D350 - sysctl refuses an unknown MIB with the documented failure

Status: decided Date: 2026-08-27

sysctl answers the documented failure for a MIB it does not know and reports each distinct unknown MIB once. getpid answers the host process id.

Why: the manual documents that failure for an unknown name, so it is a real answer the caller branches on. Success with no length written hands a size query an uninitialised size. An unknown MIB is a work item only the guest can name. The guest runs in the host process, so that id is true from inside it.

Rejected:

• Answering success: an uninitialised size to allocate against.
• An invented process id: a value with no meaning.