crypt_scatterlist(9)

💫 NAME 💫

ok so bestie, this is crypt_scatterlist — and like, the original page literally leaves the description blank after the dash? iconic honestly. no description, no notes, just vibes. it's a kernel API manual entry for crypt_scatterlist, and yes that's all the NAME section gives us, we respect the mystery 🫶

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int crypt_scatterlist (struct ecryptfs_crypt_stat *crypt_stat , struct
scatterlist *dst_sg , struct scatterlist *src_sg , int size , unsigned
char *iv , int op );

---

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

okay bestie here's the cast of characters, main character energy only:

• crypt_stat — pointer to the crypt_stat struct you're gonna initialize. it's giving setup era 💅
• dst_sg — the destination of the data after the crypto operation goes down. where the glow-up lands ✨
• src_sg — the data that's about to get encrypted or decrypted. the before picture 📸
• size — length of data. how much we're working with, no cap.
• iv — the IV to use. yes, that IV. the initialization vector. keep up 💜
• op — ENCRYPT or DECRYPT, to indicate the desired operation. you literally just tell it which one, pick your fighter 🔥

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what does it actually do?? it returns the number of bytes encrypted or decrypted — that's the number you want, that's the slay ✨

⚠️ heads up: a negative value on error. so if the number comes back negative, that's not a cute number, that's an error, and you should be like "😭 okay something's wrong."

---

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

kernel file ./fs/ecryptfs/crypto.c — go read it, it's right there:

• ecryptfs_from_hex(9)
• ecryptfs_derive_iv(9)
• ecryptfs_init_crypt_stat(9)
• ecryptfs_destroy_crypt_stat(9)
• virt_to_scatterlist(9)
• crypt_extent(9)
• ecryptfs_encrypt_page(9)
• ecryptfs_decrypt_page(9)
• ecryptfs_init_crypt_ctx(9)
• ecryptfs_copy_mount_wide_flags_to_inode_flags(9)
• ecryptfs_set_default_crypt_stat_vals(9)
• ecryptfs_new_file_context(9)
• ecryptfs_validate_marker(9)
• ecryptfs_process_flags(9)
• write_ecryptfs_marker(9)
• ecryptfs_code_for_cipher_string(9)
• ecryptfs_cipher_code_to_string(9)
• ecryptfs_write_headers_virt(9)
• ecryptfs_write_metadata(9)
• set_default_header_data(9)
• ecryptfs_read_headers_virt(9)
• ecryptfs_read_xattr_region(9)
• ecryptfs_process_key_cipher(9)
• ecryptfs_destroy_crypto(9)
• ecryptfs_tfm_exists(9)
• ecryptfs_get_tfm_and_mutex_for_cipher_name(9)
• ecryptfs_encode_for_filename(9)
• ecryptfs_decode_from_filename(9)
• ecryptfs_encrypt_and_encode_filename(9)
• ecryptfs_decode_and_decrypt_filename(9)

like, that's the whole friend group right there 💖

---

and that's the page!! 🧚

this lil masterpiece lives in <pink>./fs/ecryptfs</pink> and it's dated October 2026 — source/version and date, both accounted for, we did not forget a single crumb 🍓

crypt_scatterlist(9) — periodt. 💅👑