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2025-11-17pidfs: simplify PIDFD_GET_<type>_NAMESPACE ioctlsChristian Brauner
We have reworked namespaces sufficiently that all this special-casing shouldn't be needed anymore Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251117-eidesstattlich-apotheke-36d2e644079f@brauner Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-14nstree: fix kernel-doc comments for internal functionsKriish Sharma
Documentation build reported: Warning: kernel/nstree.c:325 function parameter 'ns_tree' not described in '__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu' Warning: kernel/nstree.c:325 expecting prototype for ns_tree_adjoined_rcu(). Prototype was for __ns_tree_adjoined_rcu() instead Warning: kernel/nstree.c:353 expecting prototype for ns_tree_gen_id(). Prototype was for __ns_tree_gen_id() instead The kernel-doc comments for `__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu()` and `__ns_tree_gen_id()` had mismatched function names and a missing parameter description. This patch updates the function names in the kernel-doc headers and adds the missing `@ns_tree` parameter description for `__ns_tree_adjoined_rcu()`. Fixes: 885fc8ac0a4d ("nstree: make iterator generic") Reported-by: kernel test robot <lkp@intel.com> Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/oe-kbuild-all/202511061542.0LO7xKs8-lkp@intel.com Signed-off-by: Kriish Sharma <kriish.sharma2006@gmail.com> Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251111112533.2254432-1-kriish.sharma2006@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-14nsproxy: fix free_nsproxy() and simplify create_new_namespaces()Christian Brauner
Make it possible to handle NULL being passed to the reference count helpers instead of forcing the caller to handle this. Afterwards we can nicely allow a cleanup guard to handle nsproxy freeing. Active reference count handling is not done in nsproxy_free() but rather in free_nsproxy() as nsproxy_free() is also called from setns() failure paths where a new nsproxy has been prepared but has not been marked as active via switch_task_namespaces(). Link: https://lore.kernel.org/690bfb9e.050a0220.2e3c35.0013.GAE@google.com Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251111-sakralbau-guthaben-7dcc277d337f@brauner Fixes: 3c9820d5c64a ("ns: add active reference count") Reported-by: syzbot+0b2e79f91ff6579bfa5b@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reported-by: syzbot+0a8655a80e189278487e@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11Merge patch series "ns: header cleanups and initial namespace reference ↵Christian Brauner
count improvements" Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org> says: Cleanup the namespace headers by splitting them into types and helpers. Better separate common namepace types and functions from namespace tree types and functions. Fix the reference counts of initial namespaces so we don't do any pointless cacheline ping-pong for them when we know they can never go away. Add a bunch of asserts for both the passive and active reference counts to catch any changes that would break it. * patches from https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-0-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org: selftests/namespaces: fix nsid tests ns: drop custom reference count initialization for initial namespaces pid: rely on common reference count behavior ns: add asserts for initial namespace active reference counts ns: add asserts for initial namespace reference counts ns: make all reference counts on initial namespace a nop ipc: enable is_ns_init_id() assertions fs: use boolean to indicate anonymous mount namespace ns: rename is_initial_namespace() ns: make is_initial_namespace() argument const nstree: use guards for ns_tree_lock nstree: simplify owner list iteration nstree: switch to new structures nstree: add helper to operate on struct ns_tree_{node,root} nstree: move nstree types into separate header nstree: decouple from ns_common header ns: move namespace types into separate header Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-0-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11selftests/namespaces: fix nsid testsChristian Brauner
Ensure that we always kill and cleanup all processes. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-17-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: drop custom reference count initialization for initial namespacesChristian Brauner
Initial namespaces don't modify their reference count anymore. They remain fixed at one so drop the custom refcount initializations. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-16-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11pid: rely on common reference count behaviorChristian Brauner
Now that we changed the generic reference counting mechanism for all namespaces to never manipulate reference counts of initial namespaces we can drop the special handling for pid namespaces. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-15-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: add asserts for initial namespace active reference countsChristian Brauner
They always remain fixed at one. Notice when that assumptions is broken. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-14-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: add asserts for initial namespace reference countsChristian Brauner
They always remain fixed at one. Notice when that assumptions is broken. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-13-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: make all reference counts on initial namespace a nopChristian Brauner
They are always active so no need to needlessly cacheline ping-pong. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-12-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ipc: enable is_ns_init_id() assertionsChristian Brauner
The ipc namespace may call put_ipc_ns() and get_ipc_ns() before it is added to the namespace tree. Assign the id early like we do for a some other namespaces. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-11-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11fs: use boolean to indicate anonymous mount namespaceChristian Brauner
