RE: [PATCH v5 5/6] prctl: Allow checkpoint/restore capable processes to change exe link

On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 04:49:53PM +0200, Adrian Reber wrote:

quoted

From: Nicolas Viennot <redacted>

Allow CAP_CHECKPOINT_RESTORE capable users to change /proc/self/exe.

This commit also changes the permission error code from -EINVAL to 
-EPERM for consistency with the rest of the prctl() syscall when 
checking capabilities.

I agree that EINVAL seems weird here but this is a potentially user visible change. Might be nice to have the EINVAL->EPERM change be an additional patch on top after this one so we can revert it in case it breaks someone (unlikely though). I can split this out myself though so no need to resend for that alone.
What I would also prefer is to have some history in the commit message tbh. The reason is that when we started discussing that specific change I had to hunt down the history of changing /proc/self/exe and had to dig up and read through ancient threads on lore to come up with the explanation why this is placed under a capability. The commit message should then also mention that there are other ways to change the /proc/self/exe link that don't require capabilities and that /proc/self/exe itself is not something userspace should rely on for security. Mainly so that in a few months/years we can read through that commit message and go "Weird, but ok.". :)
But maybe I can just rewrite this myself so you don't have to go through the trouble. This is really not pedantry it's just that it's a lot of work digging up the reasons for a piece of code existing when it's really not obvious. :)

Hello Christian,

I agree.
Thank you for suggesting doing the work, but you've done plenty already. So we'll come back to you with:
1) A separate commit for EINVAL->EPERM
2) A full history of discussions in the commit message related to /proc/self/exe capability check

Thanks,
Nico