Provided by: keyutils_1.5.9-8ubuntu1_amd64 bug

NAME

       keyctl - Key management facility control

SYNOPSIS

       keyctl --version
       keyctl show [-x] [<keyring>]
       keyctl add <type> <desc> <data> <keyring>
       keyctl padd <type> <desc> <keyring>
       keyctl request <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl request2 <type> <desc> <info> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl prequest2 <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl update <key> <data>
       keyctl pupdate <key>
       keyctl newring <name> <keyring>
       keyctl revoke <key>
       keyctl clear <keyring>
       keyctl link <key> <keyring>
       keyctl unlink <key> [<keyring>]
       keyctl search <keyring> <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl read <key>
       keyctl pipe <key>
       keyctl print <key>
       keyctl list <keyring>
       keyctl rlist <keyring>
       keyctl describe <keyring>
       keyctl rdescribe <keyring> [sep]
       keyctl chown <key> <uid>
       keyctl chgrp <key> <gid>
       keyctl setperm <key> <mask>
       keyctl new_session
       keyctl session
       keyctl session - [<prog> <arg1> <arg2> ...]
       keyctl session <name> [<prog> <arg1> <arg2> ...]
       keyctl instantiate <key> <data> <keyring>
       keyctl pinstantiate <key> <keyring>
       keyctl negate <key> <timeout> <keyring>
       keyctl reject <key> <timeout> <error> <keyring>
       keyctl timeout <key> <timeout>
       keyctl security <key>
       keyctl reap [-v]
       keyctl purge <type>
       keyctl purge [-i] [-p] <type> <desc>
       keyctl purge -s <type> <desc>
       keyctl get_persistent <keyring> [<uid>]

DESCRIPTION

       This  program  is  used  to  control  the  key management facility in various ways using a
       variety of subcommands.

KEY IDENTIFIERS

       The key identifiers passed to or returned from keyctl are, in general, positive  integers.
       There  are,  however,  some  special  values  with  special meanings that can be passed as
       arguments:

       (*) No key: 0

       (*) Thread keyring: @t or -1

       Each thread may have its own keyring. This is  searched  first,  before  all  others.  The
       thread keyring is replaced by (v)fork, exec and clone.

       (*) Process keyring: @p or -2

       Each  process  (thread group) may have its own keyring. This is shared between all members
       of a group and will be searched after the thread keyring. The process keyring is  replaced
       by (v)fork and exec.

       (*) Session keyring: @s or -3

       Each  process  subscribes  to a session keyring that is inherited across (v)fork, exec and
       clone. This is searched after the process keyring. Session keyrings can be  named  and  an
       extant keyring can be joined in place of a process's current session keyring.

       (*) User specific keyring: @u or -4

       This  keyring  is  shared  between  all the processes owned by a particular user. It isn't
       searched directly, but is normally linked to from the session keyring.

       (*) User default session keyring: @us or -5

       This is the default session keyring for a particular user. Login processes that change  to
       a particular user will bind to this session until another session is set.

       (*) Group specific keyring: @g or -6

       This  is  a place holder for a group specific keyring, but is not actually implemented yet
       in the kernel.

       (*) Assumed request_key authorisation key: @a or -7

       This selects the authorisation key provided to the request_key() helper to  permit  it  to
       access the callers keyrings and instantiate the target key.

       (*) Keyring by name: %:<name>

       A named keyring.  This will be searched for in the process's keyrings and in /proc/keys.

       (*) Key by name: %<type>:<name>

       A named key of the given type.  This will be searched for in the process's keyrings and in
       /proc/keys.

COMMAND SYNTAX

       Any non-ambiguous shortening of a command name may be used in lieu  of  the  full  command
       name. This facility should not be used in scripting as new commands may be added in future
       that then cause ambiguity.