Stop playing games with the namespace id and use a boolean instead: * This will remove the special-casing we need to do everywhere for mount namespaces. * It will allow us to use asserts on the namespace id for initial namespaces everywhere. * It will allow us to put anonymous mount namespaces on the namespaces trees in the future and thus make them available to statmount() and listmount(). Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-10-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: rename is_initial_namespace()Christian Brauner
Rename is_initial_namespace() to ns_init_inum() and make it symmetrical with the ns id variant. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-9-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: make is_initial_namespace() argument constChristian Brauner
We don't modify the data structure at all so pass it as const. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-8-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: use guards for ns_tree_lockChristian Brauner
Make use of the guard infrastructure for ns_tree_lock. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-7-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: simplify owner list iterationChristian Brauner
Make use of list_for_each_entry_from_rcu(). Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-6-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: switch to new structuresChristian Brauner
Switch the nstree management to the new combined structures. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-5-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: add helper to operate on struct ns_tree_{node,root}Christian Brauner
Add helpers that work on the combined rbtree and rculist combined. This will make the code a lot more managable and legible. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-4-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: move nstree types into separate headerChristian Brauner
Introduce two new fundamental data structures for namespace tree management in a separate header file. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-3-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11nstree: decouple from ns_common headerChristian Brauner
Foward declare struct ns_common and remove the include of ns_common.h. We want ns_common.h to possibly include nstree structures but not the other way around. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-2-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11ns: move namespace types into separate headerChristian Brauner
Add a dedicated header for namespace types. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251110-work-namespace-nstree-fixes-v1-1-e8a9264e0fb9@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-11Merge branch 'kbuild-6.19.fms.extension'Christian Brauner
Bring in the shared branch with the kbuild tree to enable '-fms-extensions' for 6.19. Further namespace cleanup work requires this extension. Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10Merge patch series "ns: fixes for namespace iteration and active reference ↵Christian Brauner
counting" Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org> says: * Make sure to initialize the active reference count for the initial network namespace and prevent __ns_common_init() from returning too early. * Make sure that passive reference counts are dropped outside of rcu read locks as some namespaces such as the mount namespace do in fact sleep when putting the last reference. * The setns() system call supports: (1) namespace file descriptors (nsfd) (2) process file descriptors (pidfd) When using nsfds the namespaces will remain active because they are pinned by the vfs. However, when pidfds are used things are more complicated. When the target task exits and passes through exit_nsproxy_namespaces() or is reaped and thus also passes through exit_cred_namespaces() after the setns()'ing task has called prepare_nsset() but before the active reference count of the set of namespaces it wants to setns() to might have been dropped already: P1 P2 pid_p1 = clone(CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) pidfd = pidfd_open(pid_p1) setns(pidfd, CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) prepare_nsset() exit(0) // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 -> exit_nsproxy_namespaces() -> exit_cred_namespaces() // ns_active_ref_put() will also put // the reference on the owner of the // namespace. If the only reason the // owning namespace was alive was // because it was a parent of @ns // it's active reference count now goes // to zero... -------------------------------- // | // ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | | commit_nsset() -----------------> // If setns() // now manages to install the namespaces // it will call ns_active_ref_get() // on them thus bumping the active reference // count from zero again but without also // taking the required reference on the owner. // Thus we get: // // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 When later someone does ns_active_ref_put() on @ns it will underflow parent_ns->__ns_active_ref leading to a splat from our asserts thinking there are still active references when in fact the counter just underflowed. So resurrect the ownership chain if necessary as well. If the caller succeeded to grab passive references to the set of namespaces the setns() should simply succeed even if the target task exists or gets reaped in the meantime. The race is rare and can only be triggered when using pidfs to setns() to namespaces. Also note that active reference on initial namespaces are nops. Since we now always handle parent references directly we can drop ns_ref_active_get_owner() when adding a namespace to a namespace tree. This is now all handled uniformly in the places where the new namespaces actually become active. * patches from https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-0-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org: selftests/namespaces: test for efault selftests/namespaces: add active reference count regression test ns: add asserts for active refcount underflow ns: handle setns(pidfd, ...) cleanly ns: return EFAULT on put_user() error ns: make sure reference are dropped outside of rcu lock ns: don't increment or decrement initial namespaces ns: don't skip active reference count initialization Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-0-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10selftests/namespaces: test for efaultChristian Brauner
