diff --git a/libcutils/Android.mk b/libcutils/Android.mk
index 8ee4c9a..29864b2 100644
--- a/libcutils/Android.mk
+++ b/libcutils/Android.mk
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 	socket_loopback_client.c \
 	socket_loopback_server.c \
 	socket_network_client.c \
+	sockets.c \
 	config_utils.c \
 	cpu_info.c \
 	load_file.c \
diff --git a/libcutils/sockets.c b/libcutils/sockets.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..101a382
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libcutils/sockets.c
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2011 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#include <cutils/log.h>
+#include <cutils/sockets.h>
+
+#ifdef HAVE_ANDROID_OS
+/* For the socket trust (credentials) check */
+#include <private/android_filesystem_config.h>
+#endif
+
+bool socket_peer_is_trusted(int fd)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_ANDROID_OS
+    struct ucred cr;
+    socklen_t len = sizeof(cr);
+    int n = getsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_PEERCRED, &cr, &len);
+
+    if (n != 0) {
+        LOGE("could not get socket credentials: %s\n", strerror(errno));
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    if ((cr.uid != AID_ROOT) && (cr.uid != AID_SHELL)) {
+        LOGE("untrusted userid on other end of socket: userid %d\n", cr.uid);
+        return false;
+    }
+#endif
+
+    return true;
+}