprintf(dev, len, "/dev/loop%d", nr);
+ lfd = open(dev, (rw ? O_RDWR : O_RDONLY) | O_CLOEXEC);
+ if (lfd < 0)
+ return -errno;
+
+ cfg.fd = fd;
+ cfg.info.lo_flags = LO_FLAGS_AUTOCLEAR;
+ if (!rw)
+ cfg.info.lo_flags |= LO_FLAGS_READ_ONLY;
+ if (ioctl(lfd, LOOP_CONFIGURE, &cfg)) {
+ ret = -errno;
+ close(lfd);
+ } else {
+ ret = lfd;
+ }
+ return ret;
+}
+
+static int attach_path(const char *path, bool rw)
+{
+ char dev[PATH_MAX];
+ int fd, ret;
+
+ fd = open(path, (rw ? O_RDWR : O_RDONLY) | O_CLOEXEC);
+ if (fd < 0)
+ return -errno;
+ ret = loop_attach(fd, rw, dev, sizeof(dev));
+ close(fd);
+ if (ret >= 0) {
+ close(ret);
+ ret = 0;
+ }
+ return ret;
+}
+
+static bool can_use_loop(void)
+{
+ return geteuid() == 0 && access("/dev/loop-control", R_OK | W_OK) == 0;
+}
+
+TEST(memfd_backing_file)
+{
+ char dev[PATH_MAX];
+ int fd, lfd;
+
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ fd = memfd_create("pseudo_backing_test", MFD_CLOEXEC);
+ ASSERT_GE(fd, 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(ftruncate(fd, 1 << 20), 0);
+
+ lfd = loop_attach(fd, true, dev, sizeof(dev));
+ ASSERT_GE(lfd, 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(lfd), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(fd), 0);
+}
+
+TEST(loop_device_backing_file)
+{
+ char dev[PATH_MAX], dev2[PATH_MAX];
+ int fd, lfd, bfd, lfd2;
+
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ fd = memfd_create("pseudo_backing_test", MFD_CLOEXEC);
+ ASSERT_GE(fd, 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(ftruncate(fd, 1 << 20), 0);
+ lfd = loop_attach(fd, true, dev, sizeof(dev));
+ ASSERT_GE(lfd, 0);
+
+ /* A block device stays fine as a backing file. */
+ bfd = open(dev, O_RDWR | O_CLOEXEC);
+ ASSERT_GE(bfd, 0);
+ lfd2 = loop_attach(bfd, true, dev2, sizeof(dev2));
+ ASSERT_GE(lfd2, 0);
+
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(lfd2), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(bfd), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(lfd), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(fd), 0);
+}
+
+TEST(write_only_backing_file)
+{
+ char dev[PATH_MAX], path[PATH_MAX];
+ int fd, wfd, lfd;
+
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ fd = memfd_create("pseudo_backing_test", MFD_CLOEXEC);
+ ASSERT_GE(fd, 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(ftruncate(fd, 1 << 20), 0);
+
+ /* Loop reads from its backing file so it must be open for reading. */
+ snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "/proc/self/fd/%d", fd);
+ wfd = open(path, O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+ ASSERT_GE(wfd, 0);
+
+ lfd = loop_attach(wfd, true, dev, sizeof(dev));
+ if (lfd >= 0)
+ close(lfd);
+ EXPECT_EQ(lfd, -EBADF);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(wfd), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(fd), 0);
+}
+
+TEST(procfs_backing_file)
+{
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ ASSERT_EQ(attach_path("/proc/cpuinfo", false), -EINVAL);
+}
+
+TEST(sysfs_backing_file)
+{
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ ASSERT_EQ(attach_path("/sys/kernel/warn_count", false), -EINVAL);
+
+ if (access("/sys/kernel/reboot/mode", F_OK))
+ SKIP(return, "no /sys/kernel/reboot/mode");
