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Christian Brauner bbf5f63991
binfmt_misc: set have_execfd only once the interpreter is opened
load_misc_binary() raises bprm->have_execfd as soon as it sees the 'O'
(or 'C') flag. This happens well before it opens the interpreter. If
that open fails the flag stays set on the bprm. binfmt_misc is at the
head of the format list so an interpreter open failure that returns
-ENOEXEC lets the search fall through to a later format. This means it
runs the matched binary directly having never staged an interpreter. So
bprm->executable is NULL while have_execfd falsely claims a descriptor
is present.

Consequently, begin_new_exec() dereferences the missing executable:

  would_dump(bprm, bprm->executable);

and NULL derefs. Had it not, the hand-off later in the same function
would have failed anyway. FD_ADD(0, bprm->executable) rejects a NULL
file with -ENOMEM. Both sites are past the point of no return so the
exec cannot be unwound either way.

This can be reached by unprivileged users as binfmt_misc can be mounted
in user namespaces. So a user can register an 'O' entry whose
interpreter lives on a FUSE mount, have the FUSE server fail the open
with -ENOEXEC and execute a native ELF file that matches the entry.

have_execfd only means anything alongside the executable it describes
which is not set until the interpreter has been opened and staged.
So lets raise it there, next to execfd_creds, which is already set at
that point. An open failure now leaves it clear, so the fallback format
derives credentials from the binary and emits no AT_EXECFD, as it would
for any native exec. The argv rewrite load_misc_binary() performs before
the open is still not undone. This means the binary sees the interpreter
path in argv[0] and its own path in argv[1] but that predates this
change and only became observable once the exec stopped faulting.

Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260720-beglichen-kognitiv-organismus-5e1e55326c56@brauner
Fixes: bc2bf338d5 ("exec: Remove recursion from search_binary_handler")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@kernel.org>
2026-07-20 23:34:15 +02:00
arch RISC-V updates for v7.2-rc4 2026-07-19 12:41:00 -07:00
block block: fix aligning of bounced dio read bios 2026-07-16 06:11:37 -06:00
certs treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
crypto crypto: aes - Fix conditions for selecting MAC dependencies 2026-07-09 11:06:22 -04:00
Documentation Crypto library fixes for v7.2-rc4 2026-07-17 10:53:57 -07:00
drivers block-7.2-20260717 2026-07-19 09:29:42 -07:00
fs binfmt_misc: set have_execfd only once the interpreter is opened 2026-07-20 23:34:15 +02:00
include SCSI fixes on 20260718 2026-07-18 12:36:19 -07:00
init mm.git review status for mm-hotfixes-stable..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-06-21 13:20:19 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.2-20260717 2026-07-19 09:24:32 -07:00
ipc kernel-7.2-rc1.misc 2026-06-15 03:05:50 +05:30
kernel BPF fixes: 2026-07-17 12:55:24 -07:00
lib Crypto library fixes for v7.2-rc4 2026-07-17 10:53:57 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm mm/sparse-vmemmap: flush_cache_vmap() after hotplugging vmemmap 2026-07-13 11:29:52 -06:00
net BPF fixes: 2026-07-17 12:55:24 -07:00
rust Rust changes for v7.2 (addendum) 2026-06-24 15:11:08 -07:00
samples tracing fixes for 7.2: 2026-07-12 09:46:37 -07:00
scripts scripts/sorttable: Handle RISC-V patchable ftrace entries 2026-06-25 13:15:03 -06:00
security selinux/stable-7.2 PR 20260717 2026-07-17 11:04:46 -07:00
sound ALSA: usb-audio: Add delay quirk for iBasso DC-Elite 2026-07-13 17:06:20 +02:00
tools BPF fixes: 2026-07-17 12:55:24 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt KVM/arm64 fixes for 7.2, take #2 2026-07-15 12:13:30 +02:00
.clang-format clang-format: fix formatting of guard() and scoped_guard() statements 2026-05-28 21:24:41 -07:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore SPDX patches for 7.2-rc1 2026-06-22 12:06:22 -07:00
.mailmap Including fixes from Wireless, IPsec, Netfilter and Bluetooth. 2026-07-17 10:25:13 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS CREDITS: Add Wolfram Sang 2026-07-14 16:34:04 +02:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS SoC fixes for 7.2 2026-07-17 08:52:09 -07:00
Makefile Linux 7.2-rc4 2026-07-19 13:54:41 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst