Like dumpability, clearing pdeath_signal happens both in setup_new_exec() and later in commit_creds(). The test in setup_new_exec() is different from all other privilege comparisons, though: it is checking the new cred (bprm) uid vs the old cred (current) euid. This appears to be a bug, introduced by commit a6f76f23d297 ("CRED: Make execve() take advantage of copy-on-write credentials"): - if (bprm->e_uid != current_euid() || - bprm->e_gid != current_egid()) { - set_dumpable(current->mm, suid_dumpable); + /* install the new credentials */ + if (bprm->cred->uid != current_euid() || + bprm->cred->gid != current_egid()) { It was bprm euid vs current euid (and egids), but the effective got dropped. Nothing in the exec flow changes bprm->cred->uid (nor gid). The call traces are: prepare_bprm_creds() prepare_exec_creds() prepare_creds() memcpy(new_creds, old_creds, ...) security_prepare_creds() (unimplemented by commoncap) ... prepare_binprm() bprm_fill_uid() resets euid/egid to current euid/egid sets euid/egid on bprm based on set*id file bits security_bprm_set_creds() cap_bprm_set_creds() handle all caps-based manipulations so this test is effectively a test of current_uid() vs current_euid(), which is wrong, just like the prior dumpability tests were wrong. The commit log says "Clear pdeath_signal and set dumpable on certain circumstances that may not be covered by commit_creds()." This may be meaning the earlier old euid vs new euid (and egid) test that got changed. Luckily, as with dumpability, this is all masked by commit_creds() which performs old/new euid and egid tests and clears pdeath_signal. And again, like dumpability, we should include LSM secureexec logic for pdeath_signal clearing. For example, Smack goes out of its way to clear pdeath_signal when it finds a secureexec condition. Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx> --- fs/exec.c | 3 +-- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/fs/exec.c b/fs/exec.c index 3e519d4f0bd3..d7bda5b60e7b 100644 --- a/fs/exec.c +++ b/fs/exec.c @@ -1361,8 +1361,7 @@ void setup_new_exec(struct linux_binprm * bprm) */ current->mm->task_size = TASK_SIZE; - if (!uid_eq(bprm->cred->uid, current_euid()) || - !gid_eq(bprm->cred->gid, current_egid())) { + if (bprm->secureexec) { current->pdeath_signal = 0; } else { if (bprm->interp_flags & BINPRM_FLAGS_ENFORCE_NONDUMP) -- 2.7.4