       (*) Display the package version number

       keyctl --version

       This command prints the package version number and build date and exits:

              testbox>keyctl --version
              keyctl from keyutils-1.5.3 (Built 2011-08-24)

       (*) Show process keyrings

       keyctl show [-x] [<keyring>]

       By default this command recursively shows what keyrings a process  is  subscribed  to  and
       what  keys and keyrings they contain.  If a keyring is specified then that keyring will be
       dumped instead.  If -x is specified then the keyring IDs will be dumped in hex instead  of
       decimal.

       (*) Add a key to a keyring

       keyctl add <type> <desc> <data> <keyring>
       keyctl padd <type> <desc> <keyring>

       This command creates a key of the specified type and description; instantiates it with the
       given data and attaches it to the specified keyring. It then prints the new  key's  ID  on
       stdout:

              testbox>keyctl add user mykey stuff @u
              26

       The  padd  variant of the command reads the data from stdin rather than taking it from the
       command line:

              testbox>echo -n stuff | keyctl padd user mykey @u
              26

       (*) Request a key

       keyctl request <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl request2 <type> <desc> <info> [<dest_keyring>]
       keyctl prequest2 <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]

       These three commands request the lookup of a key of the given type  and  description.  The
       process's keyrings will be searched, and if a match is found the matching key's ID will be
       printed to stdout; and if a destination keyring is given, the key will be  added  to  that
       keyring also.

       If  there  is  no key, the first command will simply return the error ENOKEY and fail. The
       second and third commands will create a partial key with the  type  and  description,  and
       call  out to /sbin/request-key with that key and the extra information supplied. This will
       then attempt to instantiate the key in some manner, such that a valid key is obtained.

       The third command is like the second, except that the callout  information  is  read  from
       stdin rather than being passed on the command line.

       If a valid key is obtained, the ID will be printed and the key attached as if the original
       search had succeeded.

       If there wasn't a valid key obtained, a temporary negative key will  be  attached  to  the
       destination keyring if given and the error "Requested key not available" will be given.

              testbox>keyctl request2 user debug:hello wibble
              23
              testbox>echo -n wibble | keyctl prequest2 user debug:hello
              23
              testbox>keyctl request user debug:hello
              23

       (*) Update a key

       keyctl update <key> <data>
       keyctl pupdate <key>

       This  command  replaces  the data attached to a key with a new set of data. If the type of
       the key doesn't support update then error "Operation not supported" will be returned.

              testbox>keyctl update 23 zebra

       The pupdate variant of the command reads the data from stdin rather than  taking  it  from
       the command line:

              testbox>echo -n zebra | keyctl pupdate 23

       (*) Create a keyring

       keyctl newring <name> <keyring>

       This  command creates a new keyring of the specified name and attaches it to the specified
       keyring. The ID of the new keyring will be printed to stdout if successful.

              testbox>keyctl newring squelch @us
              27

       (*) Revoke a key

       keyctl revoke <key>

       This command marks a key as being revoked. Any further operations on that key (apart  from
       unlinking it) will return error "Key has been revoked".

              testbox>keyctl revoke 26
              testbox>keyctl describe 26
              keyctl_describe: Key has been revoked

       (*) Clear a keyring

       keyctl clear <keyring>

       This  command  unlinks  all  the  keys  attached  to  the  specified keyring. Error "Not a
       directory" will be returned if the key specified is not a keyring.

              testbox>keyctl clear 27

       (*) Link a key to a keyring

       keyctl link <key> <keyring>

       This command makes a link from the key to the keyring if there's enough capacity to do so.
       Error  "Not  a  directory"  will  be  returned  if the destination is not a keyring. Error
       "Permission denied" will be returned if the  key  doesn't  have  link  permission  or  the
       keyring doesn't have write permission. Error "File table overflow" will be returned if the
       keyring is full. Error "Resource deadlock avoided" will be returned if an attempt was made
       to introduce a recursive link.

              testbox>keyctl link 23 27
              testbox>keyctl link 27 27
              keyctl_link: Resource deadlock avoided

       (*) Unlink a key from a keyring or the session keyring tree

       keyctl unlink <key> [<keyring>]

       If  the  keyring  is  specified,  this command removes a link to the key from the keyring.
       Error "Not a directory" will be returned if  the  destination  is  not  a  keyring.  Error
       "Permission  denied"  will be returned if the keyring doesn't have write permission. Error
       "No such file or directory" will be returned if the key is not linked to by the keyring.

