11.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
22.. Copyright © 2017-2020 Mickaël Salaün <mic@digikod.net>
33.. Copyright © 2019-2020 ANSSI
4- .. Copyright © 2021 Microsoft Corporation
4+ .. Copyright © 2021-2022 Microsoft Corporation
55
66=====================================
77Landlock: unprivileged access control
88=====================================
99
1010:Author: Mickaël Salaün
11- :Date: March 2021
11+ :Date: May 2022
1212
1313The goal of Landlock is to enable to restrict ambient rights (e.g. global
1414filesystem access) for a set of processes. Because Landlock is a stackable
@@ -18,6 +18,13 @@ is expected to help mitigate the security impact of bugs or
1818unexpected/malicious behaviors in user space applications. Landlock empowers
1919any process, including unprivileged ones, to securely restrict themselves.
2020
21+ We can quickly make sure that Landlock is enabled in the running system by
22+ looking for "landlock: Up and running" in kernel logs (as root): ``dmesg | grep
23+ landlock || journalctl -kg landlock `` . Developers can also easily check for
24+ Landlock support with a :ref: `related system call <landlock_abi_versions >`. If
25+ Landlock is not currently supported, we need to :ref: `configure the kernel
26+ appropriately <kernel_support>`.
27+
2128Landlock rules
2229==============
2330
@@ -29,14 +36,15 @@ the thread enforcing it, and its future children.
2936Defining and enforcing a security policy
3037----------------------------------------
3138
32- We first need to create the ruleset that will contain our rules. For this
39+ We first need to define the ruleset that will contain our rules. For this
3340example, the ruleset will contain rules that only allow read actions, but write
3441actions will be denied. The ruleset then needs to handle both of these kind of
35- actions.
42+ actions. This is required for backward and forward compatibility (i.e. the
43+ kernel and user space may not know each other's supported restrictions), hence
44+ the need to be explicit about the denied-by-default access rights.
3645
3746.. code-block :: c
3847
39- int ruleset_fd;
4048 struct landlock_ruleset_attr ruleset_attr = {
4149 .handled_access_fs =
4250 LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_EXECUTE |
@@ -51,9 +59,34 @@ actions.
5159 LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_MAKE_SOCK |
5260 LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_MAKE_FIFO |
5361 LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_MAKE_BLOCK |
54- LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_MAKE_SYM,
62+ LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_MAKE_SYM |
63+ LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER,
5564 };
5665
66+ Because we may not know on which kernel version an application will be
67+ executed, it is safer to follow a best-effort security approach. Indeed, we
68+ should try to protect users as much as possible whatever the kernel they are
69+ using. To avoid binary enforcement (i.e. either all security features or
70+ none), we can leverage a dedicated Landlock command to get the current version
71+ of the Landlock ABI and adapt the handled accesses. Let's check if we should
72+ remove the `LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER ` access right which is only supported
73+ starting with the second version of the ABI.
74+
75+ .. code-block :: c
76+
77+ int abi;
78+
79+ abi = landlock_create_ruleset(NULL, 0, LANDLOCK_CREATE_RULESET_VERSION);
80+ if (abi < 2) {
81+ ruleset_attr.handled_access_fs &= ~LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER;
82+ }
83+
84+ This enables to create an inclusive ruleset that will contain our rules.
85+
86+ .. code-block :: c
87+
88+ int ruleset_fd;
89+
5790 ruleset_fd = landlock_create_ruleset(&ruleset_attr, sizeof(ruleset_attr), 0);
5891 if (ruleset_fd < 0) {
5992 perror("Failed to create a ruleset");
@@ -92,6 +125,11 @@ descriptor.
92125 return 1;
93126 }
94127
128+ It may also be required to create rules following the same logic as explained
129+ for the ruleset creation, by filtering access rights according to the Landlock
130+ ABI version. In this example, this is not required because
131+ `LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER ` is not allowed by any rule.
132+
95133We now have a ruleset with one rule allowing read access to ``/usr `` while
96134denying all other handled accesses for the filesystem. The next step is to
97135restrict the current thread from gaining more privileges (e.g. thanks to a SUID
@@ -125,6 +163,27 @@ ruleset.
125163
126164Full working code can be found in `samples/landlock/sandboxer.c `_.
127165
166+ Good practices
167+ --------------
168+
169+ It is recommended setting access rights to file hierarchy leaves as much as
170+ possible. For instance, it is better to be able to have ``~/doc/ `` as a
171+ read-only hierarchy and ``~/tmp/ `` as a read-write hierarchy, compared to
172+ ``~/ `` as a read-only hierarchy and ``~/tmp/ `` as a read-write hierarchy.
173+ Following this good practice leads to self-sufficient hierarchies that don't
174+ depend on their location (i.e. parent directories). This is particularly
175+ relevant when we want to allow linking or renaming. Indeed, having consistent
176+ access rights per directory enables to change the location of such directory
177+ without relying on the destination directory access rights (except those that
178+ are required for this operation, see `LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER ` documentation).
179+ Having self-sufficient hierarchies also helps to tighten the required access
180+ rights to the minimal set of data. This also helps avoid sinkhole directories,
181+ i.e. directories where data can be linked to but not linked from. However,
182+ this depends on data organization, which might not be controlled by developers.
183+ In this case, granting read-write access to ``~/tmp/ ``, instead of write-only
184+ access, would potentially allow to move ``~/tmp/ `` to a non-readable directory
185+ and still keep the ability to list the content of ``~/tmp/ ``.
