arch_elf_pt_proc(9)

✨ arch_elf_pt_proc(9) ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual 💅 this one's about checking a PT_LOPROC..PT_HIPROC ELF program header, and honestly? it's giving gatekeeper energy (in the good way, it literally decides if your ELF loads or not) 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

arch_elf_pt_proc — check a PT_LOPROC..PT_HIPROC ELF program header

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

int arch_elf_pt_proc (struct elfhdr *ehdr , struct elf_phdr *phdr ,
       struct file *elf , bool is_interp , struct arch_elf_state *state );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• ehdr — the main ELF header, the big boss of the file 👑
• phdr — the program header you're checking, the one on trial rn
• elf — the open ELF file itself, the actual file on disk
• is_interp — true if phdr came from the interpreter of the ELF being loaded, otherwise false. so like, is this the sidekick or the main character? 🫶
• state — architecture-specific state that gets preserved throughout the whole process of loading the ELF. it's the memory of the whole operation, basically 💜

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what it does is look at the program header phdr and validate whether it's correct and/or actually suitable for the system 🔥 like a vibe check but for headers, and the consequences are real (no cap).

it gets called once per ELF program header in the range PT_LOPROC to PT_HIPROC, and it runs for both the ELF being loaded and its interpreter. so yeah, everyone gets checked, no exceptions, periodt 💅

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🌈 RETURN 🌈

• returns zero → slay, proceed with the ELF load ✨
• returns non-zero → the ELF load fails, and it fails with that return code as the reason 😭

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🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

• Kernel file ./fs/binfmt_elf.c load_elf_phdrs(9)
• struct arch_elf_state(9)
• arch_check_elf(9)

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ngl, go read arch_check_elf(9) next, it's the sibling that ties it all together 🧚

okay that's the whole page bestie, ty for coming to my ted talk 💖 this lives in ./fs and the version/date stamp is October 2026, so mark your calendar 🎀 mwah, see u at the next manpage 🦋🌸💅