       If the keyring is not specified, this command performs a depth-first search of the session
       keyring  tree and removes all the links to the nominated key that it finds (and that it is
       permitted to remove).  It prints the number of successful unlinks before exiting.

              testbox>keyctl unlink 23 27

       (*) Search a keyring

       keyctl search <keyring> <type> <desc> [<dest_keyring>]

       This command non-recursively searches a keyring  for  a  key  of  a  particular  type  and
       description.  If  found,  the  ID of the key will be printed on stdout and the key will be
       attached to the destination keyring if present. Error "Requested key not  available"  will
       be returned if the key is not found.

              testbox>keyctl search @us user debug:hello
              23
              testbox>keyctl search @us user debug:bye
              keyctl_search: Requested key not available

       (*) Read a key

       keyctl read <key>
       keyctl pipe <key>
       keyctl print <key>

       These commands read the payload of a key. "read" prints it on stdout as a hex dump, "pipe"
       dumps the raw data to stdout and "print" dumps it to  stdout  directly  if  it's  entirely
       printable or as a hexdump preceded by ":hex:" if not.

       If  the  key  type  does  not  support  reading  of the payload, then error "Operation not
       supported" will be returned.

              testbox>keyctl read 26
              1 bytes of data in key:
              62
              testbox>keyctl print 26
              b
              testbox>keyctl pipe 26
              btestbox>

       (*) List a keyring

       keyctl list <keyring>
       keyctl rlist <keyring>

       These commands list the contents of a key as a keyring. "list" pretty prints the  contents
       and "rlist" just produces a space-separated list of key IDs.

       No attempt is made to check that the specified keyring is a keyring.

              testbox>keyctl list @us
              2 keys in keyring:
                     22: vrwsl----------  4043    -1 keyring: _uid.4043
                     23: vrwsl----------  4043  4043 user: debug:hello
              testbox>keyctl rlist @us
              22 23

       (*) Describe a key

       keyctl describe <keyring>
       keyctl rdescribe <keyring> [sep]

       These  commands fetch a description of a keyring. "describe" pretty prints the description
       in the same fashion as the "list" command; "rdescribe" prints the raw data  returned  from
       the kernel.

              testbox>keyctl describe @us
                     -5:   vrwsl----------   4043     -1  keyring:  _uid_ses.4043  testbox>keyctl
              rdescribe @us keyring;4043;-1;3f1f0000;_uid_ses.4043

       The raw string is "<type>;<uid>;<gid>;<perms>;<description>", where uid and  gid  are  the
       decimal user and group IDs, perms is the permissions mask in hex, type and description are
       the type name and description strings (neither of which will contain semicolons).

       (*) Change the access controls on a key

       keyctl chown <key> <uid>
       keyctl chgrp <key> <gid>

       These two commands change the UID and GID associated with evaluating a  key's  permissions
       mask. The UID also governs which quota a key is taken out of.

       The chown command is not currently supported; attempting it will earn the error "Operation
       not supported" at best.

       For non-superuser users, the GID may only be set to the process's GID  or  a  GID  in  the
       process's groups list. The superuser may set any GID it likes.

              testbox>sudo keyctl chown 27 0
              keyctl_chown: Operation not supported
              testbox>sudo keyctl chgrp 27 0

       (*) Set the permissions mask on a key

       keyctl setperm <key> <mask>

       This  command changes the permission control mask on a key. The mask may be specified as a
       hex number if it begins "0x", an octal number  if  it  begins  "0"  or  a  decimal  number
       otherwise.

