suse man page for generic_permission

GENERIC_PERMISSION(9)						   The Linux VFS					     GENERIC_PERMISSION(9)

NAME
       generic_permission - check for access rights on a Posix-like filesystem

SYNOPSIS
       int generic_permission(struct inode * inode, int mask, int (*check_acl) (struct inode *inode, int mask));

ARGUMENTS
       inode
	   inode to check access rights for

       mask
	   right to check for (MAY_READ, MAY_WRITE, MAY_EXEC)

       check_acl
	   optional callback to check for Posix ACLs

DESCRIPTION
       Used to check for read/write/execute permissions on a file. We use "fsuid" for this, letting us set arbitrary permissions for filesystem
       access without changing the "normal" uids which are used for other things..

COPYRIGHT
Kernel Hackers Manual 2.6.					     July 2010						     GENERIC_PERMISSION(9)