---
name: "getkeycreatecon"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libselinux1-dev"
version: "3.8.1-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/getkeycreatecon"
---

# getkeycreatecon(3)

get or set the SELinux security context used for creating a new kernel keyrings

## NAME

getkeycreatecon, setkeycreatecon - get or set the SELinux security context used for creating a new kernel keyrings

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<selinux/selinux.h\>**

**int getkeycreatecon(char \*\****con***);**

**int getkeycreatecon\_raw(char \*\****con***);**

**int setkeycreatecon(const char \****context***);**

**int setkeycreatecon\_raw(const char \****context***);**

## DESCRIPTION

**getkeycreatecon**() retrieves the context used for creating a new kernel keyring. This returned context should be freed with [**freecon**(3)](/freecon/3.md) if non-NULL. **getkeycreatecon**() sets \*con to NULL if no keycreate context has been explicitly set by the program (i.e. using the default policy behavior).

**setkeycreatecon**() sets the context used for creating a new kernel keyring. NULL can be passed to **setkeycreatecon**() to reset to the default policy behavior. The keycreate context is automatically reset after the next [**execve**(2)](/execve/2.md), so a program doesn't need to explicitly sanitize it upon startup.

**setkeycreatecon**() can be applied prior to library functions that internally perform an file creation, in order to set an file context on the objects.

**getkeycreatecon\_raw**() and **setkeycreatecon\_raw**() behave identically to their non-raw counterparts but do not perform context translation.

**Note:** Signal handlers that perform a **setkeycreatecon**() must take care to save, reset, and restore the keycreate context to avoid unexpected behavior.

**Note:** Contexts are thread specific.

## RETURN VALUE

On error -1 is returned. On success 0 is returned.

## SEE ALSO

[**selinux**(8)](/selinux/8.md), [**freecon**(3)](/freecon/3.md), [**getcon**(3)](/getcon/3.md), [**getexeccon**(3)](/getexeccon/3.md)