Ensure that put_user() can fail and that namespace cleanup works correctly. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-8-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10Merge patch "kbuild: Add '-fms-extensions' to areas with dedicated CFLAGS"Christian Brauner
Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org> says: Shared branch between Kbuild and other trees for enabling '-fms-extensions' for 6.19. * tag 'kbuild-ms-extensions-6.19' of ssh://gitolite.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kbuild/linux: kbuild: Add '-fms-extensions' to areas with dedicated CFLAGS Kbuild: enable -fms-extensions jfs: Rename _inline to avoid conflict with clang's '-fms-extensions' Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251101-kbuild-ms-extensions-dedicated-cflags-v1-1-38004aba524b@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10selftests/namespaces: add active reference count regression testChristian Brauner
Add a regression test for setns() with pidfd. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-7-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: add asserts for active refcount underflowChristian Brauner
Add a few more assert to detect active reference count underflows. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-6-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: handle setns(pidfd, ...) cleanlyChristian Brauner
The setns() system call supports: (1) namespace file descriptors (nsfd) (2) process file descriptors (pidfd) When using nsfds the namespaces will remain active because they are pinned by the vfs. However, when pidfds are used things are more complicated. When the target task exits and passes through exit_nsproxy_namespaces() or is reaped and thus also passes through exit_cred_namespaces() after the setns()'ing task has called prepare_nsset() but before the active reference count of the set of namespaces it wants to setns() to might have been dropped already: P1 P2 pid_p1 = clone(CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) pidfd = pidfd_open(pid_p1) setns(pidfd, CLONE_NEWUSER | CLONE_NEWNET | CLONE_NEWNS) prepare_nsset() exit(0) // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 -> exit_nsproxy_namespaces() -> exit_cred_namespaces() // ns_active_ref_put() will also put // the reference on the owner of the // namespace. If the only reason the // owning namespace was alive was // because it was a parent of @ns // it's active reference count now goes // to zero... -------------------------------- // | // ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 | | commit_nsset() -----------------> // If setns() // now manages to install the namespaces // it will call ns_active_ref_get() // on them thus bumping the active reference // count from zero again but without also // taking the required reference on the owner. // Thus we get: // // ns->__ns_active_ref == 1 // parent_ns->__ns_active_ref == 0 When later someone does ns_active_ref_put() on @ns it will underflow parent_ns->__ns_active_ref leading to a splat from our asserts thinking there are still active references when in fact the counter just underflowed. So resurrect the ownership chain if necessary as well. If the caller succeeded to grab passive references to the set of namespaces the setns() should simply succeed even if the target task exists or gets reaped in the meantime and thus has dropped all active references to its namespaces. The race is rare and can only be triggered when using pidfs to setns() to namespaces. Also note that active reference on initial namespaces are nops. Since we now always handle parent references directly we can drop ns_ref_active_get_owner() when adding a namespace to a namespace tree. This is now all handled uniformly in the places where the new namespaces actually become active. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-5-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Fixes: 3c9820d5c64a ("ns: add active reference count") Reported-by: syzbot+1957b26299cf3ff7890c@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: return EFAULT on put_user() errorChristian Brauner
Don't return EINVAL, return EFAULT just like we do in other system calls. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-4-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: make sure reference are dropped outside of rcu lockChristian Brauner
The mount namespace may in fact sleep when putting the last passive reference so we need to drop the namespace reference outside of the rcu read lock. Do this by delaying the put until the next iteration where we've already moved on to the next namespace and legitimized it. Once we drop the rcu read lock to call put_user() we will also drop the reference to the previous namespace in the tree. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-3-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Fixes: 76b6f5dfb3fd ("nstree: add listns()") Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: don't increment or decrement initial namespacesChristian Brauner
There's no need to bump the active reference counts of initial namespaces as they're always active and can simply remain at 1. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-2-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-10ns: don't skip active reference count initializationChristian Brauner
Don't skip active reference count initialization for initial namespaces. Doing this will break network namespace active reference counting. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251109-namespace-6-19-fixes-v1-1-ae8a4ad5a3b3@kernel.org Fixes: 3a18f809184b ("ns: add active reference count") Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03Merge patch series "nstree: listns()"Christian Brauner
Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org> says: As announced a while ago this is the next step building on the nstree work from prior cycles. There's a bunch of fixes and semantic cleanups in here and a ton of tests. Currently listns() is relying on active namespace reference counts which are introduced alongside this series. While a namespace is on the namespace trees with a valid reference count it is possible to reopen it through a namespace file handle. This is all fine but has some issues that should be addressed. On current kernels a namespace is visible to userspace in the following cases: (1) The namespace is in use by a task. (2) The namespace is persisted through a VFS object (namespace file descriptor or bind-mount). Note that (2) only cares about direct persistence of the namespace itself not indirectly via e.g., file->f_cred file references or similar. (3) The namespace is a hierarchical namespace type and is the parent of a single or multiple child namespaces. Case (3) is interesting because it is possible that a parent namespace might not fulfill any of (1) or (2), i.e., is invisible to userspace but it may still be resurrected through the NS_GET_PARENT ioctl(). Currently namespace file handles allow much broader access to namespaces than what is currently possible via (1)-(3). The reason is that namespaces may remain pinned for completely internal reasons yet are inaccessible to userspace. For example, a user namespace my remain pinned by get_cred() calls to stash the opener's credentials into file->f_cred. As it stands file handles allow to resurrect such a users namespace even though this should not be possible via (1)-(3). This is a fundamental uapi change that we shouldn't do if we don't have to. Consider the following insane case: Various architectures support the CONFIG_MMU_LAZY_TLB_REFCOUNT option which uses lazy TLB destruction. When this option is set a userspace task's struct mm_struct may be used for kernel threads such as the idle task and will only be destroyed once the cpu's runqueue switches back to another task. But because of ptrace() permission checks struct mm_struct stashes the user namespace of the task that struct mm_struct originally belonged to. The kernel thread will take a reference on the struct mm_struct and thus pin it. So on an idle system user namespaces can be persisted for arbitrary amounts of time which also means that they can be resurrected using namespace file handles. That makes no sense whatsoever. The problem is of course excarabted on large systems with a huge number of cpus. To handle this nicely we introduce an active reference count which tracks (1)-(3). This is easy to do as all of these things are already managed centrally. Only (1)-(3) will count towards the active reference count and only namespaces which are active may be opened via namespace file handles. The problem is that namespaces may be resurrected. Which means that they can become temporarily inactive and will be reactived some time later. Currently the only example of this is the SIOGCSKNS socket ioctl. The SIOCGSKNS ioctl allows to open a network namespace file descriptor based on a socket file descriptor. If a socket is tied to a network namespace that subsequently becomes inactive but that socket is persisted by another process in another network namespace (e.g., via SCM_RIGHTS of pidfd_getfd()) then the SIOCGSKNS ioctl will resurrect this network namespace. So calls to open_related_ns() and open_namespace() will end up resurrecting the corresponding namespace tree. Note that the active reference count does not regulate the lifetime of the namespace itself. This is still done by the normal reference count. The active reference count can only be elevated if the regular reference count is elevated. The active reference count also doesn't regulate the presence of a namespace on the namespace trees. It only regulates its visiblity to namespace file handles (and in later patches to listns()). A namespace remains on the namespace trees from creation until its actual destruction. This will allow the kernel to always reach any namespace trivially and it will also enable subsystems like bpf to walk the namespace lists on the system for tracing or general introspection purposes. Note that different namespaces have different visibility lifetimes on current kernels. While most namespace are immediately released when the last task using them exits, the user- and pid namespace are persisted and thus both remain accessible via /proc/<pid>/ns/<ns_type>. The user namespace lifetime is aliged with struct cred and is only released through exit_creds(). However, it becomes inaccessible to userspace once the last task using it is reaped, i.e., when release_task() is called and all proc entries are flushed. Similarly, the pid namespace is also visible until the last task using it has been reaped and the associated pid numbers are freed. The active reference counts of the user- and pid namespace are decremented once the task is reaped. Based on the namespace trees and the active reference count, a new listns() system call that allows userspace to iterate through namespaces in the system. This provides a programmatic interface to discover and inspect namespaces, enhancing existing namespace apis. Currently, there is no direct way for userspace to enumerate namespaces in the system. Applications must resort to scanning /proc/<pid>/ns/ across all processes, which is: 1. Inefficient - requires iterating over all processes 2. Incomplete - misses inactive namespaces that aren't attached to any running process but are kept alive by file descriptors, bind mounts, or parent namespace references 3. Permission-heavy - requires access to /proc for many processes 4. No ordering or ownership. 