diff --git a/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.cpp b/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..39c97618087
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+#include <AK/HashTable.h>
+#include <Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.h>
+#include <Kernel/FileSystem/Inode.h>
+#include <Kernel/Lock.h>
+
+static Lockable<HashTable<Custody*>>& all_custodies()
+{
+    static Lockable<HashTable<Custody*>>* table;
+    if (!table)
+        table = new Lockable<HashTable<Custody*>>;
+    return *table;
+}
+
+Custody::Custody(Custody* parent, const String& name, Inode& inode)
+    : m_parent(parent)
+    , m_name(name)
+    , m_inode(inode)
+{
+    LOCKER(all_custodies().lock());
+    all_custodies().resource().set(this);
+}
+
+Custody::~Custody()
+{
+    LOCKER(all_custodies().lock());
+    all_custodies().resource().remove(this);
+}
diff --git a/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.h b/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..06cf20b69ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <AK/AKString.h>
+#include <AK/RetainPtr.h>
+#include <AK/Retainable.h>
+
+class Inode;
+
+class Custody : public Retainable<Custody> {
+public:
+    static Retained<Custody> create(Custody* parent, const String& name, Inode& inode)
+    {
+        return adopt(*new Custody(parent, name, inode));
+    }
+
+    ~Custody();
+
+    Custody* parent() { return m_parent.ptr(); }
+    const Custody* parent() const { return m_parent.ptr(); }
+
+    Inode& inode() { return *m_inode; }
+    const Inode& inode() const { return *m_inode; }
+
+    const String& name() const { return m_name; }
+
+private:
+    Custody(Custody* parent, const String& name, Inode&);
+
+    RetainPtr<Custody> m_parent;
+    String m_name;
+    Retained<Inode> m_inode;
+};
diff --git a/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.cpp b/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.cpp
index ec8b32ef159..dfe1c56a3de 100644
--- a/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.cpp
+++ b/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <Kernel/Devices/CharacterDevice.h>
 #include <LibC/errno_numbers.h>
 #include <Kernel/Process.h>
+#include <Kernel/FileSystem/Custody.h>
 
 //#define VFS_DEBUG
 
@@ -739,3 +740,77 @@ void VFS::sync()
 {
     FS::sync();
 }
+
+Custody& VFS::root_custody()
+{
+    if (!m_root_custody)
+        m_root_custody = Custody::create(nullptr, "", *root_inode());
+    return *m_root_custody;
+}
+
+KResultOr<Retained<Custody>> VFS::resolve_path_to_custody(StringView path, Custody& base, int options)
+{
+    if (path.is_empty())
+        return KResult(-EINVAL);
+
+    auto parts = path.split_view('/');
+    InodeIdentifier crumb_id;
+
+    Vector<Retained<Custody>, 32> custody_chain;
+
+    if (path[0] == '/') {
+        custody_chain.append(Retained<Custody>(base));
+        crumb_id = root_inode_id();
+    } else {
+        for (auto* custody = &base; custody; custody = custody->parent()) {
+            // FIXME: Prepending here is not efficient! Fix this.
+            custody_chain.prepend(*custody);
+        }
+        crumb_id = base.inode().identifier();
+    }
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < parts.size(); ++i) {
+        bool inode_was_root_at_head_of_loop = crumb_id.is_root_inode();
+        auto& part = parts[i];
+        if (part.is_empty())
+            break;
+        auto crumb_inode = get_inode(crumb_id);
+        if (!crumb_inode)
+            return KResult(-EIO);
+        auto metadata = crumb_inode->metadata();
+        if (!metadata.is_directory())
+            return KResult(-ENOTDIR);
+        if (!metadata.may_execute(current->process()))
+            return KResult(-EACCES);
+        auto parent = crumb_id;
+        crumb_id = crumb_inode->lookup(part);
+        if (!crumb_id.is_valid())
+            return KResult(-ENOENT);
+        if (auto mount = find_mount_for_host(crumb_id))
+            crumb_id = mount->guest();
+        if (inode_was_root_at_head_of_loop && crumb_id.is_root_inode() && !is_vfs_root(crumb_id) && part == "..") {
+            auto mount = find_mount_for_guest(crumb_id);
+            auto dir_inode = get_inode(mount->host());
+            ASSERT(dir_inode);
+            crumb_id = dir_inode->lookup("..");
+        }
+        crumb_inode = get_inode(crumb_id);
+        ASSERT(crumb_inode);
+        custody_chain.append(Custody::create(custody_chain.last().ptr(), part, *crumb_inode));
+        metadata = crumb_inode->metadata();
+        if (metadata.is_symlink()) {
+            if (i == parts.size() - 1) {
+                if (options & O_NOFOLLOW)
+                    return KResult(-ELOOP);
+                if (options & O_NOFOLLOW_NOERROR)
+                    return custody_chain.last();
+            }
+            auto result = resolve_symbolic_link(parent, *crumb_inode);
+            if (result.is_error())
+                return KResult(-ENOENT);
+            crumb_id = result.value();
+            ASSERT(crumb_id.is_valid());
+        }
+    }
+    return custody_chain.last();
+}
diff --git a/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.h b/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.h
index 04ef61a432b..0dbef2bb36b 100644
--- a/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.h
+++ b/Kernel/FileSystem/VirtualFileSystem.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #define O_CLOEXEC 02000000
 #define O_NOFOLLOW_NOERROR 0x4000000
 
+class Custody;
 class Device;
 class FileDescriptor;
 
@@ -96,6 +97,9 @@ public:
 
     Device* get_device(unsigned major, unsigned minor);
 
+    Custody& root_custody();
+    KResultOr<Retained<Custody>> resolve_path_to_custody(StringView path, Custody& base, int options = 0);
+
 private:
     friend class FileDescriptor;
 
@@ -115,4 +119,6 @@ private:
     RetainPtr<Inode> m_root_inode;
     Vector<OwnPtr<Mount>> m_mounts;
     HashMap<dword, Device*> m_devices;
+
+    RetainPtr<Custody> m_root_custody;
 };
diff --git a/Kernel/Makefile b/Kernel/Makefile
index 660f18fe7c7..1593bfc41cc 100644
--- a/Kernel/Makefile
+++ b/Kernel/Makefile
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ KERNEL_OBJS = \
        ProcessTracer.o \
        Devices/PCSpeaker.o \
        FileSystem/InodeFile.o \
+       FileSystem/Custody.o \
        File.o
 
 VFS_OBJS = \