[PATCH v3 1/4] landlock: Add LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS

Justin Suess <[email protected]> Mon, 3 Aug 2026 18:31:05 -0400
Newsgroups org.kernel.vger.linux-security-module,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel
Message-ID <[email protected]>
Add a landlock_restrict_self(2) flag to set the no_new_privs attribute
of the calling thread only after enforcement of the ruleset:
no_new_privs is set if and only if the call succeeds.  This removes the
need for a prior prctl(2) PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS call and guarantees that
a failed enforcement leaves the attribute unchanged.

Because no_new_privs is set by the call itself, the no_new_privs /
CAP_SYS_ADMIN requirement of landlock_restrict_self(2) is fulfilled by
construction, and the related EPERM check is skipped.  As a consequence,
an unprivileged caller passing unknown flags along with this flag gets
EINVAL instead of EPERM.

Unlike LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_SUBDOMAINS_OFF, this flag always
requires a valid ruleset: with a ruleset_fd of -1, such a call would be
nothing more than a Landlock-flavored prctl(2) PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS, and
there is no valid use case for setting no_new_privs (possibly with
LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC) without also enforcing Landlock
restrictions.  Rejecting these calls also keeps the option of giving
them a meaning later.

The attribute is only set past the last point of failure, just before
committing the new credentials.  When combined with
LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC, no_new_privs is set on the sibling threads
as well, in their commit phase, with the same ordering.

Bump the Landlock ABI version to 11.

Cc: Mickaël Salaün <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Justin Suess <[email protected]>
---

Notes:
    v2->v3:
    - Reword "atomically" to the ordering guarantee (no_new_privs is only set
      once enforcement succeeded) in the commit message and both kdocs
    - Explain in the commit message why the flag requires a valid ruleset

 include/uapi/linux/landlock.h | 13 +++++++++++++
 security/landlock/limits.h    |  2 +-
 security/landlock/syscalls.c  | 28 +++++++++++++++++++++-------
 security/landlock/tsync.c     |  8 ++++++--
 security/landlock/tsync.h     |  4 +++-
 5 files changed, 44 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/landlock.h b/include/uapi/linux/landlock.h
index 27ae3f39cafb..11bf600698f0 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/landlock.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/landlock.h
@@ -191,12 +191,25 @@ struct landlock_ruleset_attr {
  *
  *     If the calling thread is running with no_new_privs, this operation
  *     enables no_new_privs on the sibling threads as well.
+ *
+ * The following flag ties the no_new_privs attribute to the ruleset
+ * enforcement:
+ *
+ * %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS
+ *     Sets the no_new_privs attribute of the calling thread only once the
+ *     enforcement of the ruleset succeeded: no_new_privs is set if and only
+ *     if sys_landlock_restrict_self() succeeds.  This removes the need for a
+ *     prior :manpage:`prctl(2)` ``PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS`` call, and with it the
+ *     %CAP_SYS_ADMIN requirement.  This flag requires a ruleset.  When
+ *     combined with %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC, no_new_privs is set on the
+ *     sibling threads as well.
  */
 /* clang-format off */
 #define LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_SAME_EXEC_OFF		(1U << 0)
 #define LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_NEW_EXEC_ON			(1U << 1)
 #define LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_SUBDOMAINS_OFF		(1U << 2)
 #define LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC				(1U << 3)
+#define LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS			(1U << 4)
 /* clang-format on */
 
 /**
diff --git a/security/landlock/limits.h b/security/landlock/limits.h
index 08d5f2f6d321..1a7c5fb8f6fd 100644
--- a/security/landlock/limits.h
+++ b/security/landlock/limits.h
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 #define LANDLOCK_NUM_ACCESS_MAX \
 	MAX(MAX(LANDLOCK_NUM_ACCESS_FS, LANDLOCK_NUM_ACCESS_NET), LANDLOCK_NUM_SCOPE)
 
-#define LANDLOCK_LAST_RESTRICT_SELF	LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC
+#define LANDLOCK_LAST_RESTRICT_SELF	LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS
 #define LANDLOCK_MASK_RESTRICT_SELF	((LANDLOCK_LAST_RESTRICT_SELF << 1) - 1)
 
 /* clang-format on */
diff --git a/security/landlock/syscalls.c b/security/landlock/syscalls.c
index 36b02892c62f..e97f944109f9 100644
--- a/security/landlock/syscalls.c
+++ b/security/landlock/syscalls.c
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static const struct file_operations ruleset_fops = {
  * If the change involves a fix that requires userspace awareness, also update
  * the errata documentation in Documentation/userspace-api/landlock.rst .
  */
-const int landlock_abi_version = 10;
+const int landlock_abi_version = 11;
 
