PAM_CLOSE_SESSION(3)

👑 NAME 👑

okay so this is pam_close_session (and it lives in the Linux-PAM Manual, section 3, iykyk) — and it's literally the function that terminates PAM session management, periodt 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

like, the vibe starts here bestie:

#include <security/pam_appl.h>

int pam_close_session(pam_handle_t *pamh, int flags);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so pam_close_session is the function you call to say "hey, this authenticated session? it's over" 🎀 It tells the system that an authenticated session has ended.

💖 tiny but important: the session should have been created with a call to pam_open_session(3). You can't close what you never opened, bestie 🤷‍♀️

also, no cap — this one matters: the effective uid, geteuid(2), of the application should be of sufficient privilege to perform such tasks as unmounting the user's home directory for example. so like, your app needs the juice to actually do the cleanup things 👑

The flags argument is the binary or of zero or more of the following values:

• PAM_SILENT — do not emit any messages 🤫 not a peep, not a peep

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🔥 RETURN VALUES 🔥

like okay, here's what you might get back:

• PAM_ABORT — general failure 😭 it's giving "everything went sideways"
• PAM_BUF_ERR — memory buffer error 💀 the buffer said no
• PAM_SESSION_ERR — session failure 🙈
• PAM_SUCCESS — session was successful terminated ✨ slay, we love a clean exit

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

go check these out, they're iconic:

• pam_open_session(3)
• pam_strerror(3)

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so yeah, that's the whole page 🌸 Linux-PAM, version dated 07/08/2026 — mwah, no notes, bye bestie 💜🧚‍♀️