linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] Don't block writes to swap-files with ETXTBSY.

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Message-ID: <20210828071014.GA31677@lst.de>
Date:   Sat, 28 Aug 2021 09:10:14 +0200
From:   Christoph Hellwig <hch@....de>
To:     NeilBrown <neilb@...e.de>
Cc:     Christoph Hellwig <hch@....de>,
        "Darrick J. Wong" <darrick.wong@...cle.com>,
        David Howells <dhowells@...hat.com>,
        torvalds@...ux-foundation.org, trond.myklebust@...marydata.com,
        linux-nfs@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org,
        linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Don't block writes to swap-files with ETXTBSY.

On Sat, Aug 28, 2021 at 09:10:15AM +1000, NeilBrown wrote:
> There are lots of different things root can do which will mess up the
> kernel badly.  The backing-store can still be changed through some other
> means.
> Do you have a particular threat or risk scenario other than "root might
> get careless"?

No, it is just that scenario.  But one that is much easier to trigger
than more convoluted ways for a root user to trigger damage through
device files, and one that can't be prevented through LSMs or the
capability system.