Hi, Macro get_unused_fd() is a shortcut to call function get_unused_fd_flags(), to allocate a file descriptor. The macro use 0 as flags, so the file descriptor is created without O_CLOEXEC flag. This can be seen as an unsafe default eg. in most case O_CLOEXEC must be used to not leak file descriptor across exec(). Newer kernel code should use anon_inode_getfd() or get_unused_fd_flags() with flags provided by userspace. If flags cannot be given by userspace, O_CLOEXEC must be the default flag. Using O_CLOEXEC by default allows userspace to choose, without race, if the file descriptor is going to be inherited across exec(). They are two ways to achieve this: - makes get_unused_fd() use O_CLOEXEC by default It's difficult to get it right: every code using of get_unused_fd() must take this change into account and be fixed as soon as macro get_unused_fd() do the switch. Non updated code will have unexpected behavor and it's likely going to break API contract. - remove get_unused_fd() It's going to break some out of tree, not yet upstream kernel code, but it's easy to notice and fix. Anyway, newer code should use anon_inode_getfd() or get_unused_fd_flags(). The latter option was choosen to ensure no unexpected behavor for out of tree, not yet upstream code. Removing the macro is the safest choice: it's better to break build than trying to make get_unused_fd() use O_CLOEXEC by default and get all user of get_unused_fd() update. Additionnaly, removing the macro is not going to break modules ABI. In linux-next tag 20130702, they're currently: - 15 calls to get_unused_fd_flags() not counting get_unused_fd() and anon_inode_getfd() - 14 calls to get_unused_fd() - 11 calls to anon_inode_getfd() The following patchset try to convert all calls to get_unused_fd() to get_unused_fd_flags(0) before removing get_unused_fd() macro. Without get_unused_fd() macro, more subsystems are likely to use anon_inode_getfd() and be teached to provide an API that let userspace choose the opening flags of the file descriptor. Yann Droneaud (13): ia64: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() ppc/cell: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() infiniband: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() android/sw_sync: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() android/sync: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() vfio: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() binfmt_misc: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() file: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() fanotify: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() xfs: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() events: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() sctp: use get_unused_fd_flags(0) instead of get_unused_fd() file: remove get_unused_fd() arch/ia64/kernel/perfmon.c | 2 +- arch/powerpc/platforms/cell/spufs/inode.c | 4 ++-- drivers/infiniband/core/uverbs_cmd.c | 4 ++-- drivers/staging/android/sw_sync.c | 2 +- drivers/staging/android/sync.c | 2 +- drivers/vfio/vfio.c | 2 +- fs/binfmt_misc.c | 2 +- fs/file.c | 2 +- fs/notify/fanotify/fanotify_user.c | 2 +- fs/xfs/xfs_ioctl.c | 2 +- include/linux/file.h | 1 - kernel/events/core.c | 2 +- net/sctp/socket.c | 2 +- 13 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-) -- 1.8.3.1 _______________________________________________ xfs mailing list xfs@xxxxxxxxxxx http://oss.sgi.com/mailman/listinfo/xfs