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KERN_INVALID_RIGHT
KERN_INVALID_RIGHT means the supplied Mach port name is real in the task's namespace, but it denotes an inappropriate kind of port right for the requested operation. Mach distinguishes send, receive, and send-once rights, and many operations are valid only for one of those capabilities.
This differs from KERN_INVALID_NAME, where the name denotes no right at all, and from KERN_NOT_RECEIVER, where the operation specifically requires receive-side ownership. The distinction can identify an IPC handoff bug: a client may have received a send right when code later assumes it can administer or receive from the port.
What to check
- The right type required by the failing API.
- The disposition used when the right was created, copied, moved, or sent in a message.
- Whether the port name was reused after a deallocation or namespace change.
- Whether the operation should run in a different task that actually owns the required capability.
Include both the port name and the expected/observed right type in diagnostics. That turns a generic-looking return code into a concrete explanation of which capability relationship is missing.
References
- XNU: kern_return.h
- Apple Kernel Programming Guide: Mach ports and rights
- GNU Mach Reference Manual: Port Manipulation Interface
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