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cap_set_proc() and cap_get_proc() are specified in the withdrawn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 CAP_GET_PROC(3)