5. No filtering per namespace type: Must always iterate and check all namespaces. The list goes on. The listns() system call solves these problems by providing direct kernel-level enumeration of namespaces. It is similar to listmount() but obviously tailored to namespaces. /* * @req: Pointer to struct ns_id_req specifying search parameters * @ns_ids: User buffer to receive namespace IDs * @nr_ns_ids: Size of ns_ids buffer (maximum number of IDs to return) * @flags: Reserved for future use (must be 0) */ ssize_t listns(const struct ns_id_req *req, u64 *ns_ids, size_t nr_ns_ids, unsigned int flags); Returns: - On success: Number of namespace IDs written to ns_ids - On error: Negative error code /* * @size: Structure size * @ns_id: Starting point for iteration; use 0 for first call, then * use the last returned ID for subsequent calls to paginate * @ns_type: Bitmask of namespace types to include (from enum ns_type): * 0: Return all namespace types * MNT_NS: Mount namespaces * NET_NS: Network namespaces * USER_NS: User namespaces * etc. Can be OR'd together * @user_ns_id: Filter results to namespaces owned by this user namespace: * 0: Return all namespaces (subject to permission checks) * LISTNS_CURRENT_USER: Namespaces owned by caller's user namespace * Other value: Namespaces owned by the specified user namespace ID */ struct ns_id_req { __u32 size; /* sizeof(struct ns_id_req) */ __u32 spare; /* Reserved, must be 0 */ __u64 ns_id; /* Last seen namespace ID (for pagination) */ __u32 ns_type; /* Filter by namespace type(s) */ __u32 spare2; /* Reserved, must be 0 */ __u64 user_ns_id; /* Filter by owning user namespace */ }; Example 1: List all namespaces void list_all_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, /* Start from beginning */ .ns_type = 0, /* All types */ .user_ns_id = 0, /* All user namespaces */ }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; printf("All namespaces in the system:\n"); do { ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); break; } for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" Namespace ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); /* Continue from last seen ID */ if (ret > 0) req.ns_id = ids[ret - 1]; } while (ret == 100); /* Buffer was full, more may exist */ } Example 2 : List network namespaces only void list_network_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = NET_NS, /* Only network namespaces */ .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); return; } printf("Network namespaces: %zd found\n", ret); for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" netns ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); } Example 3 : List namespaces owned by current user namespace void list_owned_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = 0, /* All types */ .user_ns_id = LISTNS_CURRENT_USER, /* Current userns */ }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); return; } printf("Namespaces owned by my user namespace: %zd\n", ret); for (ssize_t i = 0; i < ret; i++) printf(" ns ID: %llu\n", (unsigned long long)ids[i]); } Example 4 : List multiple namespace types void list_network_and_mount_namespaces(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = NET_NS | MNT_NS, /* Network and mount */ .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[100]; ssize_t ret; ret = listns(&req, ids, 100, 0); printf("Network and mount namespaces: %zd found\n", ret); } Example 5 : Pagination through large namespace sets void list_all_with_pagination(void) { struct ns_id_req req = { .size = sizeof(req), .ns_id = 0, .ns_type = 0, .user_ns_id = 0, }; uint64_t ids[50]; size_t total = 0; ssize_t ret; printf("Enumerating all namespaces with pagination:\n"); while (1) { ret = listns(&req, ids, 50, 0); if (ret < 0) { perror("listns"); break; } if (ret == 0) break; /* No more namespaces */ total += ret; printf(" Batch: %zd namespaces\n", ret); /* Last ID in this batch becomes start of next batch */ req.ns_id = ids[ret - 1]; if (ret < 50) break; /* Partial batch = end of results */ } printf("Total: %zu namespaces\n", total); } listns() respects namespace isolation and capabilities: (1) Global listing (user_ns_id = 0): - Requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the namespace's owning user namespace - OR the namespace must be in the caller's namespace context (e.g., a namespace the caller is currently using) - User namespaces additionally allow listing if the caller has CAP_SYS_ADMIN in that user namespace itself (2) Owner-filtered listing (user_ns_id != 0): - Requires CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the specified owner user namespace - OR the namespace must be in the caller's namespace context - This allows unprivileged processes to enumerate namespaces they own (3) Visibility: - Only "active" namespaces are listed - A namespace is active if it has a non-zero __ns_ref_active count - This includes namespaces used by running processes, held by open file descriptors, or kept active by bind mounts - Inactive namespaces (kept alive only by internal kernel references) are not visible via listns() * patches from https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-0-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org: (74 commits) selftests/namespace: test listns() pagination selftests/namespace: add stress test selftests/namespace: commit_creds() active reference tests selftests/namespace: third threaded active reference count test selftests/namespace: second threaded active reference count test selftests/namespace: first threaded active reference count test selftests/namespaces: twelth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: eleventh inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: tenth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: ninth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: eigth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: seventh inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: sixth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: fifth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: fourth inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: third inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: second inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: first inactive namespace resurrection test selftests/namespaces: seventh listns() permission test selftests/namespaces: sixth listns() permission test ... Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-0-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: test listns() paginationChristian Brauner
Minimal test case to reproduce KASAN out-of-bounds in listns pagination. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-72-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: add stress testChristian Brauner