186+
128187Layers of file path access rights
129188---------------------------------
130189
@@ -192,6 +251,58 @@ To be allowed to use :manpage:`ptrace(2)` and related syscalls on a target
192251process, a sandboxed process should have a subset of the target process rules,
193252which means the tracee must be in a sub-domain of the tracer.
194253
254+ Compatibility
255+ =============
256+
257+ Backward and forward compatibility
258+ ----------------------------------
259+
260+ Landlock is designed to be compatible with past and future versions of the
261+ kernel. This is achieved thanks to the system call attributes and the
262+ associated bitflags, particularly the ruleset's `handled_access_fs `. Making
263+ handled access right explicit enables the kernel and user space to have a clear
264+ contract with each other. This is required to make sure sandboxing will not
265+ get stricter with a system update, which could break applications.
266+
267+ Developers can subscribe to the `Landlock mailing list
268+ <https://subspace.kernel.org/lists.linux.dev.html> `_ to knowingly update and
269+ test their applications with the latest available features. In the interest of
270+ users, and because they may use different kernel versions, it is strongly
271+ encouraged to follow a best-effort security approach by checking the Landlock
272+ ABI version at runtime and only enforcing the supported features.
273+
274+ .. _landlock_abi_versions :
275+
276+ Landlock ABI versions
277+ ---------------------
278+
279+ The Landlock ABI version can be read with the sys_landlock_create_ruleset()
280+ system call:
281+
282+ .. code-block :: c
283+
284+ int abi;
285+
286+ abi = landlock_create_ruleset(NULL, 0, LANDLOCK_CREATE_RULESET_VERSION);
287+ if (abi < 0) {
288+ switch (errno) {
289+ case ENOSYS:
290+ printf("Landlock is not supported by the current kernel.\n");
291+ break;
292+ case EOPNOTSUPP:
293+ printf("Landlock is currently disabled.\n");
294+ break;
295+ }
296+ return 0;
297+ }
298+ if (abi >= 2) {
299+ printf("Landlock supports LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER.\n");
300+ }
301+
302+ The following kernel interfaces are implicitly supported by the first ABI
303+ version. Features only supported from a specific version are explicitly marked
304+ as such.
305+
195306Kernel interface
196307================
197308
@@ -228,21 +339,6 @@ Enforcing a ruleset
228339Current limitations
229340===================
230341
231- File renaming and linking
232- -------------------------
233-
234- Because Landlock targets unprivileged access controls, it is needed to properly
235- handle composition of rules. Such property also implies rules nesting.
236- Properly handling multiple layers of ruleset, each one of them able to restrict
237- access to files, also implies to inherit the ruleset restrictions from a parent
238- to its hierarchy. Because files are identified and restricted by their
239- hierarchy, moving or linking a file from one directory to another implies to
240- propagate the hierarchy constraints. To protect against privilege escalations
241- through renaming or linking, and for the sake of simplicity, Landlock currently
242- limits linking and renaming to the same directory. Future Landlock evolutions
243- will enable more flexibility for renaming and linking, with dedicated ruleset
244- flags.
245-
246342Filesystem topology modification
247343--------------------------------
248344
@@ -267,8 +363,8 @@ restrict such paths with dedicated ruleset flags.
267363Ruleset layers
268364--------------
269365
270- There is a limit of 64 layers of stacked rulesets. This can be an issue for a
271- task willing to enforce a new ruleset in complement to its 64 inherited
366+ There is a limit of 16 layers of stacked rulesets. This can be an issue for a
367+ task willing to enforce a new ruleset in complement to its 16 inherited
272368rulesets. Once this limit is reached, sys_landlock_restrict_self() returns
273369E2BIG. It is then strongly suggested to carefully build rulesets once in the
274370life of a thread, especially for applications able to launch other applications
@@ -281,6 +377,44 @@ Memory usage
281377Kernel memory allocated to create rulesets is accounted and can be restricted
282378by the Documentation/admin-guide/cgroup-v1/memory.rst.
283379
380+ Previous limitations
381+ ====================
382+
383+ File renaming and linking (ABI 1)
384+ ---------------------------------
385+
386+ Because Landlock targets unprivileged access controls, it needs to properly
387+ handle composition of rules. Such property also implies rules nesting.
388+ Properly handling multiple layers of rulesets, each one of them able to
389+ restrict access to files, also implies inheritance of the ruleset restrictions
390+ from a parent to its hierarchy. Because files are identified and restricted by
391+ their hierarchy, moving or linking a file from one directory to another implies
392+ propagation of the hierarchy constraints, or restriction of these actions
393+ according to the potentially lost constraints. To protect against privilege
394+ escalations through renaming or linking, and for the sake of simplicity,
395+ Landlock previously limited linking and renaming to the same directory.
396+ Starting with the Landlock ABI version 2, it is now possible to securely
397+ control renaming and linking thanks to the new `LANDLOCK_ACCESS_FS_REFER `
398+ access right.
399+
400+ .. _kernel_support :
401+
402+ Kernel support
403+ ==============
404+
405+ Landlock was first introduced in Linux 5.13 but it must be configured at build
406+ time with `CONFIG_SECURITY_LANDLOCK=y `. Landlock must also be enabled at boot
407+ time as the other security modules. The list of security modules enabled by
408+ default is set with `CONFIG_LSM `. The kernel configuration should then
409+ contains `CONFIG_LSM=landlock,[...] ` with `[...] ` as the list of other
410+ potentially useful security modules for the running system (see the
411+ `CONFIG_LSM ` help).
412+
413+ If the running kernel doesn't have `landlock ` in `CONFIG_LSM `, then we can
414+ still enable it by adding ``lsm=landlock,[...] `` to
415+ Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst thanks to the bootloader
416+ configuration.
417+
284418Questions and answers
285419=====================
286420
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