strcpy(9)

💖 strcpy(9) — straight from the Kernel API Manual, bestie 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

strcpy — copy a string into another string buffer. That's the whole vibe, okay?

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

char * strcpy (char * const p , const char * const q );

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• p — pointer to destination of copy. That's where the string is going, bestie.
• q — pointer to NUL-terminated source string to copy. NUL-terminated, not vibe-terminated.

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

🚨 Do not use this function. 🚨 Like, seriously, bestie. This is not the one.

While FORTIFY_SOURCE tries to avoid overflows, this is only possible when the sizes of q and p are known to the compiler. So yeah, it's giving “protection with conditions,” not a free pass.

Prefer strscpy, though note its different return values for detecting truncation. That part matters, so don't just swap it in and call it a day.

Returns p. Yep, that's the whole return situation. 💅

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• Kernel file ./include/linux/fortify-string.h
• unsafe_memcpy(9), strnlen(9), strlen(9), strlcat(9), strcat(9), strncat(9)

Okay that's the strcpy(9) page, bestie — source/version ./include/linux, dated October 2026. Slay, stay safe, and maybe use strscpy. 💖✨