xref: /netbsd-src/crypto/external/bsd/openssl.old/dist/doc/man3/BN_new.pod (revision 4724848cf0da353df257f730694b7882798e5daf)
1*4724848cSchristos=pod
2*4724848cSchristos
3*4724848cSchristos=head1 NAME
4*4724848cSchristos
5*4724848cSchristosBN_new, BN_secure_new, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and free BIGNUMs
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7*4724848cSchristos=head1 SYNOPSIS
8*4724848cSchristos
9*4724848cSchristos #include <openssl/bn.h>
10*4724848cSchristos
11*4724848cSchristos BIGNUM *BN_new(void);
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13*4724848cSchristos BIGNUM *BN_secure_new(void);
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15*4724848cSchristos void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);
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17*4724848cSchristos void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);
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19*4724848cSchristos void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);
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21*4724848cSchristos=head1 DESCRIPTION
22*4724848cSchristos
23*4724848cSchristosBN_new() allocates and initializes a B<BIGNUM> structure.
24*4724848cSchristosBN_secure_new() does the same except that the secure heap
25*4724848cSchristosL<OPENSSL_secure_malloc(3)> is used to store the value.
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27*4724848cSchristosBN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they
28*4724848cSchristosare no longer needed. It erases the memory used by B<a> and sets it
29*4724848cSchristosto the value 0.
30*4724848cSchristosIf B<a> is NULL, nothing is done.
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32*4724848cSchristosBN_free() frees the components of the B<BIGNUM>, and if it was created
33*4724848cSchristosby BN_new(), also the structure itself. BN_clear_free() additionally
34*4724848cSchristosoverwrites the data before the memory is returned to the system.
35*4724848cSchristosIf B<a> is NULL, nothing is done.
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37*4724848cSchristos=head1 RETURN VALUES
38*4724848cSchristos
39*4724848cSchristosBN_new() and BN_secure_new()
40*4724848cSchristosreturn a pointer to the B<BIGNUM> initialised to the value 0.
41*4724848cSchristosIf the allocation fails,
42*4724848cSchristosthey return B<NULL> and set an error code that can be obtained
43*4724848cSchristosby L<ERR_get_error(3)>.
44*4724848cSchristos
45*4724848cSchristosBN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return values.
46*4724848cSchristos
47*4724848cSchristos=head1 SEE ALSO
48*4724848cSchristos
49*4724848cSchristosL<ERR_get_error(3)>, L<OPENSSL_secure_malloc(3)>
50*4724848cSchristos
51*4724848cSchristos=head1 HISTORY
52*4724848cSchristos
53*4724848cSchristosBN_init() was removed in OpenSSL 1.1.0; use BN_new() instead.
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55*4724848cSchristos=head1 COPYRIGHT
56*4724848cSchristos
57*4724848cSchristosCopyright 2000-2019 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
58*4724848cSchristos
59*4724848cSchristosLicensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
60*4724848cSchristosthis file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
61*4724848cSchristosin the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
62*4724848cSchristosL<https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
63*4724848cSchristos
64*4724848cSchristos=cut
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