 /**
  * sys_landlock_create_ruleset - Create a new ruleset
@@ -502,21 +502,28 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE4(landlock_add_rule, const int, ruleset_fd,
  *         - %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_NEW_EXEC_ON
  *         - %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_LOG_SUBDOMAINS_OFF
  *         - %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC
+ *         - %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS
  *
  * This system call enforces a Landlock ruleset on the current thread.
  * Enforcing a ruleset requires that the task has %CAP_SYS_ADMIN in its
  * namespace or is running with no_new_privs.  This avoids scenarios where
  * unprivileged tasks can affect the behavior of privileged children.
  *
+ * With %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS, the no_new_privs attribute of the
+ * calling thread is set only once the enforcement of the ruleset succeeded,
+ * which fulfills the above requirement: no_new_privs is set if and only if the
+ * call succeeds.
+ *
  * Return: 0 on success, or -errno on failure.  Possible returned errors are:
  *
  * - %EOPNOTSUPP: Landlock is supported by the kernel but disabled at boot time;
  * - %EINVAL: @flags contains an unknown bit.
  * - %EBADF: @ruleset_fd is not a file descriptor for the current thread;
  * - %EBADFD: @ruleset_fd is not a ruleset file descriptor;
- * - %EPERM: @ruleset_fd has no read access to the underlying ruleset, or the
- *   current thread is not running with no_new_privs, or it doesn't have
- *   %CAP_SYS_ADMIN in its namespace.
+ * - %EPERM: @ruleset_fd has no read access to the underlying ruleset, or
+ *   %LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS is not set while the current thread
+ *   is not running with no_new_privs and doesn't have %CAP_SYS_ADMIN in its
+ *   namespace.
  * - %E2BIG: The maximum number of stacked rulesets is reached for the current
  *   thread.
  *
@@ -529,6 +536,8 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE2(landlock_restrict_self, const int, ruleset_fd, const __u32,
 	struct landlock_ruleset *ruleset __free(landlock_put_ruleset) = NULL;
 	struct cred *new_cred;
 	struct landlock_cred_security *new_llcred;
+	const bool set_no_new_privs =
+		!!(flags & LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS);
 	bool __maybe_unused log_same_exec, log_new_exec, log_subdomains,
 		prev_log_subdomains;
 
@@ -537,9 +546,10 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE2(landlock_restrict_self, const int, ruleset_fd, const __u32,
 
 	/*
 	 * Similar checks as for seccomp(2), except that an -EPERM may be
-	 * returned.
+	 * returned.  LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS fulfills this
+	 * requirement.
 	 */
-	if (!task_no_new_privs(current) &&
+	if (!set_no_new_privs && !task_no_new_privs(current) &&
 	    !ns_capable_noaudit(current_user_ns(), CAP_SYS_ADMIN))
 		return -EPERM;
 
@@ -620,12 +630,16 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE2(landlock_restrict_self, const int, ruleset_fd, const __u32,
 
 	if (flags & LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_TSYNC) {
 		const int err = landlock_restrict_sibling_threads(
-			current_cred(), new_cred);
+			current_cred(), new_cred, flags);
 		if (err) {
 			abort_creds(new_cred);
 			return err;
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* Sets no_new_privs past the last point of failure. */
+	if (set_no_new_privs)
+		task_set_no_new_privs(current);
+
 	return commit_creds(new_cred);
 }
diff --git a/security/landlock/tsync.c b/security/landlock/tsync.c
index c5730bbd9ed3..0b71e158c3f5 100644
--- a/security/landlock/tsync.c
+++ b/security/landlock/tsync.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <linux/sched/task.h>
 #include <linux/slab.h>
 #include <linux/task_work.h>
+#include <uapi/linux/landlock.h>
 
 #include "cred.h"
 #include "tsync.h"
@@ -466,7 +467,8 @@ static void cancel_tsync_works(const struct tsync_works *works,
  * restrict_sibling_threads - enables a Landlock policy for all sibling threads
  */
 int landlock_restrict_sibling_threads(const struct cred *old_cred,
-				      const struct cred *new_cred)
+				      const struct cred *new_cred,
+				      const u32 restrict_flags)
 {
 	int err;
 	struct tsync_shared_context shared_ctx;
@@ -481,7 +483,9 @@ int landlock_restrict_sibling_threads(const struct cred *old_cred,
 	init_completion(&shared_ctx.all_finished);
 	shared_ctx.old_cred = old_cred;
 	shared_ctx.new_cred = new_cred;
-	shared_ctx.set_no_new_privs = task_no_new_privs(current);
+	shared_ctx.set_no_new_privs =
+		(restrict_flags & LANDLOCK_RESTRICT_SELF_NO_NEW_PRIVS) ||
+		task_no_new_privs(current);
 
 	/*
 	 * Serialize concurrent TSYNC operations to prevent deadlocks when
diff --git a/security/landlock/tsync.h b/security/landlock/tsync.h
index ef86bb61c2f6..2ae4f938ca00 100644
--- a/security/landlock/tsync.h
+++ b/security/landlock/tsync.h
@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@
 #define _SECURITY_LANDLOCK_TSYNC_H
 
 #include <linux/cred.h>
+#include <linux/types.h>
 
 int landlock_restrict_sibling_threads(const struct cred *old_cred,
-				      const struct cred *new_cred);
+				      const struct cred *new_cred,
+				      u32 restrict_flags);
 
 #endif /* _SECURITY_LANDLOCK_TSYNC_H */
-- 
2.54.0