bn_clear(3) - Linux man page

Name

BN_new, BN_init, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and free BIGNUMs

Synopsis

#include <openssl/bn.h>

BIGNUM *BN_new(void);

void BN_init(BIGNUM *);

void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);

void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);

void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);

Description

BN_new() allocates and initializes a BIGNUM structure. BN_init() initializes an existing uninitialized BIGNUM .

BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they are no longer needed. It erases the memory used by a and sets it to the value 0.

BN_free() frees the components of the BIGNUM , and if it was created by BN_new(), also the structure itself. BN_clear_free() additionally overwrites the data before the memory is returned to the system.

Return Values

BN_new() returns a pointer to the BIGNUM . If the allocation fails, it returns NULL and sets an error code that can be obtained by err_get_error(3).

BN_init(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return values.

History