merge: a checker for the deprovision spec, and the trap that makes it pass for free

This commit is contained in:
2026-08-12 04:11:38 +00:00
2 changed files with 91 additions and 2 deletions
+22 -2
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@@ -146,8 +146,28 @@ All of these must hold for the freed uid *and* its freed subuid range:
- `/run/user/<uid>` absent - `/run/user/<uid>` absent
- no processes owned by the uid - no processes owned by the uid
Worth extracting as `assertUidFree(uid, subuidRange)` and reusing it as the post-condition of the function and `scripts/assert-uid-free.sh` implements exactly this, deliberately **outside** the function: a checker the
as a test. implementation calls is a restatement of its own beliefs, not an audit. Two modes, and the split matters —
```
./scripts/assert-uid-free.sh --capture green # BEFORE: prints "green 1001 165536 65536"
sudo ./scripts/assert-uid-free.sh --check green 1001 165536 65536 # AFTER: exit 1 unless clean
```
The range has to be captured **before** deletion, because `userdel` removes the `/etc/subuid` entry with the
account. After that there is no way to ask what range it held — and a check that silently skips that half is
the exact failure this section exists to prevent.
**The subuid check passes vacuously on most accounts, and that is a trap.** Container files are owned by a
mapped id only when a process inside the container runs as a NON-root user; an image whose files are root-owned
maps to the member's own uid and leaves nothing in the range. Measured on green after a night of real use —
`claude` installed, images pulled, transcripts written — the range check found **zero** files and passed
without testing anything.
To build a specimen that actually exercises it, run a container whose process writes as a non-root user. The
`postgres:18-alpine` case from the same night is the natural one: its entrypoint drops to uid 70, and the data
directory came out owned by `subuid_start + 70` on the host. Verify the range check *fails* on that tree before
trusting it to pass on a cleaned one.
**Trap for the verifier:** do not use `sudo -u <user> …` to check anything after step 2. Creating a session **Trap for the verifier:** do not use `sudo -u <user> …` to check anything after step 2. Creating a session
starts a user manager and recreates `/run/user/<uid>`, so the check would undo the step it is verifying. starts a user manager and recreates `/run/user/<uid>`, so the check would undo the step it is verifying.
+69
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@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Verify that a deprovisioned account has genuinely released its uid.
#
# Written as the verification half of `docs/deprovision-os-account.md`, deliberately OUTSIDE the
# implementation: if the function under test calls its own checker, the check is a restatement rather than
# an audit. This runs against the machine and knows nothing about the code that was supposed to clean it.
#
# The subuid range must be captured BEFORE the account is deleted, because `userdel` removes the
# /etc/subuid entry along with the account — after which there is no way to ask what range it held, and a
# check that silently skips that half is the failure mode this whole file exists to prevent.
#
# ./assert-uid-free.sh --capture green # before: prints "green 1001 165536 65536"
# ./assert-uid-free.sh --check green 1001 165536 65536 # after: exits non-zero unless clean
#
set -uo pipefail
DATA_PATH="${DATA_PATH:-/home/pastilhas/officerdev/data}"
SEARCH_ROOTS=("$DATA_PATH" /home)
usage() { echo "usage: $0 --capture <user> | --check <user> <uid> <subuid_start> <subuid_count>" >&2; exit 2; }
if [[ "${1:-}" == "--capture" ]]; then
user="${2:?user required}"
uid="$(id -u "$user" 2>/dev/null)" || { echo "no such account: $user" >&2; exit 1; }
range="$(awk -F: -v u="$user" '$1==u {print $2" "$3; exit}' /etc/subuid)"
[[ -n "$range" ]] || { echo "no /etc/subuid entry for $user — capture it another way or it is unverifiable" >&2; exit 1; }
echo "$user $uid $range"
exit 0
fi
[[ "${1:-}" == "--check" ]] || usage
user="${2:?}"; uid="${3:?}"; sub_start="${4:?}"; sub_count="${5:?}"
sub_end=$(( sub_start + sub_count - 1 ))
fails=0
ok() { printf ' ok %s\n' "$1"; }
bad() { printf ' FAIL %s\n' "$1"; fails=$((fails+1)); }
echo "checking $user (uid $uid, subuids $sub_start-$sub_end)"
getent passwd "$user" >/dev/null 2>&1 && bad "passwd entry still exists" || ok "no passwd entry"
getent passwd "$uid" >/dev/null 2>&1 && bad "uid $uid reassigned or still present" || ok "uid $uid unused"
grep -q "^$user:" /etc/subuid 2>/dev/null && bad "/etc/subuid entry remains" || ok "no /etc/subuid entry"
grep -q "^$user:" /etc/subgid 2>/dev/null && bad "/etc/subgid entry remains" || ok "no /etc/subgid entry"
[[ -e "/var/lib/systemd/linger/$user" ]] && bad "linger marker remains" || ok "no linger marker"
[[ -d "/run/user/$uid" ]] && bad "/run/user/$uid remains" || ok "no runtime directory"
procs="$(pgrep -u "$uid" 2>/dev/null | wc -l)"
[[ "$procs" -eq 0 ]] && ok "no processes" || bad "$procs process(es) still owned by uid $uid"
# The uid half.
owned="$(find "${SEARCH_ROOTS[@]}" -uid "$uid" -print -quit 2>/dev/null)"
[[ -z "$owned" ]] && ok "no files owned by uid $uid" || bad "files owned by uid $uid (e.g. $owned)"
# The subuid half — the one a uid-only check passes straight through. Container processes running as a
# non-root user inside their namespace write files owned by a MAPPED id, not by the member's uid, and
# `userdel` frees the whole range for reallocation.
mapped="$(find "${SEARCH_ROOTS[@]}" -uid +"$((sub_start-1))" ! -uid +"$sub_end" -print -quit 2>/dev/null)"
[[ -z "$mapped" ]] && ok "no files in the freed subuid range" || bad "files owned by the freed subuid range (e.g. $mapped)"
echo
if [[ "$fails" -eq 0 ]]; then
echo "CLEAN — uid $uid and its subuid range are safe to reissue"
exit 0
fi
echo "NOT CLEAN — $fails check(s) failed; do not reissue this uid"
exit 1