key_put(9)

💅 key_put(9) ~ the kernel API manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual (key_put(9), yes the whole page is named after the function, iconic behavior honestly) and it's about dropping a reference to a key. short page, big consequences. let's get into it ✨

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✨ NAME ✨

key_put — discard a reference to a key. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

void key_put (struct key *key );

no return value, no drama, just vibes and a pointer. 💅

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• key — the key you're discarding a reference from. hand it over, she's done her job 🎀

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👑 DESCRIPTION 👑

so you call key_put and it discards a reference to a key. and then — the part that matters — when all the references are gone, we schedule the cleanup task to come and pull it out of the tree in process context at some later time. 🧚

not me emphasizing "at some later time" 😭 it's literally not instant. the cleanup is scheduled, so don't expect the key to be gone the millisecond you call this. process context, later, that's the whole deal.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

kernel file ./security/keys/key.c — and the whole friend group:

• key_alloc(9)
• key_payload_reserve(9)
• key_instantiate_and_link(9)
• key_reject_and_link(9)
• key_create_or_update(9)
• key_create(9)
• key_update(9)
• key_revoke(9)
• key_invalidate(9)
• generic_key_instantiate(9)
• register_key_type(9)
• unregister_key_type(9)

like, the entire key-management squad, all in ./security/keys. iykyk 💜

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and that's the page, bestie 💖 this one's from the ./security/keys corner of the kernel, dated October 2026, and the title line says key_put(9) twice because the manual loves consistency. slay, see you in the next one 🍓⭐