__vfs_setxattr_noperm(9)

💅 __vfs_setxattr_noperm — the Kernel API Manual moment

okay so bestie, welcome to the __vfs_setxattr_noperm page, straight out of the Linux Kernel API Manual. bestie this one is niche but she's iconic — it's the setxattr operation that does the whole job without doing permission checks. yes, that's the entire personality. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

__vfs_setxattr_noperm — perform setxattr operation without performing permission checks.

like literally what it says on the tin, no cap 💅

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

int __vfs_setxattr_noperm (struct mnt_idmap *idmap , struct dentry
*dentry , const char *name , const void *value , size_t size , int flags
);

the way she takes six arguments and returns an int… main character energy fr fr 👑

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🌸 ARGUMENTS 🌸

• idmap — the idmap of the mount that the inode was found from 🗺️
• dentry — the object you're performing setxattr on; she's the target, the moment, the whole vibe
• name — the xattr name you're setting ✨
• value — what you're setting name to 🍓
• size — the size of value, don't leave her guessing
• flags — the flags that get passed into the filesystem operations 🚩

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

she returns the result of the internal setxattr or setsecurity operations. that's the return value, periodt ✨

⚠️ okay so this part is important and not a vibe-check you can skip: this function requires the caller to lock the inode's i_rwsem before it is executed. also, it assumes that the caller will make the appropriate permission checks. so like… the "noperm" in the name is NOT a free pass to be messy 🙈 the permission checking is your job, bestie. please do it. do not skip it.

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

Kernel file ./fs/xattr.c and her whole friend group: may_write_xattr(9), __vfs_setxattr_locked(9), vfs_listxattr(9), __vfs_removexattr_locked(9), generic_listxattr(9), xattr_full_name(9), simple_xattr_space(9), simple_xattr_free(9), simple_xattr_free_rcu(9), simple_xattr_alloc(9), simple_xattr_get(9), simple_xattr_set(9), simple_xattr_set_limited(9), simple_xattr_list(9), simple_xattr_add(9), simple_xattr_add_limited(9), simple_xattrs_free(9), simple_xattr_cache_cleanup(9)

that's the whole group chat, they all ate 🔥

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🌈 a lil sign-off 🌈

this page lives in ./fs and she's dated October 2026 — go off, queen 👑💖

ily, now go lock that i_rwsem 🧚