vfs_listxattr(9)

💅 vfs_listxattr(9) — Kernel API Manual 🦋

okay so bestie, welcome to the vfs_listxattr(9) era — this one's a kernel API page and it's genuinely so useful, i promise. let's get into it ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

vfs_listxattr — retrieve a separated list of xattr names. that's it, that's the whole vibe. the list comes back separated, no cap 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ssize_t vfs_listxattr (struct dentry *dentry , char *list , size_t size );

look at her. three params, one ssize_t return. main character energy fr 🔥

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• dentry — the dentry from whose inode the xattr names are retrieved. like, this is whose names we're pulling. she's the source, she's the moment 👑
• list — the buffer where the xattr names get stored. your little container, your vibe receptacle 🫶
• size — the size of the buffer. yes, list's size, they're a matched set, iconic 💅

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

so what does she actually do? vfs_listxattr returns the names of all xattrs associated with the inode of dentry. all of them. the whole squad 🌈

⚠️ note — for legacy reasons, the vfs_listxattr function lists POSIX ACLs as well. yes, legacy reasons, we don't make the rules, we just document them 😭

and here's the lore, bestie: since POSIX ACLs are decoupled from IOP_XATTR, the vfs_listxattr function doesn't check for this flag — because a filesystem could implement POSIX ACLs without implementing any other xattrs. so she's like, not gonna gatekeep that check, y'know? 💀

however — and this is the part you gotta keep — since all codepaths that remove IOP_XATTR also assign inode operations that either don't implement or implement a stub ->listxattr operation. so it all works out, slay ✨

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🦋 RETURN 🦋

• on success 💖 — the size of the buffer that was used
• on error 😭 — a negative error code

that's the whole return situation. simple, clean, understood 🎀

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🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

kernel file ./fs/xattr.c and honestly the whole friend group:

may_write_xattr(9), __vfs_setxattr_noperm(9), __vfs_setxattr_locked(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_xattrs_free(9), simple_xattr_cache_cleanup(9)

iykyk 💫

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okay that's the page!! before you go — cute little sign-off from the manpage itself: this one came out of ./fs and it's dated October 2026, and yeah she's still filed under vfs_listxattr(9) 💖 mwah, go list some xattrs bestie 🧚‍♀️🌸