linux-kernel - [PATCH] ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting non-IMA xattr

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Message-ID: <20250902042515.759750-1-coxu@redhat.com>
Date: Tue,  2 Sep 2025 12:25:14 +0800
From: Coiby Xu <coxu@...hat.com>
To: linux-integrity@...r.kernel.org
Cc: Mimi Zohar <zohar@...ux.ibm.com>,
	Roberto Sassu <roberto.sassu@...wei.com>,
	Dmitry Kasatkin <dmitry.kasatkin@...il.com>,
	Eric Snowberg <eric.snowberg@...cle.com>,
	Paul Moore <paul@...l-moore.com>,
	James Morris <jmorris@...ei.org>,
	"Serge E. Hallyn" <serge@...lyn.com>,
	linux-security-module@...r.kernel.org (open list:SECURITY SUBSYSTEM),
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org (open list)
Subject: [PATCH] ima: don't clear IMA_DIGSIG flag when setting non-IMA xattr

Currently when both IMA and EVM are in fix mode, the IMA signature will
be reset to IMA hash if a program first stores IMA signature in
security.ima and then sets security.selinux for a file. For example, on
Fedora, after booting the kernel with "ima_appraise=fix evm=fix
ima_policy=appraise_tcb" and installing rpm-plugin-ima, reinstalling a
package will not make good reference IMA signature generated. Instead
IMA hash is generated,
    # getfattr -m - -d -e hex /usr/bin/bash
    # file: usr/bin/bash
    security.ima=0x0404...

This happens because when setting selinux.selinux, the IMA_DIGSIG flag
that had been set early was cleared. As a result, IMA hash is generated
when the file is closed.

Here's a minimal C reproducer,

    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <sys/xattr.h>
    #include <fcntl.h>
    #include <unistd.h>
    #include <string.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>

    int main() {
        const char* file_path = "/usr/sbin/test_binary";
        const char* hex_string = "030204d33204490066306402304";
        int length = strlen(hex_string);
        char* ima_attr_value;
        int fd;

        fd = open(file_path, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_EXCL, 0644);
        if (fd == -1) {
            perror("Error opening file");
            return 1;
        }

        ima_attr_value = (char*)malloc(length / 2 );
        for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < length; i += 2, j++) {
            sscanf(hex_string + i, "%2hhx", &ima_attr_value[j]);
        }

        if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.ima", ima_attr_value, length/2, 0) == -1) {
            perror("Error setting extended attribute");
            close(fd);
            return 1;
        }

        const char* selinux_value= "system_u:object_r:bin_t:s0";
        if (fsetxattr(fd, "security.selinux", selinux_value, strlen(selinux_value), 0) == -1) {
            perror("Error setting extended attribute");
            close(fd);
            return 1;
        }

        close(fd);

        return 0;
    }

Signed-off-by: Coiby Xu <coxu@...hat.com>
---
 security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c | 4 +++-
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
index f435eff4667f..fc82161f8b30 100644
--- a/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
+++ b/security/integrity/ima/ima_appraise.c
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ static void ima_reset_appraise_flags(struct inode *inode, int digsig)
 	set_bit(IMA_CHANGE_XATTR, &iint->atomic_flags);
 	if (digsig)
 		set_bit(IMA_DIGSIG, &iint->atomic_flags);
-	else
+	else if (digsig != -1)
 		clear_bit(IMA_DIGSIG, &iint->atomic_flags);
 }
 
@@ -794,6 +794,8 @@ static int ima_inode_setxattr(struct mnt_idmap *idmap, struct dentry *dentry,
 		digsig = (xvalue->type == EVM_IMA_XATTR_DIGSIG);
 	} else if (!strcmp(xattr_name, XATTR_NAME_EVM) && xattr_value_len > 0) {
 		digsig = (xvalue->type == EVM_XATTR_PORTABLE_DIGSIG);
+	} else if (result != 1) {
+		digsig = -1;
 	}
 	if (result == 1 || evm_revalidate_status(xattr_name)) {
 		ima_reset_appraise_flags(d_backing_inode(dentry), digsig);
-- 
2.51.0