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-rw-r--r--man5/proc.515
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/man5/proc.5 b/man5/proc.5
index a9bb175e8..723154edb 100644
--- a/man5/proc.5
+++ b/man5/proc.5
@@ -497,10 +497,21 @@ unless the process is a zombie.
.\" In Linux 2.3.26, this also used to be true if the process was swapped out.
In the latter case, there is nothing in this file:
that is, a read on this file will return 0 characters.
-The command-line arguments appear in this file as a set of
-strings separated by null bytes (\[aq]\e0\[aq]),
+.IP
+For processes which are still running,
+the command-line arguments appear in this file
+in the same layout as they do in process memory:
+If the process is well-behaved,
+it is a set of strings separated by null bytes (\[aq]\e0\[aq]),
with a further null byte after the last string.
.IP
+This is the common case,
+but processes have the freedom to
+override the memory region and
+break assumptions about the contents or format of the
+.IR /proc/ pid /cmdline
+file.
+.IP
If, after an
.BR execve (2),
the process modifies its