CAPNG_SETPID(3)

💖 CAPNG_SETPID(3) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the libcap-ng API manual, page CAPNG_SETPID(3) — this one's short, sweet, and lowkey essential if you ever need to peek at somebody else's capabilities. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

capng_setpid — set working pid 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <cap-ng.h>

void capng_setpid(int pid);

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so capng_setpid sets the working pid for capabilities operations. it's giving "point libcap-ng at a different process" energy ✨

this is useful if you want to get the capabilities of a different process. that's the whole vibe, no cap 👑

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🦋 NOTES 🦋

okay this part matters, pay attention bestie 😭

if your process calls fork, then the child process will still have the pid of the parent process stored in libcap-ng's internal data. and like — it is disallowed to do any kind of setcap operations because you would be crossing process boundaries. not me warning you about boundary violations 💀

to correct this: if your program links against pthreads, then libcap-ng will use the pthread_atfork function (as a weak symbol) to reset the pid information to the new process automatically. slay, it just handles it for you 🌈

but fr fr, you are not required to link against pthreads. you can just call capng_setpid and adjust the stored pid manually. your call, main character 💅

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

None. that's it, that's the whole return value. nothing. void. the void is voiding 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• capng_get_caps_process(3)
• capabilities(7)

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🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

Steve Grubb 💜

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okay that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from Red Hat, dated March 2026, and it lives in the libcap-ng API family — mwah, go forth and set your working pid responsibly 🎀✨🦋