+ ASSERT_EQ(attach_path("/sys/kernel/reboot/mode", true), -EINVAL);
+}
+
+TEST(overlayfs_on_sysfs_backing_file)
+{
+ if (!can_use_loop())
+ SKIP(return, "loop devices unavailable");
+
+ ASSERT_EQ(unshare(CLONE_NEWNS), 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(mount(NULL, "/", NULL, MS_REC | MS_PRIVATE, NULL), 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(mount("tmpfs", "/tmp", "tmpfs", 0, NULL), 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(mkdir("/tmp/empty", 0755), 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(mkdir("/tmp/merged", 0755), 0);
+
+ /* A lower-only overlayfs serves reads from sysfs. */
+ if (mount("overlay", "/tmp/merged", "overlay", MS_RDONLY,
+ "lowerdir=/sys/kernel:/tmp/empty"))
+ SKIP(return, "no overlayfs on top of sysfs: %s", strerror(errno));
+
+ ASSERT_EQ(attach_path("/tmp/merged/warn_count", false), -EINVAL);
+}
+
+#define CONFIGFS_DIR "/sys/kernel/config"
+#define GADGET_DIR CONFIGFS_DIR "/usb_gadget/pseudo_backing_test"
+#define MASS_STORAGE_DIR GADGET_DIR "/functions/mass_storage.0"
+
+TEST(usb_mass_storage_backing_file)
+{
+ const char *path = "/sys/kernel/warn_count";
+ struct statfs sfs;
+ ssize_t ret;
+ int fd, err;
+
+ if (geteuid())
+ SKIP(return, "needs root");
+
+ /* Mounting configfs on top of itself fails with EBUSY. */
+ if (statfs(CONFIGFS_DIR, &sfs) || sfs.f_type != CONFIGFS_MAGIC) {
+ ASSERT_EQ(unshare(CLONE_NEWNS), 0);
+ ASSERT_EQ(mount(NULL, "/", NULL, MS_REC | MS_PRIVATE, NULL), 0);
+ if (mount("configfs", CONFIGFS_DIR, "configfs", 0, NULL))
+ SKIP(return, "no configfs: %s", strerror(errno));
+ }
+
+ if (mkdir(GADGET_DIR, 0755))
+ SKIP(return, "no usb gadget configfs: %s", strerror(errno));
+ if (mkdir(MASS_STORAGE_DIR, 0755)) {
+ err = errno;
+ rmdir(GADGET_DIR);
+ SKIP(return, "no usb mass storage function: %s", strerror(err));
+ }
+
+ /* Writing the path opens the LUN's backing file right away. */
+ fd = open(MASS_STORAGE_DIR "/lun.0/file", O_WRONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+ EXPECT_GE(fd, 0);
+ if (fd >= 0) {
+ ret = write(fd, path, strlen(path));
+ err = errno;
+ EXPECT_EQ(ret, -1);
+ EXPECT_EQ(err, EINVAL);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(fd), 0);
+ }
+
+ EXPECT_EQ(rmdir(MASS_STORAGE_DIR), 0);
+ EXPECT_EQ(rmdir(GADGET_DIR), 0);
+}
+
+TEST(erofs_backing_file)
+{
+ bool refused = false;
+ char buf[256];
+ int fsfd, ret, err;
+ ssize_t n;
+
+ if (geteuid())
+ SKIP(return, "needs root");
+
+ fsfd = sys_fsopen("erofs", FSOPEN_CLOEXEC);
+ if (fsfd < 0)
+ SKIP(return, "no erofs: %s", strerror(errno));
+
+ ASSERT_EQ(sys_fsconfig(fsfd, FSCONFIG_SET_STRING, "source",
+ "/sys/kernel/warn_count", 0), 0);
+ ret = sys_fsconfig(fsfd, FSCONFIG_CMD_CREATE, NULL, NULL, 0);
+ err = errno;
+ if (ret && err == ENOTBLK) {
+ close(fsfd);
+ SKIP(return, "no file-backed erofs mounts");
+ }
+ ASSERT_EQ(ret, -1);
+ ASSERT_EQ(err, EINVAL);
+
+ /*
+ * Something that isn't an erofs image fails with EINVAL as well so
+ * check that the source itself was refused.
+ */
+ while ((n = read(fsfd, buf, sizeof(buf) - 1)) > 0) {
+ buf[n] = '\0';
+ if (strstr(buf, "pseudo filesystem"))
+ refused = true;
+ }
+ EXPECT_TRUE(refused);
+ EXPECT_EQ(close(fsfd), 0);
+}
+
+TEST_HARNESS_MAIN

--
2.53.0