Description

mhsmith

opened on Jul 3, 2026

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Proposal:

configure.ac contains a list of privileged functions which are "blocked" on Android, i.e. they simply won't exist in the stdlib. This was because when any of the underlying C functions are called by a non-root user, instead of returning a PermissionError as they would on Linux, they cause a low-level crash of the whole process.

This approach has 2 problems:

• Users of these functions will probably be able to handle a PermissionError, but not an AttributeError.
• It prevents using the functions on rooted devices.

Termux is working around this by making Python check the UID and raise the PermissionError itself in a non-root context. I think it would be a good idea to adopt this upstream.

• This change should only affect Android; on other platforms, UID checks should continue to be done by the underlying C function.
• Most of these functions are documented as "not Android"; that should also be removed.
• Functions which are blocked in configure.ac for other reasons should continue to be blocked.

Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

I have already discussed this feature proposal on the Termux issue tracker

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

• enhance(main/python): enable some blocked POSIX functions and enable _zstd termux/termux-packages#30310

Linked PRs

• gh-152936: Make privileged functions available on Android #152977

Reacted by Yaksh Bariya and flameastro

Activity

1. mhsmith

   added

   type-featureA feature request or enhancementA feature request or enhancement

   OS-android

   stdlibStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directoryStandard Library Python modules in the Lib/ directory

   on Jul 3, 2026
2. sabamdarif

   added a commit that references this issue on Jul 3, 2026

   pythongh-152936: Make privileged functions available on Android

   8b77d9d
3. freakboy3742 commented on Jul 6, 2026

   

   freakboy3742

   on Jul 6, 2026

   Contributor

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   To clarify - do these methods work as expected when invoked as root?

   If so - this seems reasonable; my only question would be around documentation. If EPERM isn't a documented POSIX-expected result from any of the affected methods, we should make sure the docs for those methods clarify the "extension" that Python is adding.
4. mhsmith commented on Jul 7, 2026

   

   mhsmith

   on Jul 7, 2026

   MemberAuthor

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   do these methods work as expected when invoked as root?

   According to termux/termux-packages#30310 (comment), "chroot, sethostname & setgid, setuid" have all been verified to work. Running apps as root isn't an officially supported mode of Android, but it's reasonably common among power users, so we might as well support it if we can.

   If EPERM isn't a documented POSIX-expected result from any of the affected methods

   I'm pretty sure it is, but I'll check when reviewing the PR. If so, then the proposed behavior would be identical to POSIX as far as the Python user can tell, so no extra documentation is required.

   Reacted by Russell Keith-Magee and flameastro
5. sabamdarif

   added 4 commits that reference this issue on Jul 8, 2026

   pythongh-152936: Use posix_error for Android checks

   dd73903

   pythongh-152936: Document Android support in os and socket

   27e854c

   pythongh-152936: Fix test_os and test_posix failures on Android

   907676b

   pythongh-152936: Fix AttributeError for os.chroot on platforms withou…

   16b633c
6. freakboy3742

   added a commit that references this issue on Sep 8, 2026

   gh-152936: Make privileged functions available on Android (#152977)

   adea841
7. freakboy3742

   closed this as completedin #152977on Sep 8, 2026
8. maurycy

   added a commit that references this issue on Sep 10, 2026

   Merge branch 'main' into tachyon-native-callable

   e028ff5
9. clin1234

   added a commit that references this issue on Sep 12, 2026

   pythongh-152936: Make privileged functions available on Android (pyth…

   d2a5cab
10. johnslavik

    added a commit that references this issue on Sep 14, 2026

    pythongh-152936: Make privileged functions available on Android (pyth…

    7f928c2

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