[RFC PATCH v3 00/11] KEYS: Sanitize the garbage collector

Jarkko Sakkinen jarkko at kernel.org
Wed Nov 4 16:52:59 PST 2026


1. Replace key_type_dead retyping with module reference pinning so live
   keys and restrictions keep their backing key_type module loaded until
   key_gc_unused_keys() or keyring_destroy() completes.
2. Process serial-tree scans and graveyard destruction in fixed 64-key
   chunks to a bound workqueue execution latency without hurting overall
   throughput for a significant amount.

The first part has a user-space visible effect: rmmod returns -EBUSY while
keys or keyring restrictions still pin the backing module.

Internal key caches or transport state bottlenecks are addressed by either
clearing their private caches on last-client teardown or splitting key
types into dedicated provider modules.

CHANGES
=======

v3:
- Split dns_resolver and rxrpc key types into dedicated provider modules
  (dns_resolver_key.ko and rxrpc_keys.ko) instead of client refcounting,
  so cached or retained keys do not pin dns_resolver.ko or rxrpc.ko.
- Dropped the standalone nvme-keyring fix as it was picked up by the
  subsystem maintainers.
- Hardened key_gc_flush() to serialize against chunked key_gc_work
  continuations, and fixed a restriction module reference leak on failed
  keyring instantiation.

v2:
- Used v1 as a test probe for Sashiko to detect the corner cases instead
  of trying to resolve even the known ones beforehand.
- Converted the client subsystems to be compatible with the module
  pinning semantics.

VERSIONS
========

- v2:
  https://lore.kernel.org/linux-integrity/20261103030226.2685251-1-jarkko@kernel.org/

Cc: keyrings at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-afs at lists.infradead.org
Cc: linux-cifs at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-integrity at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-nfs at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-s390 at vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-security-module at vger.kernel.org
Cc: netdev at vger.kernel.org
Cc: samba-technical at lists.samba.org
Cc: Alexander Gordeev <agordeev at linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Anna Schumaker <anna at kernel.org>
Cc: Bharath SM <bharathsm at microsoft.com>
Cc: Christian Borntraeger <borntraeger at linux.ibm.com>
Cc: "David S. Miller" <davem at davemloft.net>
Cc: Eric Biggers <ebiggers at kernel.org>
Cc: Eric Dumazet <edumazet at kernel.org>
Cc: Heiko Carstens <hca at linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Jakub Kicinski <kuba at kernel.org>
Cc: James Bottomley <James.Bottomley at HansenPartnership.com>
Cc: James Morris <jmorris at namei.org>
Cc: Jarkko Sakkinen <jarkko at kernel.org>
Cc: Marc Dionne <marc.dionne at auristor.com>
Cc: Mimi Zohar <zohar at linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Namjae Jeon <linkinjeon at kernel.org>
Cc: Paolo Abeni <pabeni at redhat.com>
Cc: Paul Moore <paul at paul-moore.com>
Cc: Paulo Alcantara <pc at manguebit.org>
Cc: Ronnie Sahlberg <ronniesahlberg at gmail.com>
Cc: "Serge E. Hallyn" <serge at hallyn.com>
Cc: Shyam Prasad N <sprasad at microsoft.com>
Cc: Simon Horman <horms at kernel.org>
Cc: Sumit Garg <sumit.garg at kernel.org>
Cc: Sven Schnelle <svens at linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Tom Talpey <tom at talpey.com>
Cc: Trond Myklebust <trondmy at kernel.org>
Cc: Vasily Gorbik <gor at linux.ibm.com>

Jarkko Sakkinen (11):
  KEYS: Add key_gc_flush() for draining RCU callbacks
  dns_resolver: Move the key type into a separate module
  NFSv4: Clear idmap keyring cache when the last client unloads
  smb: client: Clear idmap/SPNEGO caches when the last session is
    unloaded
  s390/cert_store: Start tracking subsystem keys
  KEYS: trusted: TEE: Disable sysfs bind attributes
  KEYS: trusted: TEE: Synchronize session lifetime
  rxrpc: Move key types to their own module
  KEYS: Pin the backing kernel module for a key type
  KEYS: Remove key_type_dead
  KEYS: key_garbage_collector(): process in chunks

 arch/s390/kernel/cert_store.c             | 161 +++++-------
 fs/nfs/nfs4idmap.c                        |  21 ++
 fs/smb/client/cifs_spnego.c               |   6 +
 fs/smb/client/cifsacl.c                   |   6 +
 fs/smb/client/cifsproto.h                 |   8 +
 fs/smb/client/misc.c                      |  19 +-
 include/linux/key-type.h                  |   6 +-
 include/linux/key.h                       |   2 +
 net/Makefile                              |   4 +-
 net/dns_resolver/Kconfig                  |  15 ++
 net/dns_resolver/Makefile                 |   4 +-
 net/dns_resolver/dns_key.c                |  65 +----
 net/dns_resolver/dns_query.c              |  64 +++++
 net/dns_resolver/internal.h               |   5 -
 net/rxrpc/Kconfig                         |  20 ++
 net/rxrpc/Makefile                        |   7 +-
 net/rxrpc/af_rxrpc.c                      |  19 +-
 net/rxrpc/ar-internal.h                   |  25 +-
 net/rxrpc/key.c                           | 122 +++------
 net/rxrpc/rxgk.c                          |  66 -----
 net/rxrpc/rxkad.c                         |  47 ----
 net/rxrpc/security.c                      | 184 ++++++++++++++
 net/rxrpc/server_key.c                    | 260 ++++++++++++--------
 security/keys/gc.c                        | 287 ++++++++++------------
 security/keys/internal.h                  |   7 +-
 security/keys/key.c                       |  61 +++--
 security/keys/keyring.c                   |  88 +++----
 security/keys/trusted-keys/trusted_core.c |  15 +-
 security/keys/trusted-keys/trusted_tee.c  |  89 +++++--
 29 files changed, 906 insertions(+), 777 deletions(-)

--
2.47.3




More information about the linux-afs mailing list