file_remove_privs(9)

💅 file_remove_privs — the kernel API manual, bestie edition

okay so you're looking at file_remove_privs(9), and yes the name is doing a lot of work already but let me hype it up properly: this is the kernel API manual's take on file_remove_privs, aka the little function that says "bestie, those special privileges? gone." ✨

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🎀 NAME 🎀

file_remove_privs — remove special file privileges (suid, capabilities)

like, it strips the fancy stuff. suid bits, capabilities, all of it. off they go 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int file_remove_privs (struct file *file );

yep that's the whole signature, no cap. it takes one pointer and hands you back an int. 🫶

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• file — the file you're removing privileges from. that's it. that's the argument. it's giving "one job, doing it well" and honestly? iconic.

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so here's the vibe: whenever file gets modified — by a write or by a truncation — this makes sure those special file privileges get removed. 🧚

translation: somebody touched the file, so the file doesn't get to keep its extra powers anymore. main character energy revoked for its own safety, fr fr. 🔥

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👑 RETURN 👑

• 0 on success 💖
• negative errno on failure 😭

that's the whole contract, and it's very demure, very mindful about it.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

the related-reading list is lowkey enormous and honestly kind of iconic for it. this page lives in Kernel file ./fs/inode.c, and here's everybody it wants you to go read next — go drink some water first, bestie, this is a long scroll:

• inode_init_always_gfp(9)
• alloc_inode(9)
• drop_nlink(9)
• clear_nlink(9)
• set_nlink(9)
• inc_nlink(9)
• inode_sb_list_add(9)
• __insert_inode_hash(9)
• __remove_inode_hash(9)
• evict_inodes(9)
• new_inode(9)
• unlock_new_inode(9)
• lock_two_nondirectories(9)
• unlock_two_nondirectories(9)
• inode_insert5(9)
• iget5_locked(9)
• iget5_locked_rcu(9)
• iget_locked(9)
• iunique(9)
• ihold(9)
• ilookup5_nowait(9)
• ilookup5(9)
• ilookup(9)
• find_inode_nowait(9)
• find_inode_rcu(9)
• find_inode_by_ino_rcu(9)
• iput(9)
• iput_not_last(9)
• bmap(9)
• inode_update_time(9)
• generic_update_time(9)
• atime_needs_update(9)
• current_time(9)
• file_update_time(9)
• file_modified_flags(9)
• file_modified(9)
• kiocb_modified(9)
• inode_init_owner(9)
• inode_owner_or_capable(9)
• inode_dio_wait(9)
• timestamp_truncate(9)
• inode_set_ctime_current(9)
• inode_set_ctime_deleg(9)
• in_group_or_capable(9)
• mode_strip_sgid(9)
• dump_inode(9)

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real talk though: this page is from the ./fs section and it's dated October 2026 — so when you cite it, cite it right. 💜

and that's the whole page, bestie. go forth, remove some privileges, slay responsibly. 🍓⭐💅