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NAME

       cap_get_proc,   cap_set_proc,  capgetp  -  capability  manipulation  on
       processes

SYNOPSIS

       #include <sys/capability.h>

       cap_t cap_get_proc(void);

       int cap_set_proc(cap_t cap_p);

       #include <sys/types.h>

       cap_t cap_get_pid(pid_t pid);

       Link with -lcap.

DESCRIPTION

       cap_get_proc() allocates a capability state in  working  storage,  sets
       its state to that of the calling process, and returns a pointer to this
       newly created capability state.  The caller should free any  releasable
       memory,  when  the  capability  state  in  working storage is no longer
       required, by calling cap_free() with the cap_t as an argument.

       cap_set_proc() sets  the  values  for  all  capability  flags  for  all
       capabilities  to  the  capability  state  identified by cap_p.  The new
       capability state of the process will be completely  determined  by  the
       contents  of  cap_p  upon successful return from this function.  If any
       flag in cap_p is set for any capability not currently permitted for the
       calling  process,  the  function will fail, and the capability state of
       the process will remain unchanged.

       cap_get_pid()  returns  cap_d,  see  cap_init(3),  with   the   process
       capabilities  of  the  process  indicated by pid.  This information can
       also be obtained from the /proc/<pid>/status file.

RETURN VALUE

       The functions cap_get_proc() and cap_get_pid() return a non-NULL  value
       on success, and NULL on failure.

       The function cap_set_proc() return zero for success, and -1 on failure.

       On failure, errno is set to EINVAL, EPERM, or ENOMEM.

CONFORMING TO

       cap_set_proc()  and  cap_get_proc()  are  specified  in  the  withdrawn
       POSIX.1e draft specification.  cap_get_pid() is a Linux extension.

NOTES

       The library also supports the deprecated functions:

       int capgetp(pid_t pid, cap_t cap_d);

       int capsetp(pid_t pid, cap_t cap_d);

       capgetp()  attempts  to  obtain the capabilities of some other process;
       storing the capabilities in a pre-allocated  cap_d.See  cap_init()  for
       information  on  allocating  an  empty  capability  set. This function,
       capgetp(), is deprecated, you should use cap_get_pid().

       capsetp() attempts to set the capabilities of some  other  process(es),
       pid.   If  pid  is  positive it refers to a specific process;  if it is
       zero, it refers to the current process;  -1  refers  to  all  processes
       other  than  the  current  process and process '1' (typically init(8));
       other negative values refer to the -pid process group.  In order to use
       this  function, the kernel must support it and the current process must
       have  CAP_SETPCAP  raised  in  its  Effective   capability   set.   The
       capabilities  set  in  the  target  process(es)  are those contained in
       cap_d.  Kernels  that  support  filesystem  capabilities  redefine  the
       semantics  of CAP_SETPCAP and on such systems this function will always
       fail for any target  not  equal  to  the  current  process.   capsetp()
       returns zero for success, and -1 on failure.

       Where  supported  by  the kernel, the function capsetp() should be used
       with care.  It existed, primarily, to overcome an early lack of support
       for  capabilities in the filesystems supported by Linux.  Note that, by
       default, the only processes that have CAP_SETPCAP available to them are
       processes  started  as  a  kernel  thread.   (Typically  this  includes
       init(8), kflushd and kswapd). You will need to recompile the kernel  to
       modify this default.

EXAMPLE

       The  code segment below raises the CAP_FOWNER and CAP_SETFCAP effective
       capabilities for the caller:

           cap_t caps;
           cap_value_t cap_list[2];

           caps = cap_get_proc();
           if (caps == NULL)
               /* handle error */;

           cap_list[0] = CAP_FOWNER;
           cap_list[1] = CAP_SETFCAP;
           if (cap_set_flag(caps, CAP_EFFECTIVE, 2, cap_list, CAP_SET) == -1)
               /* handle error */;

           if (cap_set_proc(caps) == -1)
               /* handle error */;

           if (cap_free(caps) == -1)
               /* handle error */;

SEE ALSO

       libcap(3),     cap_clear(3),     cap_copy_ext(3),     cap_from_text(3),
       cap_get_file(3), cap_init(3), capabilities(7)

                                  2008-05-11