       The hex numbers are a combination of:

              Possessor UID       GID       Other     Permission Granted
              ========  ========  ========  ========  ==================
              01000000  00010000  00000100  00000001  View
              02000000  00020000  00000200  00000002  Read
              04000000  00040000  00000400  00000004  Write
              08000000  00080000  00000800  00000008  Search
              10000000  00100000  00001000  00000010  Link
              20000000  00200000  00002000  00000020  Set Attribute
              3f000000  003f0000  00003f00  0000003f  All

       View permits the type, description and other parameters of a key to be viewed.

       Read permits the payload (or keyring list) to be read if supported by the type.

       Write permits the payload (or keyring list) to be modified or updated.

       Search on a key permits it to be found when a keyring to which it is linked is searched.

       Link permits a key to be linked to a keyring.

       Set  Attribute  permits  a  key  to have its owner, group membership, permissions mask and
       timeout changed.

              testbox>keyctl setperm 27 0x1f1f1f00

       (*) Start a new session with fresh keyrings

       keyctl session
       keyctl session - [<prog> <arg1> <arg2> ...]
       keyctl session <name> [<prog> <arg1> <arg2> ...]

       These commands join or create a new keyring and then run a shell  or  other  program  with
       that keyring as the session key.

       The  variation  with  no  arguments just creates an anonymous session keyring and attaches
       that as the session keyring; it then exec's $SHELL.

       The variation with a dash in place of a name creates  an  anonymous  session  keyring  and
       attaches  that  as  the session keyring; it then exec's the supplied command, or $SHELL if
       one isn't supplied.

       The variation with a name supplied creates or joins the named keyring and attaches that as
       the session keyring; it then exec's the supplied command, or $SHELL if one isn't supplied.

              testbox>keyctl rdescribe @s
              keyring;4043;-1;3f1f0000;_uid_ses.4043

              testbox>keyctl session
              Joined session keyring: 28
              testbox>keyctl rdescribe @s
              keyring;4043;4043;3f1f0000;_ses.24082

              testbox>keyctl session -
              Joined session keyring: 29
              testbox>keyctl rdescribe @s
              keyring;4043;4043;3f1f0000;_ses.24139

              testbox>keyctl session - keyctl rdescribe @s
              Joined session keyring: 30
              keyring;4043;4043;3f1f0000;_ses.24185

              testbox>keyctl session fish
              Joined session keyring: 34
              testbox>keyctl rdescribe @s
              keyring;4043;4043;3f1f0000;fish

              testbox>keyctl session fish keyctl rdesc @s
              Joined session keyring: 35
              keyring;4043;4043;3f1f0000;fish

       (*) Instantiate a key

       keyctl instantiate <key> <data> <keyring>
       keyctl pinstantiate <key> <keyring>
       keyctl negate <key> <timeout> <keyring>
       keyctl reject <key> <timeout> <error> <keyring>

       These commands are used to attach data to a partially set up key (as created by the kernel
       and passed to /sbin/request-key).  "instantiate" marks a key as being valid  and  attaches
       the  data  as the payload.  "negate" and "reject" mark a key as invalid and sets a timeout
       on it so that it'll go away after a while.  This prevents  a  lot  of  quickly  sequential
       requests  from  slowing  the  system  down  overmuch when they all fail, as all subsequent
       requests will then fail with error "Requested key not found" (if negated) or the specified
       error (if rejected) until the negative key has expired.

       Reject's  error argument can either be a UNIX error number or one of 'rejected', 'expired'
       or 'revoked'.

       The newly instantiated key will be attached to the specified keyring.

