cap_inode_need_killpriv(9)

💅 cap_inode_need_killpriv(9) 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual page for cap_inode_need_killpriv — yes, the manual name is folded in right here, we’re being efficient 💖. This is basically the vibe check for whether an inode change is gonna mess with privilege markings.

🌸 NAME 🌸

cap_inode_need_killpriv - Determine if inode change affects privileges

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int cap_inode_need_killpriv (struct dentry *dentry );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dentry — The inode/dentry in being changed with change marked ATTR_KILL_PRIV.

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So the question this function is asking is: when an inode has a change applied that’s marked ATTR_KILL_PRIV, does that change affect the security markings on that inode? And if it does, should inode_killpriv be invoked, or should the change be rejected? That’s the whole plot 🫶.

🔥 RETURN 🔥

• 1 if security.capability has a value, meaning inode_killpriv is required.
• 0 otherwise, meaning inode_killpriv is not required.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Kernel file ./security/commoncap.c plus this iconic squad:

• cap_capable_helper(9)
• cap_capable(9)
• cap_settime(9)
• cap_ptrace_access_check(9)
• cap_ptrace_traceme(9)
• cap_capget(9)
• cap_capset(9)
• cap_inode_killpriv(9)
• kuid_root_in_ns(9)
• rootid_from_xattr(9)
• cap_convert_nscap(9)
• get_vfs_caps_from_disk(9)
• cap_bprm_creds_from_file(9)
• cap_inode_setxattr(9)
• cap_inode_removexattr(9)
• cap_task_fix_setuid(9)
• cap_task_setscheduler(9)
• cap_task_setioprio(9)
• cap_task_setnice(9)
• cap_task_prctl(9)
• cap_vm_enough_memory(9)
• cap_mmap_addr(9)

🎀 that’s the page, bestie — brought to you by source/version ./security, dated October 2026, and titled cap_inode_need_killpriv(9). mwah 💋