BN_NEW(3)

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.

SEE ALSO
bn(3), ERR_get_error(3)

HISTORY
BN_new(), BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() are available in all versions on SSLeay and OpenSSL. BN_init() was added in SSLeay 0.9.1b.