Stress tests for namespace active reference counting. These tests validate that the active reference counting system can handle high load scenarios including rapid namespace creation/destruction, large numbers of concurrent namespaces, and various edge cases under stress. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-71-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: commit_creds() active reference testsChristian Brauner
Test credential changes and their impact on namespace active references. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-70-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: third threaded active reference count testChristian Brauner
Test that namespaces become inactive after subprocess with multiple threads exits. Create a subprocess that unshares user and network namespaces, then creates two threads that share those namespaces. Verify that after all threads and subprocess exit, the namespaces are no longer listed by listns() and cannot be opened by open_by_handle_at(). Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-69-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: second threaded active reference count testChristian Brauner
Test that a namespace remains active while a thread holds an fd to it. Even after the thread exits, the namespace should remain active as long as another thread holds a file descriptor to it. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-68-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespace: first threaded active reference count testChristian Brauner
Test that namespace becomes inactive after thread exits. This verifies active reference counting works with threads, not just processes. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-67-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: twelth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test multi-level namespace resurrection across three user namespace levels. This test creates a complex namespace hierarchy with three levels of user namespaces and a network namespace at the deepest level. It verifies that the resurrection semantics work correctly when SIOCGSKNS is called on a socket from an inactive namespace tree, and that listns() and open_by_handle_at() correctly respect visibility rules. Hierarchy after child processes exit (all with 0 active refcount): net_L3A (0) <- Level 3 network namespace | + userns_L3 (0) <- Level 3 user namespace | + userns_L2 (0) <- Level 2 user namespace | + userns_L1 (0) <- Level 1 user namespace | x init_user_ns The test verifies: 1. SIOCGSKNS on a socket from inactive net_L3A resurrects the entire chain 2. After resurrection, all namespaces are visible in listns() 3. Resurrected namespaces can be reopened via file handles 4. Closing the netns FD cascades down: the entire ownership chain (userns_L3 -> userns_L2 -> userns_L1) becomes inactive again 5. Inactive namespaces disappear from listns() and cannot be reopened 6. Calling SIOCGSKNS again on the same socket resurrects the tree again 7. After second resurrection, namespaces are visible and can be reopened Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-66-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: eleventh inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test combined listns() and file handle operations with socket-kept netns. Create a netns, keep it alive with a socket, verify it appears in listns(), then reopen it via file handle obtained from listns() entry. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-65-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: tenth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test that socket-kept netns can be reopened via file handle. Verify that a network namespace kept alive by a socket FD can be reopened using file handles even after the creating process exits. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-64-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: ninth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test that socket-kept netns appears in listns() output. Verify that a network namespace kept alive by a socket FD appears in listns() output even after the creating process exits, and that it disappears when the socket is closed. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-63-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: eigth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test IPv6 sockets also work with SIOCGSKNS. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-62-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: seventh inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test socket keeps netns active after creating process exits. Verify that as long as the socket FD exists, the namespace remains active. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-61-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: sixth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test multiple sockets keep the same network namespace active. Create multiple sockets, verify closing some doesn't affect others. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-60-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: fifth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test SIOCGSKNS fails on non-socket file descriptors. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-59-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: fourth inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test SIOCGSKNS across setns. Create a socket in netns A, switch to netns B, verify SIOCGSKNS still returns netns A. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-58-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: third inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test SIOCGSKNS with different socket types (TCP, UDP, RAW). Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-57-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>
2025-11-03selftests/namespaces: second inactive namespace resurrection testChristian Brauner
Test that socket file descriptors keep network namespaces active. Create a network namespace, create a socket in it, then exit the namespace. The namespace should remain active while the socket FD is held. Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251029-work-namespace-nstree-listns-v4-56-2e6f823ebdc0@kernel.org Tested-by: syzbot@syzkaller.appspotmail.com Reviewed-by: Jeff Layton <jlayton@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner <brauner@kernel.org>