hacktricks/linux-hardening/privilege-escalation/docker-security/namespaces/uts-namespace.md

# UTS Namespace

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## Basic Information

A UTS (UNIX Time-Sharing System) namespace is a Linux kernel feature that provides i**solation of two system identifiers**: the **hostname** and the **NIS** (Network Information Service) domain name. This isolation allows each UTS namespace to have its **own independent hostname and NIS domain name**, which is particularly useful in containerization scenarios where each container should appear as a separate system with its own hostname.

### How it works:

1. When a new UTS namespace is created, it starts with a **copy of the hostname and NIS domain name from its parent namespace**. This means that, at creation, the new namespace s**hares the same identifiers as its parent**. However, any subsequent changes to the hostname or NIS domain name within the namespace will not affect other namespaces.
2. Processes within a UTS namespace **can change the hostname and NIS domain name** using the `sethostname()` and `setdomainname()` system calls, respectively. These changes are local to the namespace and do not affect other namespaces or the host system.
3. Processes can move between namespaces using the `setns()` system call or create new namespaces using the `unshare()` or `clone()` system calls with the `CLONE_NEWUTS` flag. When a process moves to a new namespace or creates one, it will start using the hostname and NIS domain name associated with that namespace.

## Lab:

### Create different Namespaces

#### CLI

```bash
sudo unshare -u [--mount-proc] /bin/bash
```

By mounting a new instance of the `/proc` filesystem if you use the param `--mount-proc`, you ensure that the new mount namespace has an **accurate and isolated view of the process information specific to that namespace**.

<details>

<summary>Error: bash: fork: Cannot allocate memory</summary>

If you run the previous line without `-f` you will get that error.\
The error is caused by the PID 1 process exits in the new namespace.

After bash start to run, bash will fork several new sub-processes to do somethings. If you run unshare without -f, bash will have the same pid as the current "unshare" process. The current "unshare" process call the unshare systemcall, create a new pid namespace, but the current "unshare" process is not in the new pid namespace. It is the desired behavior of linux kernel: process A creates a new namespace, the process A itself won't be put into the new namespace, only the sub-processes of process A will be put into the new namespace. So when you run:

```
unshare -p /bin/bash
```

The unshare process will exec /bin/bash, and /bin/bash forks several sub-processes, the first sub-process of bash will become PID 1 of the new namespace, and the subprocess will exit after it completes its job. So the PID 1 of the new namespace exits.

The PID 1 process has a special function: it should become all the orphan processes' parent process. If PID 1 process in the root namespace exits, kernel will panic. If PID 1 process in a sub namespace exits, linux kernel will call the disable\_pid\_allocation function, which will clean the PIDNS\_HASH\_ADDING flag in that namespace. When linux kernel create a new process, kernel will call alloc\_pid function to allocate a PID in a namespace, and if the PIDNS\_HASH\_ADDING flag is not set, alloc\_pid function will return a -ENOMEM error. That's why you got the "Cannot allocate memory" error.

You can resolve this issue by use the '-f' option:

```
unshare -fp /bin/bash
```

If you run unshare with '-f' option, unshare will fork a new process after it create the new pid namespace. And run /bin/bash in the new process. The new process will be the pid 1 of the new pid namespace. Then bash will also fork several sub-processes to do some jobs. As bash itself is the pid 1 of the new pid namespace, its sub-processes can exit without any problem.

Copied from [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44666700/unshare-pid-bin-bash-fork-cannot-allocate-memory](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44666700/unshare-pid-bin-bash-fork-cannot-allocate-memory)

</details>

#### Docker

```bash
docker run -ti --name ubuntu1 -v /usr:/ubuntu1 ubuntu bash
```

### &#x20;Check which namespace is your process in

```bash
ls -l /proc/self/ns/uts
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Apr  4 20:49 /proc/self/ns/uts -> 'uts:[4026531838]'
```

### Find all UTS namespaces

{% code overflow="wrap" %}
```bash
sudo find /proc -maxdepth 3 -type l -name uts -exec readlink {} \; 2>/dev/null | sort -u
# Find the processes with an specific namespace
sudo find /proc -maxdepth 3 -type l -name uts -exec ls -l  {} \; 2>/dev/null | grep <ns-number>
```
{% endcode %}

### Enter inside an UTS namespace

```bash
nsenter -u TARGET_PID --pid /bin/bash
```

Also, you can only **enter in another process namespace if you are root**. And you **cannot** **enter** in other namespace **without a descriptor** pointing to it (like `/proc/self/ns/uts`).

### Change hostname

```bash
unshare -u /bin/bash
hostname newhostname # Hostname won't be changed inside the host UTS ns
```

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</details>