simple_xattrs_free(9)

💅 simple_xattrs_free(9) 💅

okay bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — yes this is a real manual page for a real kernel function and yes we're gonna make it make sense. no cap.

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✨ NAME ✨

simple_xattrs_free — free xattrs, that's the whole vibe 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void simple_xattrs_free (struct simple_xattr_cache *cache , struct
       list_head *xattrs , size_t *freed_space );

literally just three arguments, she's lowkey chill like that ✨

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✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

• cache — the anchor for the hash table. that's her whole job tbh 🎀
• xattrs — the xattr header whose xattrs we're about to destroy. rip to them 💀
• freed_space — the approximate number of bytes of memory that got freed from the xattrs. not exact, just approximate, don't come for her 🙈

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what she does is: destroy all xattrs in xattrs 🔥

and here's the important part, the fine print, the do not skip this moment: when this gets called, no one can hold a reference to any of the xattrs anymore. periodt. that's the contract, that's the deal, that's the whole assignment. if somebody's still holding a ref, that's a you problem, not a simple_xattrs_free problem 😭

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

Kernel file ./fs/xattr.c — go read it, iykyk 👑

the whole xattr friend group, in no particular order but honestly in exactly this order:

• may_write_xattr(9)
• __vfs_setxattr_noperm(9)
• __vfs_setxattr_locked(9)
• vfs_listxattr(9)
• __vfs_removexattr_locked(9)
• generic_listxattr(9)
• xattr_full_name(9)
• simple_xattr_space(9)
• simple_xattr_free(9)
• simple_xattr_free_rcu(9)
• simple_xattr_alloc(9)
• simple_xattr_get(9)
• simple_xattr_set(9)
• simple_xattr_set_limited(9)
• simple_xattr_list(9)
• simple_xattr_add(9)
• simple_xattr_add_limited(9)
• simple_xattr_cache_cleanup(9)

like genuinely an iconic little family, obsessed 💜

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that's the page bestie!! 🌈💖 this absolute gem comes from ./fs and it's stamped October 2026 — so go forth, free those xattrs, and remember: no refs allowed at call time. mwah 💅🌸