       These commands may  only  be  run  from  the  program  run  by  request-key  -  a  special
       authorisation  key  is  set  up  by  the  kernel and attached to the request-key's session
       keyring. This special key is revoked once the key to which it refers has been instantiated
       one way or another.

              testbox>keyctl instantiate $1 "Debug $3" $4
              testbox>keyctl negate $1 30 $4
              testbox>keyctl reject $1 30 64 $4

       The  pinstantiate  variant  of the command reads the data from stdin rather than taking it
       from the command line:

              testbox>echo -n "Debug $3" | keyctl pinstantiate $1 $4

       (*) Set the expiry time on a key

       keyctl timeout <key> <timeout>

       This command is used to set the timeout on a key, or clear  an  existing  timeout  if  the
       value specified is zero. The timeout is given as a number of seconds into the future.

              testbox>keyctl timeout $1 45

       (*) Retrieve a key's security context

       keyctl security <key>

       This  command  is  used to retrieve a key's LSM security context.  The label is printed on
       stdout.

              testbox>keyctl security @s
              unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023

       (*) Give the parent process a new session keyring

       keyctl new_session

       This command is used to give the invoking  process  (typically  a  shell)  a  new  session
       keyring, discarding its old session keyring.

              testbox> keyctl session foo
              Joined session keyring: 723488146
              testbox> keyctl show
              Session Keyring
                     -3 --alswrv      0     0  keyring: foo
              testbox> keyctl new_session
              490511412
              testbox> keyctl show
              Session Keyring
                     -3 --alswrv      0     0  keyring: _ses

       Note  that this affects the parent of the process that invokes the system call, and so may
       only affect processes with matching credentials.  Furthermore, the change  does  not  take
       effect  till  the  parent  process  next  transitions  from  kernel  space to user space -
       typically when the wait() system call returns.

       (*) Remove dead keys from the session keyring tree

       keyctl reap

       This command performs a depth-first search  of  the  caller's  session  keyring  tree  and
       attempts  to  unlink any key that it finds that is inaccessible due to expiry, revocation,
       rejection or negation.  It does not attempt to  remove  live  keys  that  are  unavailable
       simply due to a lack of granted permission.

       A  key  that  is designated reapable will only be removed from a keyring if the caller has
       Write permission on that keyring, and only keyrings that grant Search  permission  to  the
       caller will be searched.

       The  command  prints  the number of keys reaped before it exits.  If the -v flag is passed
       then the reaped keys are listed as they're being reaped,  together  with  the  success  or
       failure of the unlink.

       (*) Remove matching keys from the session keyring tree

       keyctl purge <type>
       keyctl purge [-i] [-p] <type> <desc>
       keyctl purge -s <type> <desc>

       These  commands perform a depth-first search to find matching keys in the caller's session
       keyring tree and attempts to unlink them.  The number of  keys  successfully  unlinked  is
       printed at the end.

       The  keyrings  must  grant  Read and View permission to the caller to be searched, and the
       keys to be removed must also grant  View  permission.   Keys  can  only  be  removed  from
       keyrings that grant Write permission.

       The first variant purges all keys of the specified type.

       The  second  variant  purges  all  keys  of  the  specified type that also match the given
       description literally.  The -i flag allows a case-independent match and the -p flag allows
       a prefix match.

       The third variant purges all keys of the specified type and matching description using the
       key type's comparator in the kernel to match the description.  This permits the  key  type
       to match a key with a variety of descriptions.

       (*) Get persistent keyring

       keyctl get_persistent <keyring> [<uid>]

       This  command  gets the persistent keyring for either the current UID or the specified UID
       and attaches it to the nominated keyring.  The persistent keyring's ID will be printed  on
       stdout.

       The  kernel  will  create  the  keyring if it doesn't exist and every time this command is
       called, will reset the expiration timeout on the keyring to the value in:

              /proc/sys/kernel/keys/persistent_keyring_expiry

       (by default three days).  Should the timeout be reached, the persistent  keyring  will  be
       removed and everything it pins can then be garbage collected.

       If  a UID other than the process's real or effective UIDs is specified, then an error will
       be given if the process does not have the CAP_SETUID capability.

ERRORS

       There are a number of common errors returned by this program:

       "Not a directory" - a key wasn't a keyring.

       "Requested key not found" - the looked for key isn't available.

       "Key has been revoked" - a revoked key was accessed.

       "Key has expired" - an expired key was accessed.

       "Permission denied" - permission was denied by a UID/GID/mask combination.

SEE ALSO

       keyctl(1), request-key.conf(5)