xref: /illumos-gate/usr/src/man/man9f/credentials.9f (revision b93865c3d90e9b0d73e338c9abb3293c35c571a8)
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14.Dd Aug 21, 2020
15.Dt CREDENTIALS 9F
16.Os
17.Sh NAME
18.Nm credentials ,
19.Nm CRED ,
20.Nm crdup ,
21.Nm crfree ,
22.Nm crget ,
23.Nm crhold ,
24.Nm kcred ,
25.Nm zone_kcred
26.Nd Functions for obtaining credentials in the kernel
27.Sh SYNOPSIS
28.In sys/cred.h
29.Ft "cred_t *"
30.Fo CRED
31.Fc
32.Ft "cred_t *"
33.Fo crdup
34.Fa "cred_t *cr"
35.Fc
36.Ft "void"
37.Fo crfree
38.Fa "cred_t *cr"
39.Fc
40.Ft "cred_t *"
41.Fo crget
42.Fc
43.Ft "void"
44.Fo crhold
45.Fa "cred_t *cr"
46.Fc
47.Ft "cred_t *"
48.Fo zone_kcred
49.Fc
50.Vt cred_t *kcred
51.Sh INTERFACE LEVEL
52.Sy Volatile -
53This interface is still evolving in illumos.
54API and ABI stability is not guaranteed.
55.Sh PARAMETERS
56.Bl -tag -width Fa
57.It Fa cr
58pointer to the user credential structure.
59.El
60.Sh DESCRIPTION
61Some kernel interfaces require a credential as an argument.
62This page documents the credentials available in the system,
63as well as interfaces for creating new credentials.
64.Pp
65Most users do not need to create new credentials.
66Instead, users should generally use the credentials of the executing context.
67.Pp
68This interface is primarily intended for services that must perform operations
69on behalf of multiple remotely authenticated users, whose authentication context
70is unrelated to the context of the executing thread or process.
71Drivers MUST NOT create new credentials.
72Drivers should use the provided credential.
73.Pp
74For functions that do not return new credentials,
75if the credentials will be used outside of their context
76(i.e. if the output of zone_kcred() is referenced outside of the zone),
77then one should use
78.Fn crdup
79or
80.Fn crhold
81to ensure that the credentials remain valid.
82.Ss Fn CRED
83The
84.Fn CRED
85function returns the credential of the calling thread.
86Its contents depend on the calling context (user, kernel, interrupt).
87.Ss Fn crdup
88.Fn crdup
89returns a newly-allocated copy of
90.Fa cr
91with reference count of 1.
92It sleeps until the allocation succeeds.
93.Ss Fn crfree
94.Fn crfree
95releases a reference to
96.Fa cr .
97If this is the last reference, the credential is destroyed.
98.Ss Fn crhold
99.Fn crhold
100takes a reference to
101.Fa cr .
102.Ss Va kcred
103.Va kcred
104is the root credential of the global zone.
105Its UIDs and GIDs are all 0.
106It has the following privilege sets by default:
107.Bd -literal -offset indent
108E: basic,proc_secflags
109I: basic,proc_secflags
110P: basic,proc_secflags
111L: all
112.Ed
113.Pp
114.Dv NET_MAC_AWARE
115is set in the credential's flags.
116It is not marked privilege-aware.
117.Pp
118.Va kcred
119will never be freed by the system.
120.Ss Fn zone_kcred
121The
122.Fn zone_kcred
123function returns the root credential of the zone to which the calling thread belongs.
124This cred is derived from the global kcred, minus any privileges denied to the zone.
125.Ss Fn crget
126The
127.Fn crget
128function returns a copy of
129.Fn zone_kcred
130suitable for modification by the caller.
131This is useful for obtaining a default,
132well-initialized credential in the appropriate zone context,
133that is free of privileges or limitations of the originating thread.
134It must be freed with
135.Fn crfree .
136It sleeps until the allocation succeeds.
137.Ss Considerations
138.Va kcred
139and
140.Fn zone_kcred
141are not privilege-aware, and have all IDs set to 0.
142This causes their Limit set to be used in place of the Effective and Permitted sets,
143which significantly expands their privileges.
144.Pp
145If the output of
146.Fn crget
147is not later marked as privilege aware, and its UID is not set to a non-zero value,
148then its Limit set will be used in place of its Effective and Permitted sets,
149significantly expanding its privileges.
150Callers should either mark the credential as privilege-aware,
151reduce the Limit set appropriately,
152or ensure that they intend for zero-uid users to have expanded privileges.
153.Pp
154.Va kcred ,
155.Fn zone_kcred ,
156and
157.Fn CRED
158are not suitable for modfication by the caller.
159Callers must use
160.Fn crdup
161to create a copy of these credentials that are suitable for modification.
162.Pp
163Callers of
164.Fn zone_kcred
165and
166.Fn crget
167must take care to ensure that the calling thread is
168executing in the context of the appropriate zone.
169If the thread is performing work on behalf of a different zone,
170or if one is uncertain of the zone context of the calling thread,
171then one should find the appropriate zone by other means, and reference
172.Em zone->zone_kcred
173explicitly.
174.Sh CONTEXT
175These functions can be called from
176.Sy user
177and
178.Sy kernel
179contexts.
180.Sh RETURN VALUES
181.Fn zone_kcred
182and
183.Fn CRED
184return a pointer to a
185.Vt cred_t
186that should not be modified.
187.Pp
188.Fn crget
189and
190.Fn crdup
191return a pointer to a newly allocated
192.Vt cred_t .
193.Pp
194.Fn zone_kcred ,
195.Fn CRED ,
196.Fn crdup ,
197and
198.Fn crget
199can never fail, and always return a valid credential.
200.Sh SEE ALSO
201.Xr ddi_cred 9f
202