libressl-OPENSSL_malloc(3)

libressl-OPENSSL_malloc3

Legacy openssl memory allocation wrappers

Usage

Crypto Library (libcrypto, -lcrypto)

#include <openssl/crypto.h>

void *

OPENSSL_malloc(size_t num);

void

OPENSSL_free(void *addr);

char *

OPENSSL_strdup(const char *str);

void *

CRYPTO_malloc(size_t num, const char *file, int line);

void

CRYPTO_free(void *str, const char *, int);

char *

CRYPTO_strdup(const char *p, const char *file, int line);

Overview

Do not use any of the interfaces documented here in new code. They are provided purely for compatibility with legacy application code.

These functions are wrappers around the corresponding standard malloc(3), free(3), and strdup(3) functions.

The OPENSSL_*() functions are implemented as macros.

Return values

These functions return the same type and value as the corresponding standard functions.

Caveats

If interoperability with other implementations is required, memory returned by the library as bare pointers must be freed with OPENSSL_free().

History

CRYPTO_malloc() and CRYPTO_free() first appeared in SSLeay 0.6.4 and have been available since OpenBSD 2.4.

OPENSSL_malloc() and OPENSSL_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.6 and have been available since OpenBSD 2.9.

CRYPTO_strdup() and OPENSSL_strdup() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.8j and have been available since OpenBSD 4.5.

From libressl 4.4.0-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's mdoc source.