Create a capabilities module for managing Linux kernel capabilities(7) with setcap(8).

library/system/capabilities

@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# (c) 2014, Nate Coraor <nate@bx.psu.edu>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+DOCUMENTATION = '''
+---
+module: capabilities
+short_description: Manage Linux capabilities
+description:
+    - This module manipulates files' priviliges using the Linux capabilities(7) system.
+version_added: "1.0"
+options:
+    path:
+        description:
+            - Specifies the path to the file to be managed.
+        required: true
+        default: null
+    capability:
+        description:
+            - Desired capability to set (with operator and flags, if state is C(present)) or remove (if state is C(absent))
+        required: true
+        default: null
+        aliases: [ 'cap' ]
+    state:
+        description:
+            - Whether the entry should be present or absent in the file's capabilities.
+        choices: [ "present", "absent" ]
+        default: present
+notes:
+    - The capabilities system will automatically transform operators and flags
+      into the effective set, so (for example, cap_foo=ep will probably become
+      cap_foo+ep). This module does not attempt to determine the final operator
+      and flags to compare, so you will want to ensure that your capabilities
+      argument matches the final capabilities.
+requirements: []
+author: Nate Coraor <nate@bx.psu.edu>
+'''
+
+EXAMPLES = '''
+# Set cap_sys_chroot+ep on /foo
+- capabilities: path=/foo capability=cap_sys_chroot+ep state=present
+
+# Remove cap_net_bind_service from /bar
+- capabilities: path=/bar capability=cap_net_bind_service state=absent
+'''
+
+
+OPS = ( '=', '-', '+' )
+
+# ==============================================================
+
+import os
+import tempfile
+import re
+
+class CapabilitiesModule(object):
+
+    platform = 'Linux'
+    distribution = None
+
+    def __init__(self, module):
+        self.module         = module 
+        self.path           = module.params['path'].strip()
+        self.capability     = module.params['capability'].strip().lower()
+        self.state          = module.params['state']
+        self.getcap_cmd     = module.get_bin_path('getcap', required=True)
+        self.setcap_cmd     = module.get_bin_path('setcap', required=True)
+        self.capability_tup = self._parse_cap(self.capability, op_required=self.state=='present')
+
+        self.changed        = False
+
+        self.run()
+
+    def run(self):
+
+        current = self.getcap(self.path)
+        caps = [ cap[0] for cap in current ]
+
+        if self.state == 'present' and self.capability_tup not in current:
+            # need to add capability
+            if self.module.check_mode:
+                self.module.exit_json(changed=True, msg='capabilities changed')
+            else:
+                # remove from current cap list if it's already set (but op/flags differ)
+                current = filter(lambda x: x[0] != self.capability_tup[0], current)
+                # add new cap with correct op/flags
+                current.append( self.capability_tup )
+                self.module.exit_json(changed=True, msg='capabilities changed', stdout=self.setcap(self.path, current))
+        if self.state == 'absent' and self.capability_tup[0] in caps:
+            # need to remove capability
+            if self.module.check_mode:
+                self.module.exit_json(changed=True, msg='capabilities changed')
+            else:
+                # remove from current cap list and then set current list
+                current = filter(lambda x: x[0] != self.capability_tup[0], current)
+                self.module.exit_json(changed=True, msg='capabilities changed', stdout=self.setcap(self.path, current))
+
+    def getcap(self, path):
+        rval = []
+        cmd = "%s -v %s" % (self.getcap_cmd, path)
+        rc, stdout, stderr = self.module.run_command(cmd)    
+        # If file xattrs are set but no caps are set the output will be:
+        #   '/foo ='
+        # If file xattrs are unset the output will be:
+        #   '/foo'
+        # If the file does not eixst the output will be (with rc == 0...):
+        #   '/foo (No such file or directory)'
+        if rc != 0 or (stdout.strip() != path and stdout.count(' =') != 1):
+            self.module.fail_json(msg="Unable to get capabilities of %s" % path, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
+        caps = stdout.split(' =')[1].strip().split()
+        for cap in caps:
+            cap = cap.lower()
+            # getcap condenses capabilities with the same op/flags into a
+            # comma-separated list, so we have to parse that
+            if ',' in cap:
+                cap_group = cap.split(',')
+                cap_group[-1], op, flags = self._parse_cap(cap_group[-1])
+                for subcap in cap_group:
+                    rval.append( ( subcap, op, flags ) )
+            else:
+                rval.append(self._parse_cap(cap))
+        return rval
+
+    def setcap(self, path, caps):
+        caps = ' '.join([ ''.join(cap) for cap in caps ])
+        cmd = "%s '%s' %s" % (self.setcap_cmd, caps, path)
+        rc, stdout, stderr = self.module.run_command(cmd)    
+        if rc != 0:
+            self.module.fail_json(msg="Unable to set capabilities of %s" % path, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr)
+        else:
+            return stdout
+
+    def _parse_cap(self, cap, op_required=True):
+        opind = -1
+        try:
+            i = 0
+            while opind == -1:
+                opind = cap.find(OPS[i])
+                i += 1
+        except:
+            if op_required:
+                self.module.fail_json(msg="Couldn't find operator (one of: %s)" % str(OPS))
+            else:
+                return (cap, None, None)
+        op = cap[opind]
+        cap, flags = cap.split(op)
+        return (cap, op, flags)
+
+# ==============================================================
+# main
+
+def main():
+
+    # defining module
+    module = AnsibleModule(
+        argument_spec = dict(
+            path = dict(aliases=['key'], required=True),
+            capability = dict(aliases=['cap'], required=True),
+            state = dict(default='present', choices=['present', 'absent']),
+        ),
+        supports_check_mode=True
+    )
+
+    CapabilitiesModule(module)
+
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+# import module snippets
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import *
+main()