3 files changed, 25 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/limits/limits.go b/pkg/sentry/limits/limits.go
index eeca01876..b0571739f 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/limits/limits.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/limits/limits.go
@@ -113,13 +113,17 @@ func (l *LimitSet) SetUnchecked(t LimitType, v Limit) {
 }
 
 // Set assigns value v to resource of LimitType t and returns the old value.
-func (l *LimitSet) Set(t LimitType, v Limit) (Limit, error) {
+// privileged should be true only when either the caller has CAP_SYS_RESOURCE
+// or when creating limits for a new kernel.
+func (l *LimitSet) Set(t LimitType, v Limit, privileged bool) (Limit, error) {
 	l.mu.Lock()
 	defer l.mu.Unlock()
+
 	// If a limit is already set, make sure the new limit doesn't
 	// exceed the previous max limit.
 	if _, ok := l.data[t]; ok {
-		if l.data[t].Max < v.Max {
+		// Unprivileged users can only lower their hard limits.
+		if l.data[t].Max < v.Max && !privileged {
 			return Limit{}, syscall.EPERM
 		}
 		if v.Cur > v.Max {
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/limits/limits_test.go b/pkg/sentry/limits/limits_test.go
index d41f62554..945428163 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/limits/limits_test.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/limits/limits_test.go
@@ -20,18 +20,24 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestSet(t *testing.T) {
-	ls := NewLimitSet()
-	ls.Set(1, Limit{Cur: 50, Max: 50})
-	if _, err := ls.Set(1, Limit{Cur: 20, Max: 50}); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Tried to lower Limit to valid new value: got %v, wanted nil", err)
-	}
-	if _, err := ls.Set(1, Limit{Cur: 20, Max: 60}); err != syscall.EPERM {
-		t.Fatalf("Tried to raise limit.Max to invalid higher value: got %v, wanted syscall.EPERM", err)
-	}
-	if _, err := ls.Set(1, Limit{Cur: 60, Max: 50}); err != syscall.EINVAL {
-		t.Fatalf("Tried to raise limit.Cur to invalid higher value: got %v, wanted syscall.EINVAL", err)
+	testCases := []struct {
+		limit       Limit
+		privileged  bool
+		expectedErr error
+	}{
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 50, Max: 50}, privileged: false, expectedErr: nil},
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 20, Max: 50}, privileged: false, expectedErr: nil},
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 20, Max: 60}, privileged: false, expectedErr: syscall.EPERM},
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 60, Max: 50}, privileged: false, expectedErr: syscall.EINVAL},
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 11, Max: 10}, privileged: false, expectedErr: syscall.EINVAL},
+		{limit: Limit{Cur: 20, Max: 60}, privileged: true, expectedErr: nil},
 	}
-	if _, err := ls.Set(1, Limit{Cur: 11, Max: 10}); err != syscall.EINVAL {
-		t.Fatalf("Tried to set new limit with Cur > Max: got %v, wanted syscall.EINVAL", err)
+
+	ls := NewLimitSet()
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		if _, err := ls.Set(1, tc.limit, tc.privileged); err != tc.expectedErr {
+			t.Fatalf("Tried to set Limit to %+v and privilege %t: got %v, wanted %v", tc.limit, tc.privileged, err, tc.expectedErr)
+		}
 	}
+
 }
diff --git a/pkg/sentry/limits/linux.go b/pkg/sentry/limits/linux.go
index 295f9c398..e09d0d2fb 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/limits/linux.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/limits/linux.go
@@ -95,6 +95,6 @@ func NewLinuxDistroLimitSet() (*LimitSet, error) {
 	// 1,048,576 ought to be enough for anyone.
 	l := ls.Get(ProcessCount)
 	l.Cur = 1 << 20
-	ls.Set(ProcessCount, l)
+	ls.Set(ProcessCount, l, true /* privileged */)
 	return ls, nil
 }